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Nice to read I'm not alone thinking of this nomadic kind of setup. And also I got the feedback I hoped on the Xreal Air 2 glasses : https://eu.shop.xreal.com/fr/products/xreal-air-2
Hey thanks (I'm the author)! BTW the "Pro" version has the electrochromic dimming, so I recommend paying a little extra for that unless you're really sure you're not going to need it.

EDIT: To clarify, I meant the "Xreal Air 2 Pro", not the "Xreal One Pro". The latter are much more expensive.

Your price point for the used glasses is quite lucky to just play around with it or using it sometimes.

They cost 800 new :|

1080p is that really okay?

They are $299 on sale on the vendor website right now. I won't link because I don't want to promote them necessarily, but I think you must have seen a different vendor or something?
I also paid less than $300. OP must be referring to a different model.
Looks like they’re weirdly expensive through the EU store. Just navigate from xreal.com - I see them for $US 299
Have you looked on Amazon? I got the One (not pro) for less than £500.
I've been thinking about using xreal glasses for coding but all the reviews I've seen seems to think that the fidelity isn't good enough for reading text for lengthy stretches of time. This article is the first counter argument here.
Might even use the phone as a trackpad/mouse for other non cli tasks.
What a shame that you really can't do this using an iPhone. Unless things have changed recently the closest you can come to this is using iSH to run some linux binaries (x86_32), but it's quite limited last I checked.
UTM runs virtual machines on iOS and has been around a while: https://getutm.app

Issue is that Apple doesn’t allow apps to run JIT so if you want the JIT version of UTM, you need to sideload or Jailbreak. The non-JIT version is on the App Store.

Are there any OSes that have usable performance (<1min to boot) on iOS without JIT? I tried a few and they were impractically slow.
What’s the performance penalty for the non JIT version?
Reviews on the App Store say very slow and you can’t move windows without waiting minutes. A Linux distro that’s CLI only seems to work.
I've tried the non JIT version, and while it's cool that something like this even works, it's not actually usable. It's very, very slow for anything graphical. You might be able to get away with just running a terminal.
Now that Google is rolling out native Debian with Android, this will only get better - in addition to Google's native DeX.

I'm sooo ready for the one device life! :D

AVF feels a bit janky with its constant crashing on startup. 16GB space is a bit restrictive, though I doubt it won't be raised at some point.
You can mount a data partition inside, so the 16GB limit is really just for the system.
Awesome! Regarding the keyboard I would recommend going towards the mechanical path. Browse https://kbd.news/ for some inspiration. I built a 36 keys for myself that is portable and very capable. You can even map keys to control the mouse and much more. Definitely going to keep an eye on the advancements of AR glasses from now on.
Wow, there's some very nice builds there. I so far I hadn't seen anything that seemed genuinely pocket-able but there are a few there that look like they might work. I'd still really love something that can lock flat and be used on a lap, but that feels doable.
I love kbd.news and was recently struck by the novelty of the Tackle keyboard[0]. Seems rather extreme but my first thought was it could be a great complement to AR glasses. The design could be improved with improved with some tenting, because those keys at the edges will be easy to accidentally trigger when reaching for other keys towards the center.

[0] https://kbd.news/Tackle-keyboard-2549.html

I could make people SO uncomfortable if I worked as a receptionist with this strapped on and threw in some very subtle signs of enjoying it. Reminds me of the south park nipple twisting guy. Very cool keyboard for VR and AR though. Can't really think of anything better if you wanted to type something quick in the middle of a physical VR game.
Anyone - I need this! or something similar as a wearable keyboard. Please help me.

I rigged together a torso/chest mounted keyboard system using rugged keyboard and laptop chest harness modified. It actually kinda works but this Tackle keyboard would work really well for my use case, which overlaps significantly with this post.

I use Viture XR glasses, similar to the Xreals in the post. And I have a rugged laptop in a backpack with LTE modem and external antenna. Then what I do is go hiking in woods and periodically stop and open a Ta-Da chair, which I use as a walking stick or carry on my back, then put on the XR glasses which connected to laptop just using the Viture HDMI adapter, open the keyboard harness, and start working, all terminal based work.

