I'm trying to access iMessage but it won't let me login, and it says "FaceTime Activation Failed"
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My device is an iPad Mini with IOS 12.5.7

I hate that after two years, after so much therapy, so much working on myself, that I can’t scrub you out of my mind or heart. I feel tainted. I feel hysterical. I feel feral and so angry I want to go to the nearest national forest and scream, screech, and howl. The thought of how you abandoned me after you promised so much. I’m angry that you left the door open when you left me. How long am I supposed to wait? you know that the people I love I keep in my life and grow with them, my love is undying. I am incapable of unloving people. I don’t know how to unlove, it feels like ripping my skin out, it just hurts and I get nothing accomplished except a gaping wound. You knew that I would wait forever, you knew that. I wish that you’d slammed the door in my face, why would you leave the door open? In case the grass wasn’t fucking greeener? In case you realized I was worth it? I was worth being loved and cherished? I wish that I still don’t wait for some magical reunion. I hate that I still bawl like a little baby and rock back and forth when I think of us and how you’re never coming home. You know how important the people close to me are, I don’t do surface level, all my lifelong best friends are my soulmates. As my lover I felt you were a soul mate too, someone who truly saw me in a world full of surface level relationships. I don’t let many people in. I struggle to let people in. I am a lonely fucking girl. I felt like you were one of the only people who ever saw me. I am livid. I am so angry at myself, at you, and at the world. I’m so fucking tortured. I just want to get over this so why can’t I? ITS BEEN TWO YEARS! Why can’t I just have peace? Why can’t I forget everything forget feeling loved for the first time ever? Why can’t I forget you? Why do I feel like a piece of you always lives in my heart? Why did we have to love the same things? I feel angry but what I really feel is just as hurt and confused as the day you walked out the door. What do I do with all this love? I’m here all alone.

I had some additional thoughts that didn't quite figure into the impressions model of the previous post. I finally got the chance to rewatch it and there are some tidbits and omissions that I think were very interesting. Sometimes it really is just about what they don't tell you. Apple is mysterious like that sometimes…

• Rewatching the video, it is suggested that the Vision Pro LightSeal is swappable for different sizes (Link). I wonder how this will work. Of course this being the low yield product it is, the obvious answer is that the Headset may strongly suggest a fitting at an Apple Store.
• The headband looks like it will simply be the most comfortable one ever shipped on a stock headset device. Also appearing to come in different sizes or even different variations (Link). Perhaps we will see other first party designs or a third party market will spring up to accommodate different tastes.
• Interestingly, there is no overhead strap. It makes sense given the lightness but also to save you from the dreaded reverse mohawk that one often gets from wearing their Quest.
• Digital Crown has quietly become one of Apple's great tactile control interfaces in the vein of the click wheel and mute switch. Its inclusion is always a pleasure and I see signs it is now being adopted in software as well. The new Final Cut for iPad has a half circle software click wheel that pops out to assist with fine tune adjustments.
• No specs provided regarding storage size but given that the price is described as 'starting' at $3499, I think its safe to say that there will be higher storage configurations.
• No field of view (FOV) info either. Although I cant imagine it being bad. If Apple wants us to use this to watch big screen movies or work for hours with our laptop screens, they simply cannot constrain the peripheral vision or it will be worse than just working in real life.
• There is no mention of a carrying case or any accessory for that matter. Accessories are alluded to, different straps, different face pads, but none in sight. Even in product shots, the Vision Pro rests on the table open to the elements. I wonder if this is so Apple can focus the energy and attention around pitching the platform
• External battery is a unique choice, the connector on the Headset side looks similar to the iMac cable but seems new. I wonder if the cable is detachable on the battery side. On initial inspection I would expect not.
• When I first heard the rumors that the battery was going to be a separate unit, I thought that it was the least Apple-like thing I have ever heard. However, after using the Magic Leap at CES which also takes the approach of trying to move as much weight off the head as possible, I am fully on board. The difference in head comfort is night and day.
• Notably, one thing Apple did not omit was the price. I had a thought that since this was clearly nowhere near production and with the focus being firmly on the platform, Apple may want to be more mysterious with the price to let hype build a bit. After all, that is what Apple did with the Apple Watch teasing the price announcement out for months.
• A release of early next year is quite interesting as rumor was that Apple was hoping to get this in before the holidays. It seems the reality of scaling production on what is likely to be the most complex piece of hardware Apple has ever shipped means that this will likely hit in Q1 of next year instead.

One final thought which may be controversial. I had this thought during the event that there is a philosophical difference between Apple and the rest of the industry. Today, Apple brought a computing platform to a console fight. In comparison, everything we have seen before has been essentially designed and geared to gamers who plug their headset into powerful rigs in their den and immerse themselves. The Vision Pro is a stab at what the future of general computing might look like. To become a real platform, this industry needs to push past gaming into the fields of productivity and communications. My money is on Apple for being the one to convince us.

