The post visionOS beta reveals new glimpses of Apple Vision Pro capabilities appeared first on MacDailyNews. Apple earlier this month unveiled Apple Vision Pro, a revolutionary spatial computer that seamlessly blends digital content with the physical world, while allowing users to stay present and connected to others. Vision Pro creates an infinite canvas for apps that scales beyond the boundaries of a traditional display and introduces a fully three-dimensional user interface controlled by the most natural and intuitive inputs possible — a user’s eyes, hands, and voice.

Featuring visionOS, the world’s first spatial operating system, Vision Pro lets users interact with digital content in a way that feels like it is physically present in their space. The breakthrough design of Vision Pro features an ultra-high-resolution display system that packs 23 million pixels across two displays, and custom Apple silicon in a unique dual-chip design to ensure every experience feels like it’s taking place in front of the user’s eyes in real time.

Hamish Hector for TechRadar:

Apple has launched its first-ever beta for visionOS – the operating system the upcoming Apple Vision Pro mixed-reality headset will use – giving us a glimpse at what its new gadget should be capable of at launch.

Here’s what we’ve learned so far about the Apple Vision Pro from the visionOS beta.

1. Visual Search is coming: According to info found in the visionOS beta, Vision Pro headset wearers will be able to use the headset’s cameras to find information about an item they scan and to interact with real-world text. This includes copying and pasting the text into Vision Pro apps, translating it between 17 supported languages, and converting units (like grams to ounces, or meters to feet).

2. The OS is intuitive: Thankfully, it looks like it’s super easy to move, resize, and hide app windows in Vision Pro, as shown off by @Lascorbe on Twitter.

visionOS, super intuitive so far:

– You move the window with the bottom bar
– When moving if the window touches other apps they dim
– There’s a button to hide rest of apps (unsure how to bring them back yet)
– Pointing at the corner of a window make the “resize handler” appear pic.twitter.com/ZHkA0I04SC

— Luis (@Lascorbe) June 21, 2023

3. Porting iOS to visionOS is easy: According to developers (like @lydakisg on Twitter) that have started working with visionOS, it’s incredibly easy to port iOS apps over to the new system – so many of the best iPhone apps could be available on the Vision Pro at launch.

4. Battery percentages return: Thankfully for fans of Apple’s more accurate battery symbol, users like @aaronp613 on Twitter have found that battery percentages do show up on Vision Pro. It’s not a massive win, but an important one for a lot of people. 

5. Apps can use unique control schemes: Vision Pro is able to recognize different hand gestures (like forming a heart) and translate them to different in-game [or in-app] controls. 

6. Fitness apps are discouraged: In its guidelines, Apple says app makers should “avoid encouraging people to move too much” while immersed in the headset.

MacDailyNews Take: The era of spatial computing, where digital content blends seamlessly with your physical space, is coming soon!

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The post Apple releases developer tools to create spatial experiences for Apple Vision Pro appeared first on MacDailyNews. Apple today announced the availability of new software tools and technologies that enable developers to create groundbreaking app experiences for Apple Vision Pro — Apple’s first spatial computer. Featuring visionOS, the world’s first spatial operating system, Vision Pro lets users interact with digital content in their physical space using the most natural and intuitive inputs possible — their eyes, hands, and voice

Starting today, Apple’s global community of developers will be able to create an entirely new class of spatial computing apps that take full advantage of the infinite canvas in Vision Pro and seamlessly blend digital content with the physical world to enable extraordinary new experiences. With the visionOS SDK, developers can utilize the powerful and unique capabilities of Vision Pro and visionOS to design brand-new app experiences across a variety of categories including productivity, design, gaming, and more.

Next month, Apple will open developer labs in Cupertino, London, Munich, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo to provide developers with hands-on experience to test their apps on Apple Vision Pro hardware and get support from Apple engineers. Development teams will also be able to apply for developer kits to help them quickly build, iterate, and test right on Apple Vision Pro.

“Apple Vision Pro redefines what’s possible on a computing platform. Developers can get started building visionOS apps using the powerful frameworks they already know, and take their development even further with new innovative tools and technologies like Reality Composer Pro, to design all-new experiences for their users,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations, in a statement. “By taking advantage of the space around the user, spatial computing unlocks new opportunities for our developers, and enables them to imagine new ways to help their users connect, be productive, and enjoy new types of entertainment. We can’t wait to see what our developer community dreams up.”

Developers can build new experiences that take advantage of the groundbreaking features of Apple Vision Pro by using the same foundational frameworks they already know from other Apple platforms, including powerful technologies like Xcode, SwiftUI, RealityKit, ARKit, and TestFlight. These tools enable developers to create new types of apps that span a spectrum of immersion, including windows, which have depth and can showcase 3D content; volumes, which create experiences that are viewable from any angle; and spaces, which can fully immerse a user in an environment with unbounded 3D content. To help developers optimize 3D content for their visionOS apps and games, an all-new tool available with Xcode called Reality Composer Pro lets them preview and prepare 3D models, animations, images, and sounds, so they look amazing on Vision Pro.

Developers can also interact with their apps in the new visionOS simulator to explore and test various room layouts and lighting conditions. And every developer framework comes with built-in support for Apple’s innovative accessibility features to ensure spatial computing and visionOS apps are accessible to everyone.
Starting next month, developers who have been building 3D apps and games with Unity’s robust authoring tools can port their Unity apps to Apple Vision Pro and take full advantage of its powerful capabilities.