The worst worst part of this crazy setup is the keyboard system. It’s awkward and kinda scares other people as it looks like maybe I have a tactical military vest on. opening it up and getting oriented is like 90% of the hassle.

Please someone help me get this Tackle keyboard. I don’t have the physical engineering skills needed, I’m a software guy. DM me on reddit with same username as HN. I will PAY decent money to anyone who can deliver me a working version of this Tackle keyboard.

I also own and tried tap strap and it’s not viable. Keys needed. LLMs combined with Voice to Text is promising and something on software side I’m looking into actively, but I don’t think no keyboard is a productivity retaining option anytime soon.

I do at least 10K steps daily when I have this system working and my goal is to get to 15K steps and drop weight. My preferred environment is outdoors away from desks and tables and civilization.

If working in cafes without annoying people is a requirement, mechanical probably isn't so good.
You can get quiet mechanical switches that are comparable to laptop keyboard switches in terms of noise. There's a bit of art to the selection, but there are definitely options.
You can get switches that aren't any louder than typing on a laptop, these days "clicky" is just sub-category. The low profile 'choc' switches from Kailh are probably a good option to try.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHAK1kJtMVQ - have a listen. Some of them are inaudible under a mic, but really you need to buy a grab bag and play around at home to see what works.

I got this keyboard : https://www.keebart.com/products/3w6 that uses mechanical low profile silent choc switches (Twilight Ambients Silent) and they are quieter than most non-mechanical keyboards. Eg. my Logitech Ergo k860, which uses rubber domes, is louder. Only quieter keyboard I can think of is my MacBook Air but even that can get louder with intensive typing because of a different sound profile - depends on how hard you bottom out - for my typing style chocs are a bit louder.

Realistically nobody would even hear you typing on this unless you're in a quiet room, and there's a ton of mods you can do to get it quieter.

Anyway if you are into solving niche keyboard use cases definitely look into the custom build scene, it's surprisingly easy to build high quality custom solutions, and even easier to find someone to build it for you for few hundred $.

That one looks pretty nifty.

I bought a Keychron mechanical keyboard with its quietest switches and was a bit burnt by the experience - way louder than anything I want to use. But yeah, I believe you that the technology has improved.

Thanks for the info!

> I really didn't want to root the phone, but nothing else did what I needed

Shame that rooting is such a pain, and risks bricking the device. (Apparently Google's introduction of an anti-rollback bootloader this month has caused a few people's devices to get bricked when they tried to root.)

Seriously. Why is using your own pocket computer so hostile to user intent these days?
Because the world is full of malicious entities who want to exploit people and most people do not need root.
That's right, but why make rooting almost Impossible? Why they are fighting rooting at all? They could make rooting easier, for example in the hidden developer menu.
By malicious entities, do you mean the phone manufacturers, third-parties, or both?
Probably malware makers? Some phone manufacturers use that argument to explain why they prevent users from becoming root.

I still read it as phone manufacturers on my first pass!

The hardware is owned by the user but the OS is essentially owned by Google or Apple. The user is a tenant or a cow to be milked.

The main goals is preventing a spread of "google play" alternatives with paid apps.

What about running the userland app?
Anti-rollback is a security feature. I'm sorry you find yourself limited by Google - coming from the GrapheneOS user this is the only reasonable secure hardware platform of all the Android landscape.

I hope rooting will be easier for all the interested.

> The biggest downside of the glasses is that the FOV is actually too big. Seeing the top and bottom edges of the screen means moving your eyeballs to angles that are just a little uncomfortable,

Is there a window manager and/or eyeball tracking trick that could be added to this setup to bring content into the center?

That's not a FOV issue, that's a DOF issue.

You can't comfortably use any XR system for more than videos, if you can't use your neck to look around.

Oh that's a cool coincidence, I was just watching a video of someone coding a game without a laptop. In their case it's a VR game on a VR headset (based on Android), using Godot.

It's not really related I know but it's neat how all those not-strictly-computers are getting more useful!

Edit: forgot the video link! It's https://youtu.be/4ZAzi-4Ko3g?feature=shared

This is my favorite portable keyboard: https://www.logitech.com/en-us/shop/p/keys-to-go2-universal....