Let's jet set off to Paris, mes petits choux! Fortunately for Paige but unfortunately for all of you, my healthcare coverage is really doing the most, by which I mean doing the least, and a lot of my snarky energy after work had to go into fighting with them to cover the same prescriptions they've been covering for the past over a decade, hooray for America. And then Paige topped this off by really putting out a half-assed turd sandwich of a vlog where 80% of it is her laying foundation on top of bronzer on top of foundation on top of bronzer. But for you, my little cabbages, I will do my best to recap any relevant points.
As always, here's the vlog Bingo card for playing along at home. I add stuff to it every week as new trends emerge, your prize for winning is... something I haven't figured out yet. By doing everyone's birth charts I learned there's a ton of Virgo energy in this subreddit, though, so astrologically speaking you should all be satisfied with a virtual shoulder pat and being told you did a good job and you're the smartest person I've ever met.
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• We open on Paige "typewriting" on screen that she went to Paris for 48 hours to see her boyfriend play tennis and here's how it went, which I don't think she intended to but inadvertently gives off the sense that we're about to enter into footage of a hostage negotiation? It's almost like if you don't consume art and instead magpie various aesthetic details and cobble them together, you ignorantly imply a lot of things you don't mean to imply, but what do I know!
• The first four minutes of this vlog are unspeakably boring. I can try to make them interesting for you, but what's the point? Paige opens up a brand new notebook and writes PARIS in it with a Sharpie. It's intially unclear why she does this, but then it becomes abundantly clear as this goes on that it's because Paige thought she'd be there way longer and didn't bother getting much or really any footage of anything, and now is desperately trying to pad this sucker out so she can get a midroll ad. It's a bunch of out of focus nonsense. Here's the only things that happen that are of any note:
  • One of her giant checked suitcases when she packs is just labelled "work". I'm now entertaining wild speculations about what could take up an entire checked bag that she just had to bring to Paris under the assumption that she'd be there longer than 48 hours. My personal bet is that it's half denim samples, half reams of paper that she had Amanda print out with random graphs or pictures of generic clothing pieces and the text under it just reads "BUSINESS BUSINESS BUSINESS"
  • When she gets to Paris Tommy comes downstairs wearing a green t-shirt. Later we see Paige wearing the same shirt but she dresses it up with a black bow in her hair. It looks dumb.
  • Paige says hi to us from the bathroom mirror wearing a face mask after moisturizing her whole body because the airplane left her soooo dry. This is only notable because she claims she's going to rest for a bit by "reading some of her book" (we get it, Paige, you read my recaps, but I still don't believe you read anything besides that) before she unpacks, and also because she can't actually get the sentence out so it cuts every two words, and because it's handheld footage it's not steady, which means you kind of get this weird, jostly experience watching her try to form a sentence.
  • Paige and Tommy go to the great shopping mecca that is Paris and appear to go to Kith and Sephora
  • The food they eat does actually look pretty good
  • The time breakdown of this is two minutes on the plane, two minutes in Paris, and then we get into the bulk of the video
• Getting ready time! Okay here's where it gets mildly more interesting, and by interesting I mean there's more to discuss besides half-assed B-roll. Before we start I should make clear, we're about to embark on a getting ready that is 15 minutes of a 20 minute video, and in this time the end result will be Paige looking almost identical to how she looks at the start of it. This detail stuck in my brain because I put this on for a first watch-through this morning while I was getting ready for work and putting on my own makeup. At first I was convinced she had done her makeup beforehand and was just mimicking putting it on because she was too vain to be seen without makeup, but re-watching it now that I'm home I don't think that's the case. I think she's had a lot of work done to make it look like she's always wearing makeup (semi-permanent makeup procedures, eyelash extensions, etc) and then genuinely spends a long time caking layers upon layers upon layers to look exactly the same. Which honestly makes me kind of sad. But I suppose Paige is contractually obliged to have at least one unwitting self-own she stumbles into every vlog where the curtain is pulled back and we gaze upon the vast chasm of insecurity inside her that comes from her being just aware enough to know that she knows nothing about what she's talking about at any given time and if she stopped being pretty to look at more people might point that out.
  • Paige is really tan, you guys, and she feels like makeup doesn't work as well on her skin when she is. This is probably because not once in this entire routine does she PUT ON SUNSCREEN (even though she says prepping your skin before sitting in the sun all day is super important), like not even a BB cream with sunscreen in it. I have no hope of reaching Paige but girlypops! Wear! Your! Sunscreen! Get a spray tan if you want later, but skin cancer is real and not fun and even if you avoid skin cancer, being out in the sun like that makes you look like a leather raisin by middle age. Like she's sitting on a clay court? What are we doing here.
  • If you were wondering if this is in fact a very long undisclosed ad roll, sure is
  • Ah, one of the serums is so good, she actually got it while on a skiing trip. you know, because she's a skier.
  • The reason Paige didn't come to Tommy's first match is because she had "a lot going on at home". Really essential stuff like paying other people to install a pre-built shed for her, buying a second horse, eating unwashed vegetables - important stuff.
    • Oh my apologies she had a denim sample to approve. Not just any denim sample, a WHOLE denim sample, and that is what was in her "work" suitcase. Because idk international mail doesn't work? I mean I sound like I'm advocating she follow Tommy around and I actually think it's better that she doesn't, but also I'd rather she said "I missed Tommy's first match because it was really important to me to spend time seeing friends and family and recharging and resting" instead of pretending she was soooo busy being a Serious Business Girl. Like just be honest that following a man around isn't exhausting and boring and I wouldn't care.
  • I will give it to Paige, she does admit her contour routine with like a dozen products is over the top, and if she left it at that it'd just be that she enjoys the ritual of that and it's fine, but she's like "I swear guys it's so good it makes such a difference" and that is where I draw the line. Contouring is the greatest scam the Kardashians have ever pulled and I do not trust anyone who says otherwise. Like we all did that exercise in middle school art class where we had to shade in shapes different ways, and it didn't ever change the shape, it just made it look like the light was coming from different directions. Paige says this is because contour "adds light and dimension and makes your skin look more healthy" but you know what else does that? Hydrating, wearing sunscreen, and NOT PUTTING ON FIFTEEN DIFFERENT TYPES OF FOUNDATION AND BRONZER. The same concept of "you can change where the light hits but not how the shape looks" that applies to drawing an egg applies to makeup - contouring does absolutely nothing unless you're a drag queen and also you're Trixie Mattel (hallowed be her name AND her commitment to producing really quality orange blushes. If you have warm-toned skin at all, use bronze, peach, and orange blushes this summer and thank me later).
    • Also Paige clearly has not been paying attention because contouring looks and this cakey, Meredith Duxbury, early aughts Beauty YouTuber look is very much not the vibe? The hot thing right now is really natural, light, dewy stuff a la Rare Beauty or Glossier, and it's heavily inspired by K-Beauty and C-Beauty looks. Even I know this and my makeup looks better on me than Paige's does and it's not even my job to wear makeup or know about this stuff! No one's paying me to do this! Maybe they should be, I guess! (It shouldn't be, I'm very good at doing my face and my face only.)
    • Honestly it looks a lot of the time here like Paige is putting mud on her face, and everything she shows and applies to her face is mud-colored, and it's just dingier and dingier and she would look so much better if instead of all of this she just did a nice warm terra cotta sort of blush and some highlighter. My kingdom for something to bring actual warmth or color to her face and not just look like she's smearing sparkly dishwater on herself.
  • Paige blathers more about travelling and authenticity and how she travels a lot but also doesn't travel that much? I don't know it's all so meandering and nonsensical and I give up. The tl;dr is what I said before: she's a homebody who hates travel but knows if she just did the things that made her happy and let herself be boring, people would stop watching her, so she's trying to straddle an impossible line and since she can't admit that's what's happening, her explanations get increasingly convoluted and her definition of "authenticity" or us "getting it" comes to mean "whatever I like at the time is authentic and if it doesn't work out or backfires on me it's because I was feeling forced to be inauthentic, because I am authentically perfect and always right".
    • See it's because she's NOT A CITY GIRL, it's not that she doesn't like TRAVEL, it's that she doesn't like travelling to CITIES because she's such a COUNTRY GIRL AT HEART, that's why she lives in a FARMHOUSE in CONNECTICUT, which is practically the sticks.
    • "I got some really funny comments about this from you guys, I was actually cracking up" Paige says and then shows us comments of people kissing her ass for no reason, which she probably directly or indirectly paid for telling her how much better her home vlogs are.
  • Paige puts on some MAC setting spray and this is where we get into Peak Paige, she tells us this story about how when she lived in NYC she made friends with a girl who worked at MAC and at first Paige didn't believe that the setting spray did anything but then her friend told her that unlike other setting sprays, the MAC stuff "leaves a layer over your skin that like... helps your makeup combine smoothly, so that's why if you love the MAC Fix Plus more than other setting sprays, it's because it actually has science behind it"
    • I call this Peak Paige because it's something that's so obviously rich with lies while simultaneously very likely being an undisclosed advertisement that you could spend hours unpacking this. Like which part is the lie, that Paige made a friend? Was this "friend" someone she talked to more than once at the MAC store? Why did Paige say "combine" like it had a d in it? What does she mean by "it has science behind it", like, how does Paige think other setting sprays, or for that matter other makeup works? Does Paige think about any of this at all? Does this not make sense because it came as part of an ad read Paige got in her many, many PR packages we've seen her get from MAC? We may never know! It's a mystery lost to the sands of time!
  • There are chunks of glass in Paige's palette because it broke but they're just going to have to ~make it work~ because she's so tough and roll with the punches and quirky like that! I mean she literally made Tommy take her to Sephora in the vlog the day before and it's a totally brown palette which there's no way she couldn't find another of at a Sephora in Paris, but sure Paige.
  • Paige while using the Benefit brow stuff: "I strayed away from this stuff for a second, don't know why, think it's because I get sent so many products" really had to add that in there.
  • Oh thank god she finally added blush and it makes her look a million, trillion times better
  • "Don't worry" says Paige as she applies stuff, "I'm going to leave links to everything I use for you guys". Oh you're going to try to make money off this by using undisclosed affiliate links? You don't say! It was super subtle, the clearly narrated ad copy and pop-ups every time you used a new product didn't give you away at all.
  • I will say this for Paige, the girl does do a good cat eye.
  • Okay this is insane, Paige uses a powder to cover up her roots? What is this, 1776 the musical? ROOT COVER UP POWDER???? I don't color my hair, is this a normal product???? I still say it's giving Founding Father. Powdering roots. Unbelievable. I hate everything about it.
• Paige shows us two dress options, the set she wore and a much more modest, much cuter dress that's essentially an a-line pink polo shirt. I really, really liked the first one on her, but she vetoes it for being too "casual". The second one that's a set, on the other hand, doesn't ook as coherent because it's a three piece and requires a cami underneath the jacket, it looks hot and itchy, and the shorts in that heavy material look ridiculous and don't fit her body well so it's giving diaper. She of course went with the second one.
  • She's wearing it with her new Chanel loafers. They were a gift (she doesn't say from who) and she's obsessed with them, hashtag not a designer girl.
• Anyway Tommy loses and they go out to dinner, the end. On a 1-10 scale with ten being the most, I give it a 2 for actually being a well put together vlog, a 3 in terms of Paige being a privileged unhinged weirdo. She can do better on all fronts.

