Isn’t that spatial? – Six Colors

I haven’t written a lot about the Vision Pro for a pretty simple reason: I haven’t actually had a lot of opportunities to use one. But earlier this week, Apple invited me down to New York City to spend an hour with not only Apple’s spatial computer, but also the forthcoming visionOS 2 update.

The demo session I ran through was not dissimilar from the in-store experience^{, though I did probably get a slightly longer session that most customers. It gave me enough time to get re-acclimated to using the device, as well as a little more input on what I want to look at. I’ve jotted down my impressions of my time, as well as some of the thoughts and questions I had along the way.}

Gestures of good faith

A lot of what Apple is bringing to visionOS 2 is designed to make it a smoother experience overall. For example, the revamping of Guest User now lets you save someone’s data so they don’t have to go through the training for eye-tracking and hand-tracking every time they want to use the device. That’s a big plus, though I find it a little eye-rolling ^{that it can only store data for a single other person. We’re still fundamentally talking about a $3500 device, so if you have a household with say, both a partner and a kid who want to use the Vision Pro, you have to pick your favorite? It feels shortsighted and artificial. While I’ve kind of given up holding out for true multi-user support on the iPad, the Vision Pro really feels like it calls out for it.}

Though I haven’t spent a lot of time with the original visionOS, I did particularly appreciate version 2’s new gestures for accessing the home screen and bringing up Control Center; the less time you have to spend reaching up and using the Digital Crown—good as it is—the more you can sustain the illusion. ^{I’d speculate that some of the other things that you need to use the crown for might be controllable via gestures in the future, as Apple’s technology continues to improve. (It’s also challenging to identify discrete movements that can’t be misinterpreted, as I experienced with one gesture that lets you view all your tabs in Safari—it took some patience and a few attempts on my part to get it to work correctly.)}

The new Bora Bora environment—available in both day and night versions—is really great: the temptation to stand up and try to run into the water is strong. The environments remain one of the most compelling elements of visionOS, and anything Apple can do to bring in third parties or allow you to make your own would surely be a big hit.

Finally, yes, Apple is letting you rearrange all your apps now. I’m not sure you can issue a “finally” after just a few months, but it’s certainly going to make life easier for most Vision Pro users.

A picture’s worth a thousand whoas

I’m going to cut to the chase: there’s a killer feature in visionOS 2 and it’s the ability to turn any of your photos into spatial photos. Not only did I get the chance to check this out for several pictures that Apple provided, but I also got to bring along a few of my own photos and have them converted. The results are nothing short of astounding: subjects that pop out of pictures, environments that look like they have real depth, objects that you feel like you could reach out and touch.

What’s most impressive about this feature is just how easy it is: the simple tap of a button and a second or two of work and bam, you’ve got yourself a three-dimensional image. You can view it in place, but for the best experience you want to switch to the immersive mode provided. In the handful of my own pictures I tried, most worked very well—the exception was a landscape of a lake that lacked a strong foreground element. But a picture of my kid on the beach—taken by my wife on a trip that I wasn’t on—felt like I really was there, and even a fairly flat image of a glacier in Iceland felt like it had a real presence to it.

It’s hard to even write about the feature; it’s one that begs to be experienced for yourself, but what I think is perhaps most important aspect of it is that it simply doesn’t translate to any other Apple device. Is it reason enough to buy a Vision Pro? Probably not, but it’s certainly cool enough to put into the column of reasons you might want to.

Tabletop stakes

Spatial photos may be the killer built-in feature, but Apple’s not ignoring the opportunities for third parties. For visionOS 2, the company introduced the new TabletopKit framework, a set of tools that makes it easier for developers to create board game style apps and experiences.

And holy cow is it impressive. I got to check out the Haunted Chess board game (which, though I didn’t get to actually play, appeared to be a mix of chess and Clue). The virtual game board was incredibly high quality and rendered so wellthat my brain wanted to believe it was a physical object sitting in front of me. I got up close and personal and it still looked great. Pieces could be picked up and moved with realistic shadows generated, cards could be drawn and moved around…it all felt very cool and very real. A big part of that is, I think, how static it looked. It had a solidity to it and didn’t flicker or move, even when I changed my perspective. It’s a subtle cue, but an important one.

Even more than spatial videos, this is what I want a Vision Pro for. I play a lot of Dungeons & Dragons^{, and the idea that I could have a shared experience with my friends sitting around a virtual tabletop on which we could see our three-dimensional miniatures (maybe even imported from popular sites like HeroForge?) and move them around, or even roll some virtual dice, well, that’s a future that I would like to sign up for.}

Quality, comfort, and price (that’s nice)

This isn’t really a visionOS 2 specific thing, but given that this was my longest stretch using the Vision Pro, I wanted to talk briefly about actually wearing the device.

In preparation for the experience, I had been asked to use the Apple Store app’s feature for figuring out the right Light Seal and strap sizes. We started off using the Solo Band but found that it wasn’t quite holding the Vision Pro at the right angle for my face, so we swapped to the Dual Band. That was better, but still not quite perfect; if I had a few more minutes to play around with getting it positioned, I feel like I could have done a bit better—after half an hour or so, I was definitely feeling the weight on my face.

This convinced me that, more than anything, one of the company’s priorities in developing the next version of its spatial computing hardware should be making it smaller and lighter—and good news, that’s a thing that Apple loves to do!

I also noticed some light leakage that caused minor reflections at the bottom of my vision, which was distracting at times. Maybe a different seal size could have fixed that problem, but I only had the one available to me. Apple should certainly emphasize sizing and try-on service in stores before people walk out as well as making it easier to swap for a different size if you need one; it feels like that certainly might help minimize some bad experiences.

Vision of the future

I can hear you wondering, so I won’t leave you in suspense: no I did not immediately run to a nearby Apple Store to plop down three and a half grand on a Vision Pro.

But I did come out of my session thinking that I’d still love to spend more time with the Vision Pro. It’s a fascinating product and even if it’s not perfect, it has managed to wow me several times on both occasions that I’ve used it.

What I found most heartening is that Apple is taking its time-honored iteration approach here; we’re just six months from the Vision Pro’s initial launch, and visionOS 2 is already imminent. When visionOS 3 likely appears next year, I imagine we’ll be seeing even more significant improvements.

People often wonder if Apple can walk and chew gum at the same time, and the Vision Pro has currently receded a little bit in the attention of the masses. (Thanks, Apple Intelligence!) But I’m convinced that Apple is confident in its long game here. The next Vision product may still be a ways off, but when it gets here, I think it’s going to make a much bigger splash. But in the meantime, visionOS 2 is staking out some ground for the future of the platform, and not unlike a sandy beach by a crystal clear blue ocean, that future is bright.

[Dan Moren is the East Coast Bureau Chief of Six Colors. You can find him on Mastodon at @dmoren@zeppelin.flights or reach him by email at dan@sixcolors.com. His latest novel, the supernatural detective story All Souls Lost, is out now.]

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