Unless they have a way to lock open, foldable keyboards will always subtly bend which is annoying enough for me to ditch the folding part entirely.

I wish they also included the trackpad beneath it. I basically want a laptop base without the screen.
I wonder if the keyboard covers for the Microsoft Surface tablets could somehow be repurposed.
they arent that nice, compared to what im currently using (epo64: https://a.co/d/gRQnvjE apparently on sale atm)

that said, my surface pro 3's keyboard is quite old now, so maybe the new ones are nicer

They more-or-less improved the keyboard immediately after the SP3. The SP4 is a night-and-day difference to the SP3 (to the point where I was considering getting a SP4 keyboard for my SP3 when I still had it), and they've gotten better since.
Over a decade ago microsoft actually sold a Bluetooth adapter for the surface keyboard
You can just unmount the display and have a base. I used such setup for 6 months as a teenager plugging it everywhere I go.
I have the non-cover version of this (or at least, it's another Logitech keyboard with a very similar design but lacks a cover - the K380s), and I also have a Keychron B1 Pro and a TKL mechanical keyboard, but my cheapo K380s still feels better to use to me.
IMHO the best option would be a LingLong Lunar. But they are pricey right now.
I have these same AR glasses and I really like them. The one downside is that they don't seem to handle heat too well--they'll crash if I run them in full sunlight for more than a few minutes. Also, they are not really AR--they are just a floating screen, and supposedly there is motion-tracking hardware, but no software. That's OK; a big floating screen that is fixed to my head is actually good.

In full sunlight I think this requires opacity. I lost the plastic cover for the lenses and I hacked up some cardboard thing.

These glasses have a really cool 3D side-by-side mode. The button activation is awkward, but it effectively turns this into a 3840x1280 screen. I couldn't really find much desktop support for this, but there are a few YouTube videos that are 16x9 SBS and they look really really cool. Unfortunately in this mode the desktop is then super-wide and spread across two eyes, so it's almost impossible to use a regular laptop with them. A 3D OS desktop would be killer on these!

I didn't try to go full mobile with a phone.

The cord is somewhat annoying, but I think I prefer it over a big stupid battery and some wireless protocol.

One wrinkle is that the interface is USB-C. The glasses need power, and though you can/could power them over HDMI, they don't support that. You need the device to support HDMI over USB-C and recognize the glasses as a display. The manufacturer offers a completely hilarious battery-powered HDMI-to-USB-C adapter. I have no idea why there is no powered solution; maybe there is.

You got them post-rebrand. If you shop by the old name "nReal" then you can find the non powered HDMI adapter. Also, the app is called nebula, but the motion control is just annoying and not worth it. I like mine, they work great, but the FOV is tiny, and all of the chirping about AR from influencers/media just doesn't help how underwhelming they are if you go in with those expectations rather than just a HMD.

https://www.amazon.com/Formerly-Connects-Lightning-Compatibl...

> I have these same AR glasses and I really like them. The one downside is that they don't seem to handle heat too well--they'll crash if I run them in full sunlight for more than a few minutes.

Yup, I found laying my head on the left side where the cord comes it also causes them to overheat quick. My solution is to always lay on the right hand side of them and I actually put some stick on heatsinks on the left "leg" body that also really helps keep them more comfortably cool.

Also weird quirk with them and USB-C I've found.

If you plug them in to a macbook it's 50/50 if they work or just turn on the tint. If that happens, rotating the USB-C plug causes them to work.

Surprisingly: USB-C cables do have an orientation. It comes up a lot with these kinds of female-to-female USB-C cable extenders: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTT1FJL6 (I have not used this one, it's just an example)

>Important Note: Ensure your USB-C cables support video transmission when using this coupler for video pass-through. If the connection doesn’t work initially, try reversing the orientation of the cable’s plug to ensure proper functionality, as USB-C protocols depend on connector orientation.

AFAICT not all cables are like this, but quite a few are, and broadly it appears that it's the sockets that are reversible and are simply hiding this - cables often just use one side. So when you bridge two cables like this, you need to make sure those (unmarked) sides line up.

So I suspect one side of your connection is either damaged or cheap (and didn't fully meet the reversible spec to save money).