For instance I was considering spray tanning but I’ve been told that with spray tanning you can’t scrub that hard in the shower… it basically leaves a film
So I just cancelled my tanning salon membership but thinking, “Alright I can wear SPF on my face and be good… right?”
I just don’t want to turn into a ghost
I just put on Tretinoin 0.05% for the first time the other day, went golfing, and got a sun burn on my face and now it’s flaking (this stuff works)
Just wondering what you guys do. :)

I’ve been doing this for almost 9 years now, and my knees just can’t take being on the hard concrete anymore for restraint. Anyone have any suggestions for some good knee pads that fit under scrubs??

Thought of this after reading an article about a couple who paid 250000 to have a wall removed from their house. Sounds like a nightmare to have to pay out of pocket for. Let's say, Banksy paints my house/any other property I own, and I don't want to bother removing the wall. What challenges, legal, non legal, zoning, protection, or others, would I face if I decided to strip it off/paint over it?
Not that I would (I might if faced with it, upkeep on that sounds like a huge nightmare and the only other option is removing the wall of my house), or that I have this issue (I live in the USA, I think he's limited to Europe), but what would you face going this route?
EDIT: Assuming I 100% own the property, not renting, I own it and the structure painted on. Rentals are obviously not the same.
EDIT2: link to 250000 dollar removal story: (Link)

Unpacking the Light Police. Light Pollution News.
Show Link: https://lightpollutionnews.com/podcast/unpacking-the-light-police/
Subscribe: Apple Podcast Spotify Google Podcast
Social: Instagram LinkedIn
Guests:
John Barentine of Dark Sky Consulting, LLC.
Kaitlyn Evans, Conservationist.
Show:
I was busted by the light police. They had a point, Dana Milbank of the Washington Post.
Dana Milbank purchased a home in, soon to be not, rural Virginia. At night he kept the formerly vacant property lit to the degree that spurned one commentator to call it “spaceship lighting.”
Milbank recaps being visited by the “light police,” a group of concerned citizens who help educate neighbors and instill a sense of pride in the brilliance of their starry night skies.
At first, he was taken aback, but later, not only did he appreciate their efforts, but he also converted his blinding always on, white light flood lights to warm 2700 Kelvin motion sensing lights.
Per Ruskin Hartley, executive director of the International Dark Sky Association, “for 4.5 billion years there was no artificial light at night. It’s really only in the last five human generations that we transformed that. It’s one of the most profound transformations of our environment.”
Many of you may recall an earlier story, way back in our Hormone of Darkness episode, showcasing concerns by local residents prior to a 760 house (now 761) plus town center development moving into the Culpepper County, VA area. Per the Rappahannock News, this development features “a resort style swimming pool, clubhouse, tot lot, and multiple sports fields and sports courts, all connected by a network of biking and walking trails.”
The forgotten medieval habit of ‘two sleeps’ by Zaria Gorvett of the BBC.
Gorvett opened my eyes to something I never knew about, the medieval custom of two sleeps. For those of you unaware, two sleeps are exactly what it sounds like.
Folks would partake in a communal nap, complete with rigid sleeping arrangement conventions, between 9 – 11pm, then awaken for a few hours to do everything from hang out to brew beer! In fact, the idea of multiple sleeps crossed cultures and was found in places as far from Europe as indigenous South America.
How can one’s circadian rhythm make sense of all of this?!
Well, for starters, until the invention of the alarm clock, which humorously was invented by a clocks salesman so he could wake up and sell more clocks, people had no firm way to wake up at a consistent time. The industrial revolution enforced a new circadian standard.
And there’s some science behind this! In the 1992 study, In Short Photoperiods, human sleep is biphasic, researcher Thomas Wehr found that after four weeks of 10 hour days, his subjects began to engage in this two sleep cycle, involving a one to three hour period for which they became awake and engaged in between.
Want to Learn About Light Pollution? There’s a mini-course for that!, Jennifer Sensiba of Clean Technica.
Quoting Sensiba, “As I got older, I traveled a lot more and saw the problem more for what it is. Not only did I see that in many places there is no refuge from it, but I also saw that it was slowly growing worse. Places that had been dark 30 years ago had more and more light creeping upon the horizon.”
If you’re interested in learning more, or more importantly, know someone who might benefit from learning more, Sensiba links up to an International Dark Sky Mini-Course on light pollution, call it Light Pollution 101!
There’s a Play Date at the National Museum of Natural History: Lights Out exhibit!
But unfortunately, by the time you listen to this, and hell, by the time we talk about this, it has passed.
Ann Arbor named best place for sunrises, sunsets in Michigan. Sarah Parlette for Click on Detroit.
Evidently gambling websites have decided to honor April’s International Dark Sky week in a strange new content marketing campaign, which was to rank the best places in each state to see sunrises and sunsets. My favorite one, “Ann Arbor named best place for sunrises, sunsets in Michigan,” comes from Click on Detroit, whereby a quote “study” examined Michigan’s most populated cities.”
According to Click on Detroit, “to celebrate International Astrology Day on Saturday, staff at Great Lake Stakes, a Michigan online gambling news site, looked at light pollution in the five most populated cities around the Mitten state to determine which offers the best views every morning and evening.”
Star bathing is the new outdoor travel trend we should all be trying for Summer 2023, according to Amy Beecham at Stylist.
Evidently, as an attempt to destress and promote mindfulness, romanticism about sleeping under the stars has birthed a 70% increase in searches for the term ‘star bathing’ on Hipcamp. And to be sure, “Hipcamp recommends checking a stargazing calendar which outlines major astrological events – like supermoons, pink moons, and star showers.”
“Industry Must Face an Inconvenient Truth — Most LED Lights at Night are Unhealthy”
Dr. Martin Moore-Ede, a circadian clock expert, recently published an article in LEDs Magazine chastising the lighting industry for not recognizing and reigning in the negative externalities of its products. Per the piece, such effects are, obesity, diabetes, depression, cancer, and more.
He cites three categories of industry responses, making the correlation that long term Denial or outright Ignorance of the Facts, may result in “asbestos-scale liabilities or draconian regulations.”
Per the piece, a recent survey by the Circadian Light Research Center of 2,697 peer reviewed scientific articles confirmed that human circadian clocks are highly sensitive to blue wavelengths, and that exposure to such wavelengths leads to major health disorders.
Moore-Ede calls for the industry to harvest the “commercial opportunity” to greatly limit future liability by creating and managing its own standards for circadian modulated lighting.
Unpacking the Wallpack, by Dan Weissman in LD+A Magazine.
Weissman, who recently purchased a telescope for his family in Cambridge, MA, discovered that the scope could only afford him views of some solar system objects and a few brightly burning stars.
The ire of Weissman’s pen takes the shape of a rectangular fixtures, be it box like or simply a panel these days, that typically hang off the side of an exterior wall or above an exterior door. “Devoid of aesthetic value” this light is often put up under the “pretense of security and safety” by “recommended practices and adopted municipal codes.”
Weissman recognizes labels that often accompany, what he calls, “Glare bombs,” including “contractor-select,” “energy efficient,” or “light pollution friendly.”
Further, per an earlier LD+A article, such lighting driven by its extreme contrasts is exceedingly common in minority communities where light is weaponized as a tool of power. It becomes a “device of alienation, creating a zone of control and separation.”
Weissman recognizes that the true reason such fixtures are selected often comes down to cost. He recognizes that it may take equally as much cost to persuade building and homeowners away from such lighting into the realm of more responsible, lower lumen, shielded lighting.
Weissman calls for producers of these glare bombs to be labeled as polluters, putting them in line with fossil fuel manufacturers and PFAS makers.
Songbirds, dusk and clear skies: Scientists explore migratory flights, by Erin Blakemore.
Bird migration season is ending here in the Mid-Atlantic. I was lucky enough to catch several Baltimore Orioles and Indigo Buntings last week. Researchers looked at 400 songbirds from 9 major species, “including the yellow-rump warbler, American redstart and Bicknell’s thrush.”
The question they hoped to answer was how are these birds so darn precise in identifying the best time to take off for their nightly migration? Scientists found that 90% of the migrating birds in the study took off within 69 minutes of dusk. A “much narrower takeoff window,” that even shocked the research team!
Per the study, taking off at night is all about maximum flight time. In addition to being able to precisely schedule their take offs, a feat that every airline I’ve flown with over the past few years has proven inept at, birds also are apparently good meteorologists! They often depart when the atmospheric pressure rises over a day’s span. Other factors also trigger migration, including sex, age, and celestial cues.
‘Lights Out’ initiative appears to be saving birds from crashing into Philly buildings by Sophia Schmidt.
Preliminary results indicate that bird death counts are down 70% at one Market Street tower, since it began its participation in Lights Out. As we spoke about on a previous show, birds utilize the stars to navigate, but city lights can disorient the birds. Combine the lights with reflective or transparent glass, and that spells fatal trouble for our migrating warblers!
Per Keith Russell, a program manager for urban conservation with Audubon Mid-Atlantic, “We’ve lost almost a third of our birds – and [collisions] contributing to that. If we’re going to want to preserve the bird populations here in North America, we have to look at these types of problems. And this is a preventable one.”
The Knoxville, TN Zoo is offering up what they call “Twilight Tours” per WVLT 8. Each event will feature a guide to showcase nocturnal critters.
I did something similar in Singapore years ago. The zoo had very dim lights in the exhibits – and they kept those lights dim as you walked so that you didn’t lose your night vision. It was a very different and, might I say, peaceful experience than the typically chaotic daytime zoo.
Flashlights posing major threat to nesting sea turtles. Fox35 Orlando
Apparently, a single flashlight can deter female sea turtles from coming onto a beach and nesting. Florida, as I did not know, is home to 90% of the sea turtle nests across the world, so losing sea turtles can affect the global ecosystem.
One visitor to Cocoa Beach stated, “Just leave them alone. Stand back and look. You don’t need a flashlight.”
Another, “It’s not super surprising because more buildings go up, more technology. As it increases, nature and stuff like that decreases,” said Zoe Jovaag, whose grandfather used to take her on walks to see sea turtles.