(but only suspect, I haven't found a way to fully validate this)

> it's the sockets that are reversible and are simply hiding this - cables often just use one side. So when you bridge two cables like this, you need to make sure those (unmarked) sides line up.

Thanks for explaining the unexplainable! Also seen with couplers and gender-changers for connecting USB-c cables.

> I unfortunately had to upgrade my phone, because to drive the glasses you need to have DisplayPort Alt mode. My very cheap, very crappy old phone did not.

I also run a low spec android phone, and I tried the same brand of glasses with it. My workaround was a screencast to HDMI adapter, paired with an HDMI to to DP over USB-C. Both are cheap.

Occasionally the screencast flakes out. But when the network is working well it's pretty good.

is your HDMI to DP adapter active (powered)? what brand?
https://a.co/d/hJ99gxr

This is what my Amazon purchase history linked to, but I think the one I got in September looked very similar but without a logo on it.

Technically wouldn't it be much easier to just do the actual programming in a GitHub code space ?

I guess you'd need a stable connection though. I might try this as soon as Android actually impliments desktop mode correctly. Surprised OP didn't use Samsung Dex.

Thinking the same. Also considering the amount of speed up you get from the copilot .
Ive been thinking the same thing! Except with Code-server or some other way to get vscode's remote over ssh
OP wanted to work on a plane though.
Does GitHub code spaces allow you to compile stuff and get artifacts? I've never used it so I'm not sure what the limitations are compared to the Linux desktop (which is about as powerful as you can get)
I'm quite far sighted, is it possible to use AR glasses for farsighted people?
The focal plane of the glasses is around 10 feet, so I think you should be able to see it just as well as anything else at that distance.
How do glasses like this work for someone who wears eyeglasses for myopia and astigmatism, and doesn't like contacts?
they don't work for me having astigmatism with or without prescription glasses.
When I did a Vision Pro demo they had lenses on hand to accommodate my astigmatism. It was pretty nice…and about 10x the cost of this
Oh, that's really cool though that they can handle it!

It's funny that 3500 seems sooo much to spend for hardware now... over the last 25 years, it's gotten so much cheaper between lower price macbooks and not needing to upgrade phones and laptops nearly so often.

Its not so much to spend for a full powerful computing device which you can do anything you need to on for work or play (like a powerful laptop or desktop), but it is a lot for a purely media consumption device like a headset (which is essentially a fancy TV).
As long as your prescription isn't to extreme the VITURE Pro XR exists and is similar. I tried it and it worked surprisingly well but returned it because the headtracking didn't work on Linux and I didn't like the static view.
You can buy inserts for an additional $80 from official partner HONSVR, or less from AliExpress. My HONS inserts work as well as any glasses I've had. I have -1.50 myopia in both eyes, with different levels of astigmatism.
Air 2 Pros!? I have those and can't stand using them for work. I was hoping the One Pros would be a big enough step up that I could use AR glasses for daily productivity.
Can you elaborate what the main issue is for you?
Mainly lack of text clarity, resolution, jitter when trying to keep the image still with the xreal beam, and low FOV
that's really good to know

When you look at reviews they all exclaim how clear and crisp it is, but they are virtually never looking at text, which is approximately the only thing I want to look at.

I compare it to VR headsets, and I've used most of them. I currently use a Quest Pro and consider that clearer and easier to read than the Air 2 Pros
That's really good to know as I have both a Quest 3 and a Quest Pro myself. What I'd say is that Quest 3 is about the minimum I can work with. I did work with Quest Pro for a while and it was just usable but only as an exception. If the current display glasses are worse than Quest Pro then for sure I'm not going to be happy.
> I wrote most of this blog post sitting at a picnic table in a park. Screen glare and brightness is not an issue. I can fit into tight spaces. This setup was infinitely more comfortable than a laptop when on a plane. Some coffee shops also have narrow bars that are too small for a laptop, but not for this. The phone has a cellular connection, so I'm not tied to wifi. In other words, there's a sense of freedom that you do not get with a laptop. And I can be outdoors. One of the things I've grown tired of as software dev is feeling like I'm stuck inside all the time in front of a screen. With this I can walk to a coffee shop and work for an hour or two, then get up and walk to a park for another hour of work.