Capture the Dark 2023 officially is under way!
The International Dark Sky Association opens up its annual photo contest complete with prizes across eight categories and an additional People’s Choice category. Voting begins on July 3rd, entries must be received by June 30th.
City Tests Traffic Light That Only Turns Green for Drivers Who Obey the Speed Limit. Erin Marquis for Jalopnik.
And hey, you better not speed in Brossard, Quebec….otherwise you may be waiting around for a while. Brossard is testing out a new traffic light that will stay red until it senses oncoming traffic. However, it will only change to green if the car is going the speed limit. Per the Jalopnik article, “FRED [the French acronym for “educational traffic calming light] forces fast drivers to stop and gives them a chance to reconsider their life choices.” Such lights are already used in Europe, but this will be the first for the Great White North.
Why the Greatest Threat to Star-Gazing Isn’t Light Pollution, and this comes to us from Dorin Elin Urrutia at Inverse.
Elin Urrutia writes, in her compelling piece, that the greatest threat to star-gazing is actually the weather. Citing notable examples of the Mount Stromlo Observatory in Australia (which burnt down due to bushfires) and the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico (which sustained structural damage following the winds of Hurricane Maria).
While the threat of human-caused climate change has presented new challenges, Elin Urrutia references proactive burns that saved Los Angeles’ Mount Wilson Observatory from flames in 2020.
On a similar note, ABC News (the Australian Broadcasting Company, not to be confused with the American Broadcasting Company), brings us “A World Without Darkness Could Be a Reality within a Few Years.”
Per Carol Redford of Astrotourism Western Australia, “There are some people in the world now who don’t actually experience darkness anymore. They’re in a city like Beijing, Toyoko, or London. In all those big cities, it’s never dark, it’s always light. During the day of course with the sun, but then during the night with all of the artificial light. They’re not experiencing darkness, and definitely not seeing those beautiful stars…”
In the 66 years since the implementation of the UN Convention on the Peaceful Use of Outerspace, around 11,000 satellites orbit the Earth. But it’s about to get wayyy busier. Driven by innovations that have led to dramatic reductions in costs, over the next ten years, Per attorney Steven Freeland, it’s anticipated that somewhere between 100,000 to 500,000 objects will be sent up. Let me pause on that for a second.
On the travel front, we stay in the land down under, “Aussie region determined to keep its darkness is a stargazer’s dream” by Chantelle Francis of News.com.AU.
The town of Swam Reach, population 270, resides in a 3200sq km region of Southern Australia that received its International Dark Sky Reserve status over three years ago. On a scale of darkness between 0 – 22, the River Murray Dark Sky Reserve at Swam Reach, measures in at a whopping 21.9!
Tourism has become a growing business. The reserve hosts numerous telescope pads and offers tours of the night sky. There’s hope that an observatory and/or planetarium may also arrive in due course.
Best smart lights for outdoors in 2023, Brittney Vincent of CBS Essentials.
Oh there’s a lot not to love here, but it does fall in line with last month’s ‘Lumens are Coming’ article.
For those of you who feel the need to light your trees, because for some reason they need light at night I guess…I’ll try and pretend it’s not solely for ostentatious and narcissistic reasons. By the way, does anyone remember when those were negative characteristics?
The article features spotlights that can be programmed to over 16 MILLION colors including…lucky for us, ALL shades of white….which you can also do for a 500 lumen flood light set.
And hey, Ring now has solar path lighting. Don’t worry though, the fixtures themselves put out up to 80 lumens of sideways light.
You know, it’s astounding when you look at some of these pictures. The amount of redundant lighting. It honestly makes no sense to me. You have a porch light, which lights up the path. Path lighting, which lights up the path. And, in the one picture, god awful frontward facing flood lights, which also light up the path. How bright do you need these paths!? I digress. But the lumens are indeed coming.
LDS Church will get to light up its Heber Valley Temple after all, but the faith didn’t get everything it wanted, Blake Apgar of the Salt Lake Tribune.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints fought hard to rid itself of any nighttime lighting responsibility by pressuring Wasatch County, Utah officials to approve new lighting rules that would enable the church to light a proposed new temple the same way it does for every other temple.
The Church received permission to uplight the temple, enabling an exception to be made in Wasatch’s rather stringent nighttime lighting rulebook. However, the temple will be restricted by the level of lumens it can use, and it must have exterior lighting turned off an hour after sunset or an hour after normal business hours.
Smart Street Lights Market is Expected to Hit USD 14,751.1 million at a 23.4% CAGR by 2030, Market Research Future Press Release
The pandemic is officially over, smart street lighting is about to boom. Combine the rush to LED fixtures with the Internet of Things, and expect to see street lights moonlighting as traffic and parking monitors, air quality meters, and more. Not to mention, “it is anticipated that camera-connected smart street lighting will increase road safety by lowering the likelihood of accidents and criminality.”
Texas now has 7 dark sky communities for spectacular star gazing, Sana Ameer, MRT.
Let’s cheer on the city of Bee Cave, everyone! Bee Cave joins a growing list of dark sky places already in the Lone Star State, including 2 Dark Sky Sanctuaries, 5 Dark Sky Parks, and 1 Dark Sky Reserve. Nighttime is alive and well in some parts of Texas!
Our Afraid of the Dark article is a bit scary! Hilton Head’s dark roads and pedestrians are deadly combo. What the town is doing about it, Blake Douglas at The Island Packet.
Per the article, 9 pedestrian and cyclist fatalities occurred since 2018, with five occurring after dark. Prior to that period, there were 28 recorded deaths from 2000 – 2016, with 20 of them taking place after dark.
In 2018, an 11 year old resident was struck and killed while walking her dog across an intersection one night. Lighting advocates began taking shape in what otherwise is a very conservation focused island. Hilton Head, SC has a limited number of street lights, priding itself on “avoiding light pollution and blending nature with construction.”
Lighting advocates appear to be, at the very least, asking for flashing crosswalk lights on the island to indicate when an individual is crossing.
It should be noted that the article shows a chart of 9 after-dark-deaths since 2014, only two of them occurred at crosswalks. In fact, during the same time frame, 6 additional deaths occurred at crosswalks during the daytime.
As a whole, the National Safety Council reports that 74.5% of pedestrian deaths occurred at night, whereby 39.1% took place in lit areas and 35.38% took place in unlit areas.
Bryan Bloch, an auto safety expert, surmises that car companies bear some of the blame – producing cheap or ineffectual headlight fixtures, and drivers themselves, who don’t realize that they need to regularly clean their headlight lenses.
Despite opposition from residents, it appears that Hilton Head will be receiving lights at two new intersections and possibly more depending on engineering studies currently in progress.
Is lighting the key variable here? Is more light going to solve pedestrian deaths?
Our featured research article of the month comes to us from Animal Conservation, “Manipulating spectra of artificial light affects movement patterns of bats along ecological corridors.”
Bats are already known to have a wide range of responses to artificial light at night (also known as ALAN). Fast flying species tend to be more opportunistic in the presence of ALAN while slower ones tend to be more light averse. We know that “long wavelengths and reduced intensity” can minimize their environmental effects on bats. It’s not unheard of for bats to travel upwards of “tens of km per night.” Furthermore, bats are very dependent on the landscape and the structures within those landscapes.
Despite the nuances between species, the consensus is that ALAN, especially high intensity ALAN, negatively affects bats. This study attempted to answer what exactly bats do when they encounter ALAN – how do they react depending on different types of ALAN.
The study used three different light fixtures – one green, one red, and one white. The control was devoid of light fixtures. The researchers attempted to ascertain the behavior of bats as they encountered lights adjacent to woody areas. The researchers looked at three different bat groupings based on their foraging-echo location behavior, that being one of open field foraging, forest edge foraging, and narrow space – or more aptly forest foragers.
Researchers found that open and edge foraging bats increased their activity close to white and green lights, and to a lesser extent red lights. However, narrow space bats were more likely to veer away from all colors of lighting. Edge foragers were also less likely to cross a white light.
The positive effects of white and green light on open and edge foraging bats appear to be attributed to the accumulation of insects around light sources containing more blue light.
The nighttime sky over Oahu will be lit up with green lasers in the coming days. Here’s why. Hawaii News Now
Before we close up today, do you live in Hawaii? I know I wish I did!
If so, do you recall seeing green lasers streak across the night sky? Well, the Army Corps of Engineers was using lidar at night to complete a coastal mapping survey.
Why did they survey at night? Specifically, why did they do this between midnight to 5am? Simply b/c the airspace is so busy, that time was the only chance they had to complete the survey. The remaining survey was completed during daytime hours.

What Lies in the Mirror

By John Westrick
The blood ran in rivulets down the landscape of my face. I could see the droplets running their trek in the silvery plane of the mirror. She should’ve known the consequences.
I mean honestly, what was she thinking?
There was only one reasonable response to her actions.
And now, I must pay?
Yes, I took a baseball bat to the back of her skull, but only after she twisted the dagger in my heart. The police wouldn’t have locked her away. So, I had to take matters in my own hand.
I caught her red-handed. She was still in bed with him, when I walked through the door. I grabbed my signed baseball bat hanging over the dresser and I began to swing. I didn’t stop until the twitching stopped. I didn’t quit until the whimpers and moans finally ceased.
I remained staring at the blood splattered across my person in the bathroom mirror, when the police found me. It was everywhere. It stained my blonde hair like burgundy highlights. My arms, legs, torso were coated in it like I fell in a vat of crimson paint.
I was sentenced to life in a mental ward. My psychiatrist tells me I have Eisoptrophobia, the fear of mirrors. But it’s not the mirrors that frighten me, it’s what lies in it.
The blood.
The blood that soaks the white scrubs they force us patients to wear. The blood that stains my skin red, no matter how hard I attempt to wash clean. The blood that runs trickling down my body, tickling as it forms into pregnant drops, disappearing the moment before it strikes the floor. They say the blood only exists in my head, but they are wrong.
The blood remains in the mirror, waiting for me to walk by.

What Lies in the Mirror

By John Westrick
The blood ran in rivulets down the landscape of my face. I could see the droplets running their trek in the silvery plane of the mirror. She should’ve known the consequences.
I mean honestly, what was she thinking?
There was only one reasonable response to her actions.
And now, I must pay?
Yes, I took a baseball bat to the back of her skull, but only after she twisted the dagger in my heart. The police wouldn’t have locked her away. So, I had to take matters in my own hand.
I caught her red-handed. She was still in bed with him, when I walked through the door. I grabbed my signed baseball bat hanging over the dresser and I began to swing. I didn’t stop until the twitching stopped. I didn’t quit until the whimpers and moans finally ceased.
I remained staring at the blood splattered across my person in the bathroom mirror, when the police found me. It was everywhere. It stained my blonde hair like burgundy highlights. My arms, legs, torso were coated in it like I fell in a vat of crimson paint.
I was sentenced to life in a mental ward. My psychiatrist tells me I have Eisoptrophobia, the fear of mirrors. But it’s not the mirrors that frighten me, it’s what lies in it.
The blood.
The blood that soaks the white scrubs they force us patients to wear. The blood that stains my skin red, no matter how hard I attempt to wash clean. The blood that runs trickling down my body, tickling as it forms into pregnant drops, disappearing the moment before it strikes the floor. They say the blood only exists in my head, but they are wrong.
The blood remains in the mirror, waiting for me to walk by.

What Lies in the Mirror

By John Westrick
The blood ran in rivulets down the landscape of my face. I could see the droplets running their trek in the silvery plane of the mirror. She should’ve known the consequences.
I mean honestly, what was she thinking?
There was only one reasonable response to her actions.
And now, I must pay?
Yes, I took a baseball bat to the back of her skull, but only after she twisted the dagger in my heart. The police wouldn’t have locked her away. So, I had to take matters in my own hand.
I caught her red-handed. She was still in bed with him, when I walked through the door. I grabbed my signed baseball bat hanging over the dresser and I began to swing. I didn’t stop until the twitching stopped. I didn’t quit until the whimpers and moans finally ceased.
I remained staring at the blood splattered across my person in the bathroom mirror, when the police found me. It was everywhere. It stained my blonde hair like burgundy highlights. My arms, legs, torso were coated in it like I fell in a vat of crimson paint.
I was sentenced to life in a mental ward. My psychiatrist tells me I have Eisoptrophobia, the fear of mirrors. But it’s not the mirrors that frighten me, it’s what lies in it.
The blood.
The blood that soaks the white scrubs they force us patients to wear. The blood that stains my skin red, no matter how hard I attempt to wash clean. The blood that runs trickling down my body, tickling as it forms into pregnant drops, disappearing the moment before it strikes the floor. They say the blood only exists in my head, but they are wrong.
The blood remains in the mirror, waiting for me to walk by.