Am I the only one who wishes they could be inside in a windowless room 24/7/365? There’s climate control, HEPA filtration, good chairs, peace and quiet, precisely the light level and color and direction I like, etc, at all times. Every time I go outside, the environment is worse than being at home indoors.

Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one on the planet who doesn’t enjoy being outdoors at all.

Nah, there are at least few of us.

I still go out though to walk and cycle, sometimes eat, but anything else is more comfortable at home.

> Am I the only one who wishes they could be inside in a windowless room 24/7/365?

I spent a decade in a building like that for my 9-5 job. It gets old, unless you really hate sunlight and fresh air.

i wish i could have those bright window spots everyone hates. the glare doesnt bother me.

i do just go outside on the building deck instead

It being an office building, you likely did not have nearly the level of environmental control I describe.

I do really hate sunlight, but fresh air is essential. If you don’t have fresh air indoors, your HVAC design is bad. Air is one of the easiest things to move around.

It wouldn't be too expensive to make what you want, you could always buy a small plot of land and build a custom home to try it out. Shouldn't be more than $200-400k, possibly less depending on the area.
I’m doing precisely that, but I have simulated the same in the meantime by taking a normal residential house and completely blacking out and sealing the windows in the largest upstairs room. It’s excellent. When I turn off the lights it can be pitch black and 68F at noon in the middle of the summer in the Mojave.

I had to cover the windows in all the adjacent rooms to make this work, but it does.

Don't forget the lack of bugs landing on you and crawling on you!
I find that working outside or at a cafe is too distracting. I agree with what you're saying with regards to work or even reading.

I enjoy outdoors for relaxation and forgetting about work though.

> Am I the only one who wishes they could be inside in a windowless room 24/7/365?

Seems like the sort of thing that might later turn out to have been a bad idea regardless of how it seemed at the time.

This is nuts in the best way - love seeing someone out here just making things work for real stuff.
I've been wanting a simulavr since I saw the first videos. A proper Linux dev environment in a pair of VR classes (and I really wouldnt want to hack around Linux on android). Too bad that they still far away from being real.
Apple is releasing Vision OS 2 which lets you do an ultrawide display on the Vision Pro. It looks phenomenal and has no lag
They have an ultrawide mode available now. Personally I find it very uncomfortable. You have to move your whole head to see the sides, and the vision pro is heavy. Looking off to the side for a length of time is uncomfortable.
you would have to do the same thing with an ultrawide monitor, minus the weight of the AVP
Not if it's curved.
To add to this: I have a Vision Pro and a 34" curved ultrawide. The latter is much more usable in this regard, because the effective resolution per degree is higher, which means you can keep your head static and use your eyes to look around.

By contrast, you have to use a giant screen on the Vision Pro to get equivalent resolution, which means you have to move your head. It still has its advantages (you can take it wherever you go, and the resolution of the virtual screen can be higher), but it's not yet comparable to a physical monitor, to my chagrin.

The foveated rendering didn’t look phenomenal for me the last time I tried. It gives the perception of a wide FOV but your peripheral vision is still blurry.
The optics on the Vision Pro are... well, they're not fantastic. It's a challenge to blow up displays that small to meet your field of view. Peripheral vision on the Quest 3 is far better, but the displays are over double the size, which made the lens design problem less challenging.

Apple have since purchased at least one lens design company [0], so future iterations of the Vision Pro should hopefully be less optically-challenged.

[0]: https://mixed-news.com/en/apple-buys-lens-manufacturer-limba...

The Vision Pro is a joke. Way too low resolution (PPD), heavy, expensive, and over-engineered and power hungry. It's baffling how it was ever greenlit.
It's the best possible headset that could have been built with the technology at the time, but the technology at the time was insufficient for the experience that it's designed for. It still has its uses (it's incredible for watching movies and doing work in environments where you don't have a suitably sized monitor), but I agree that it's not a product anyone other than extreme enthusiasts should buy.

I certainly hope it'll get smaller, cheaper and more efficient. I would love more resolution, of course, but I'd be more than happy to keep the existing resolution if the actual ergonomics were improved.