What Lies in the Mirror

By John Westrick
The blood ran in rivulets down the landscape of my face. I could see the droplets running their trek in the silvery plane of the mirror. She should’ve known the consequences.
I mean honestly, what was she thinking?
There was only one reasonable response to her actions.
And now, I must pay?
Yes, I took a baseball bat to the back of her skull, but only after she twisted the dagger in my heart. The police wouldn’t have locked her away. So, I had to take matters in my own hand.
I caught her red-handed. She was still in bed with him, when I walked through the door. I grabbed my signed baseball bat hanging over the dresser and I began to swing. I didn’t stop until the twitching stopped. I didn’t quit until the whimpers and moans finally ceased.
I remained staring at the blood splattered across my person in the bathroom mirror, when the police found me. It was everywhere. It stained my blonde hair like burgundy highlights. My arms, legs, torso were coated in it like I fell in a vat of crimson paint.
I was sentenced to life in a mental ward. My psychiatrist tells me I have Eisoptrophobia, the fear of mirrors. But it’s not the mirrors that frighten me, it’s what lies in it.
The blood.
The blood that soaks the white scrubs they force us patients to wear. The blood that stains my skin red, no matter how hard I attempt to wash clean. The blood that runs trickling down my body, tickling as it forms into pregnant drops, disappearing the moment before it strikes the floor. They say the blood only exists in my head, but they are wrong.
The blood remains in the mirror, waiting for me to walk by.

What Lies in the Mirror

By John Westrick
The blood ran in rivulets down the landscape of my face. I could see the droplets running their trek in the silvery plane of the mirror. She should’ve known the consequences.
I mean honestly, what was she thinking?
There was only one reasonable response to her actions.
And now, I must pay?
Yes, I took a baseball bat to the back of her skull, but only after she twisted the dagger in my heart. The police wouldn’t have locked her away. So, I had to take matters in my own hand.
I caught her red-handed. She was still in bed with him, when I walked through the door. I grabbed my signed baseball bat hanging over the dresser and I began to swing. I didn’t stop until the twitching stopped. I didn’t quit until the whimpers and moans finally ceased.
I remained staring at the blood splattered across my person in the bathroom mirror, when the police found me. It was everywhere. It stained my blonde hair like burgundy highlights. My arms, legs, torso were coated in it like I fell in a vat of crimson paint.
I was sentenced to life in a mental ward. My psychiatrist tells me I have Eisoptrophobia, the fear of mirrors. But it’s not the mirrors that frighten me, it’s what lies in it.
The blood.
The blood that soaks the white scrubs they force us patients to wear. The blood that stains my skin red, no matter how hard I attempt to wash clean. The blood that runs trickling down my body, tickling as it forms into pregnant drops, disappearing the moment before it strikes the floor. They say the blood only exists in my head, but they are wrong.
The blood remains in the mirror, waiting for me to walk by.

What Lies in the Mirror

By John Westrick
The blood ran in rivulets down the landscape of my face. I could see the droplets running their trek in the silvery plane of the mirror. She should’ve known the consequences.
I mean honestly, what was she thinking?
There was only one reasonable response to her actions.
And now, I must pay?
Yes, I took a baseball bat to the back of her skull, but only after she twisted the dagger in my heart. The police wouldn’t have locked her away. So, I had to take matters in my own hand.
I caught her red-handed. She was still in bed with him, when I walked through the door. I grabbed my signed baseball bat hanging over the dresser and I began to swing. I didn’t stop until the twitching stopped. I didn’t quit until the whimpers and moans finally ceased.
I remained staring at the blood splattered across my person in the bathroom mirror, when the police found me. It was everywhere. It stained my blonde hair like burgundy highlights. My arms, legs, torso were coated in it like I fell in a vat of crimson paint.
I was sentenced to life in a mental ward. My psychiatrist tells me I have Eisoptrophobia, the fear of mirrors. But it’s not the mirrors that frighten me, it’s what lies in it.
The blood.
The blood that soaks the white scrubs they force us patients to wear. The blood that stains my skin red, no matter how hard I attempt to wash clean. The blood that runs trickling down my body, tickling as it forms into pregnant drops, disappearing the moment before it strikes the floor. They say the blood only exists in my head, but they are wrong.
The blood remains in the mirror, waiting for me to walk by.

What Lies in the Mirror

By John Westrick
The blood ran in rivulets down the landscape of my face. I could see the droplets running their trek in the silvery plane of the mirror. She should’ve known the consequences.
I mean honestly, what was she thinking?
There was only one reasonable response to her actions.
And now, I must pay?
Yes, I took a baseball bat to the back of her skull, but only after she twisted the dagger in my heart. The police wouldn’t have locked her away. So, I had to take matters in my own hand.
I caught her red-handed. She was still in bed with him, when I walked through the door. I grabbed my signed baseball bat hanging over the dresser and I began to swing. I didn’t stop until the twitching stopped. I didn’t quit until the whimpers and moans finally ceased.
I remained staring at the blood splattered across my person in the bathroom mirror, when the police found me. It was everywhere. It stained my blonde hair like burgundy highlights. My arms, legs, torso were coated in it like I fell in a vat of crimson paint.
I was sentenced to life in a mental ward. My psychiatrist tells me I have Eisoptrophobia, the fear of mirrors. But it’s not the mirrors that frighten me, it’s what lies in it.
The blood.
The blood that soaks the white scrubs they force us patients to wear. The blood that stains my skin red, no matter how hard I attempt to wash clean. The blood that runs trickling down my body, tickling as it forms into pregnant drops, disappearing the moment before it strikes the floor. They say the blood only exists in my head, but they are wrong.
The blood remains in the mirror, waiting for me to walk by.

What Lies in the Mirror

By John Westrick
The blood ran in rivulets down the landscape of my face. I could see the droplets running their trek in the silvery plane of the mirror. She should’ve known the consequences.
I mean honestly, what was she thinking?
There was only one reasonable response to her actions.
And now, I must pay?
Yes, I took a baseball bat to the back of her skull, but only after she twisted the dagger in my heart. The police wouldn’t have locked her away. So, I had to take matters in my own hand.
I caught her red-handed. She was still in bed with him, when I walked through the door. I grabbed my signed baseball bat hanging over the dresser and I began to swing. I didn’t stop until the twitching stopped. I didn’t quit until the whimpers and moans finally ceased.
I remained staring at the blood splattered across my person in the bathroom mirror, when the police found me. It was everywhere. It stained my blonde hair like burgundy highlights. My arms, legs, torso were coated in it like I fell in a vat of crimson paint.
I was sentenced to life in a mental ward. My psychiatrist tells me I have Eisoptrophobia, the fear of mirrors. But it’s not the mirrors that frighten me, it’s what lies in it.
The blood.
The blood that soaks the white scrubs they force us patients to wear. The blood that stains my skin red, no matter how hard I attempt to wash clean. The blood that runs trickling down my body, tickling as it forms into pregnant drops, disappearing the moment before it strikes the floor. They say the blood only exists in my head, but they are wrong.
The blood remains in the mirror, waiting for me to walk by.

What Lies in the Mirror

By John Westrick
The blood ran in rivulets down the landscape of my face. I could see the droplets running their trek in the silvery plane of the mirror. She should’ve known the consequences.
I mean honestly, what was she thinking?
There was only one reasonable response to her actions.
And now, I must pay?
Yes, I took a baseball bat to the back of her skull, but only after she twisted the dagger in my heart. The police wouldn’t have locked her away. So, I had to take matters in my own hand.
I caught her red-handed. She was still in bed with him, when I walked through the door. I grabbed my signed baseball bat hanging over the dresser and I began to swing. I didn’t stop until the twitching stopped. I didn’t quit until the whimpers and moans finally ceased.
I remained staring at the blood splattered across my person in the bathroom mirror, when the police found me. It was everywhere. It stained my blonde hair like burgundy highlights. My arms, legs, torso were coated in it like I fell in a vat of crimson paint.
I was sentenced to life in a mental ward. My psychiatrist tells me I have Eisoptrophobia, the fear of mirrors. But it’s not the mirrors that frighten me, it’s what lies in it.
The blood.
The blood that soaks the white scrubs they force us patients to wear. The blood that stains my skin red, no matter how hard I attempt to wash clean. The blood that runs trickling down my body, tickling as it forms into pregnant drops, disappearing the moment before it strikes the floor. They say the blood only exists in my head, but they are wrong.
The blood remains in the mirror, waiting for me to walk by.

What Lies in the Mirror

By John Westrick
The blood ran in rivulets down the landscape of my face. I could see the droplets running their trek in the silvery plane of the mirror. She should’ve known the consequences.
I mean honestly, what was she thinking?
There was only one reasonable response to her actions.
And now, I must pay?
Yes, I took a baseball bat to the back of her skull, but only after she twisted the dagger in my heart. The police wouldn’t have locked her away. So, I had to take matters in my own hand.
I caught her red-handed. She was still in bed with him, when I walked through the door. I grabbed my signed baseball bat hanging over the dresser and I began to swing. I didn’t stop until the twitching stopped. I didn’t quit until the whimpers and moans finally ceased.
I remained staring at the blood splattered across my person in the bathroom mirror, when the police found me. It was everywhere. It stained my blonde hair like burgundy highlights. My arms, legs, torso were coated in it like I fell in a vat of crimson paint.
I was sentenced to life in a mental ward. My psychiatrist tells me I have Eisoptrophobia, the fear of mirrors. But it’s not the mirrors that frighten me, it’s what lies in it.
The blood.
The blood that soaks the white scrubs they force us patients to wear. The blood that stains my skin red, no matter how hard I attempt to wash clean. The blood that runs trickling down my body, tickling as it forms into pregnant drops, disappearing the moment before it strikes the floor. They say the blood only exists in my head, but they are wrong.
The blood remains in the mirror, waiting for me to walk by.

Apple took the wraps off Vision Pro, an expensive pair of goggles the company promises will unlock a new universe of magical new virtual- and augmented-reality apps.
The headset will be priced starting at $3,499, available starting in early 2024 in the U.S. (with other countries later in the year). Apple announced the years-in-development headset Monday at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) at its headquarters in Cupertino, Calif.
“I believe that augmented reality is a profound technology,” said CEO Tim Cook, saying that Apple’s introduction of Vision Pro will introduce people to new forms of “spatial computing” and comparing the product introduction to the way iPhone introduced smartphones to millions of people.
“Built upon decades of Apple innovation, Vision Pro is years ahead and unlike anything created before — with a revolutionary new input system and thousands of groundbreaking innovations,” Cook said. “It unlocks incredible experiences for our users and exciting new opportunities for our developers.”
Disney CEO Bob Iger made an appearance during Apple’s Vision Pro launch, saying the “revolutionary” platform will let the company create “deeply immersive” stories in ways that were “previously impossible.” Disney’s sizzle reel for Vision Pro showed various concepts the media company is working on for the device, “to bring you real-life magic,” Iger said. Disney+ will be available on Vision Pro on “day one,” he added.
Apple’s Vision Pro uses eye movements and hand movements for navigation — with no external controllers — and also employs voice input. (Individual app developers, however, cannot access a user’s exact eye location or other personal info.) Vision Pro uses a feature Apple calls EyeSight that shows other people a wearer’s eyes if they’re in augmented-reality mode to help “users stay connected with those around them”; the screen turns opaque to the outside world if the wearer is in fully immersive VR mode. The headset also includes Apple’s first 3D camera, for capturing spatial video and photos, and can serve as a “personal movie theater” with a screen “that feels 100 feet wide” with support for Apple TV+, Apple Arcade games (more than 100 titles at launch) and other Apple services.
Vision Pro provides ultra high resolution, with more pixels for each eye than a 4K TV — with 23 million pixels across two displays — and provides a newly designed spatial-audio system, according to Apple. Vision Pro will change “the way users interact with their favorite apps, capture and relive memories, enjoy stunning TV shows and movies, and connect with others in FaceTime,” the company said.
For all of Apple’s razzle-dazzle, there remains the question of whether the long-awaited VR headset can finally help establish virtual reality as a popular mainstream technology — or whether, despite the heft of Apple’s investment and stellar global brand, this is essentially a high-priced tech toy.
The tech giant’s VR and mixed-reality headset reportedly has been in development for seven years, and marks the first new product category entry for Apple since it launched Apple Watch in 2015. The company has projected selling 900,000 VR headsets in the first year, Bloomberg reported last month.
The VR headset runs visionOS, an operating system Apple said was “designed from the ground up to support the low-latency requirements of spatial computing.” Apple said it gave some developers access to Vision Pro to create apps for the headset, including Microsoft’s Word and Excel and the Sky Guide planetarium app. At launch, Vision Pro will support hundreds of thousands of existing iPhone and iPad apps; in addition, Apple’s Vision Pro supports the Unity game engine to bring 3D apps developed using Unity to the platform.
The Vision Pro has a singular piece of 3D-formed laminated glass, which acts as an optical surface for the cameras and sensors. That is connected to an aluminum alloy frame that “gently curves to wrap around your face while serving as an attachment point for the Light Seal,” the section of fabric that touches the wearer’s face. All told, it includes 12 cameras, five sensors and six microphones “to ensure that content feels like it is appearing right in front of the user’s eyes, in real time,” according to Apple. The device’s new R1 chip processes and plays images within 12 milliseconds — eight times faster than the blink of an eye, per the company. Apple Vision Pro provides up to two hours of continuous use with its built-in battery.
Source: Variety