How can they fix the smallish FoV without a hardware upgrade?
Recent XREAL glasses can do ultrawide already.

The Vision Pro, like most full headsets, tries to do too much.

I hope they can figure out why these give some people headaches and eye strain (like myself) I really want to use this, but can't stand the pain for more than a few minutes.
> ultimately, the aarch64 glibc rootfs tarball of Void Linux fit the bill, and it's been running beautifully.

Void FTW!

> 1080p

So good enough for gargoyling or other situations where even a laptop form factor is a pain, but not a proper replacement yet.

I came back briefly to ctrl-f for 'gargoyle' once I got about a third of the way through the article so thanks (still would though).
Very cool experiment and the piece is written really well, manages to communicate a ton of relevant information without being overly verbose. One side note though - whats the deal with working in the park/on the bench etc, is the author really able to be productive in an outside environment? I dont think I could ever work like that, either with or without the AR glasses.
First thing I thought. If I go to a coffee shop or the park, it's because I want to enjoy that place, not do the same work I could do (better) at my desk. That's an aside, though, the OP's setup is really cool and intriguing.
On the flip side I find it extremely easy to get bored and lazy at home but when I work at a coffee shop the bustle makes me feel more energetic and focused. I work on picnic tables in the park when the weather permits.
Can you explain why you don't think you would be productive outside?
Well I guess for a lot of people it would be self-explanatory, but if I go outside to a park, or to a coffee-shop, or whatever - I go there to enjoy myself, not work. Apart from that, I would not really have the ergonomic benefits of my controlled working environment, not to mention bugs, people walking by, random noise or whatever it is.
I suspect that's a personal bias. If you go to most any cafe (at least in the US) there will be a half dozen people there typing away at their laptops. This is even more common with the rise of remote work where people will (for better or worse) commandeer cafes as their personal office.
Well of course its a personal bias - I never claimed no one else could work like that, just myself ;) I am aware of all the folks typing it out in the coffee-shops. Just that I could never be productive in that setting. Answer some e-mails - perhaps, but not really do any (meaningful) programming work as such.
i go outside to get sun.

grab a set on a ledge somewhere and think. that works for work, if the thinking is about work.

major benefit is that none of the people walking by are going to try disrupt what thing youre working on to be different work

Yes, that makes sense. Thanks for explaining. I'm not sure if I could work in public like this but I am interested to find out.
The exact same thing jumped out at me, for the opposite reason. I have unlimited data + tethering, so I can use my laptop with fast internet anywhere. That's the big breakthrough for me, not the glasses+phone combo.

Working in a park is amazing. You are still enjoying the ambience/vibe, but yeah, you're also writing a blog post or whatever. For me, that doesn't distract from the park or the productivity. They both enhance each other.

Same with a coffee shop -- this is why coffee shops have wifi passwords, because many people in there are on the internet, soaking up the ambience/vibe.

I do the same, but I find looking at my laptop to be quite distracting; I mentally "lock in" to my laptop, which defeats the purpose, and also ends up being ergonomically challenging much of the time.

I'd like to use AR glasses for this, as it means I can look straight ahead and take in more of the atmosphere, while still keeping good posture.

I work in Quest 3 regularly and in a "normal" weather I like to work outside (in a safe environment aka backyard). It's just nice to have fresh air. But once I decided to work and sunbath on the balcony of the hotel in the Swiss Alps in a sunny spring day. It was lovely until sweating made the work really uncomfortable (but yet practically possible). :)
That's a great compliment; thank you.

As far as being outside, I imagine it's very dependent on personality. I often get restless and distracted working from home, and being outside or in a public space will help me feel a lot calmer and more focused. There's also a certain amount of intentionton it takes to "go to a specific place to do a specific thing" that helps me mentally.

It's not something I'm doing every day, but when the weather is beautiful and I'm feeling stuck behind a desk it's so nice to be able to work outside.

Do people ever think you are staring at them? You still have to point your face somewhere, just with a laptop screen it’s more likely obvious.
What is wrong with getting some sun and fresh air?
With the new 6DoF glasses it could be a viable alternative to a laptop, yes.
6DoF feels like overkill to me if you're only trying to replace a laptop. I'd agree that it's really a lot better with at least 3 though.