Developers who have previewed the visionOS SDK and APIs are excited for the potential of the platform and how it will enable them to create all-new app experiences for their users:

“With Apple Vision Pro, Complete HeartX will help prepare medical students for clinical practice by using hyper-realistic 3D models and animations that help them understand and visualize medical issues, such as ventricular fibrillation, and how to apply their knowledge with patients,” said Jan Herzhoff, Elsevier Health’s president, in a statement. “Learning through Complete HeartX on Apple Vision Pro will transform medical education and prepare future health professionals for practice.”

“The djay app on Apple Vision Pro puts a fully featured DJ system right at a user’s fingertips. With a reimagined spatial interface, anyone can mix their favorite music and apply real-time effects using just their eyes and hands,” said Karim Morsy, Algoriddim’s CEO, in a statement. “Whether for a beginner or a seasoned professional, djay on Vision Pro transforms the user’s surroundings with stunning environments that automatically react to their mix, enabling them to experience and interact with music in ways never before possible.”

“JigSpace and Apple Vision Pro empower people and businesses to easily communicate their ideas or products in all-new ways,” said Zac Duff, JigSpace’s cofounder and CEO, in a statement. “It uses the high-resolution CAD files companies already have, so their marketing, sales, product, or support teams can securely collaborate with colleagues or customers from anywhere in the world and get people to that ‘Aha!’ moment in a fraction of the time it usually takes. This level of fast, effective communication simply wasn’t possible before.”

“Manufacturers can use AR solutions from PTC to collaborate on critical business problems by bringing interactive 3D content into the real world — from a single product, to an entire production line,” said Stephen Prideaux-Ghee, PTC’s chief technology officer of AR/VR, in a statement. “With Apple Vision Pro, stakeholders across departments and in different locations can review content simultaneously to make design and operation decisions. This capability will unlock a level of collaboration previously not possible.”

The visionOS SDK, updated Xcode, Simulator, and Reality Composer Pro are available for Apple Developer Program members at developer.apple.com. Registered Apple developers have access to a variety of resources to help them design, develop, and test apps for Apple Vision Pro, including extensive technical documentation, new design kits, and updated human interface guidelines for visionOS.

MacDailyNews Note: To learn more about designing new app experiences for Apple Vision Pro, or to apply for a developer kit starting next month, developers can visit developer.apple.com/visionos.

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The post What’s the real purpose of the Apple Vision Pro spatial computer? appeared first on MacDailyNews. Apple this month unveiled Apple Vision Pro, a revolutionary spatial computer that seamlessly blends digital content with the physical world, while allowing users to stay present and connected to others. Vision Pro creates an infinite canvas for apps that scales beyond the boundaries of a traditional display and introduces a fully three-dimensional user interface controlled by the most natural and intuitive inputs possible — a user’s eyes, hands, and voice.

Featuring visionOS, the world’s first spatial operating system, Vision Pro lets users interact with digital content in a way that feels like it is physically present in their space. The breakthrough design of Vision Pro features an ultra-high-resolution display system that packs 23 million pixels across two displays, and custom Apple silicon in a unique dual-chip design to ensure every experience feels like it’s taking place in front of the user’s eyes in real time.

Joshua Gans and Abhishek Nagaraj for Harvard Business Review:

The Vision Pro is a computer that is worn on your face, but the novel aspect is how you use it. Rather than view the computer’s output through a physical screen, that output is projected directly into your eyes with two very small but high-resolution displays a very small distance in front of you. Rather than control the computer through a keyboard, mouse, or touch screen, the primary user interface is through eye tracking and gestures.

Just as they removed the stylus for screens when they launched the iPhone, Apple requires no physical controller to use the computer. The computer senses what you are interested in interacting with by watching your eye movement and then looks at your hands to determine what you want to do.

Apple has termed this new device a spatial computer. The name is apt, because the device can use any physical space around you as a canvas to display digital outputs. There is no need for a desk (or lap) to place the device, and there are no limits on the size of the perceived viewing area. That means you could technically sit in a small space, like an airplane seat, and watch a cinema-sized movie.

The Vision Pro can display 3D objects in your current space or even transport you to new spaces. Apple, however, barely mentioned the terms AR and VR during their announcement. In doing so, they drew a line people have not drawn before. This is no AR or VR device or technology. The technology is a spatial computer, and if there is a role for AR and VR, it is in applications that run on a spatial computer.

MacDailyNews Take: Bottom line: It’s now (or soon will be) in the hands of developers and, like the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch before it, the Apple Vision Pro will become something that is not yet fully imagined.

SteveJack for MacDailyNews, June 6, 2023:

Just as iPhone is a Mac in your hand, an iPad is a Mac in your hands, and Apple Watch is a Mac on your wrist — iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS are, of course, all based on based on Darwin (BSD), otherwise known at various times in history as Mac OS X, OS X, and, currently macOS — Apple’s Vision Pro is a Mac on your face (visionOS is also based on macOS). Really, Apple’s Vision Pro is a 3D Mac on your face!

One of Apple’s biggest advancements with Vision Pro is eliminating handheld controllers and, in doing so, making every so-called rival’s VR headset look like a horse and buggy in comparison, but the main thing is that Vision Pro is not a “VR headset” or “AR headset” or whatever. It’s a computer. A “spatial computer,” to be precise.

Computing in 3D space is how we should have been computing all along, but the technology wasn’t ready for several decades… Now, we can finally use our Macs naturally, with no 2D displays confining us!

So, don’t let the the Vision Pro’s ancillary features – watching giant 3D movies, playing giant 3D games, taking 3D photos and videos, etc. – drown out the fact that for just $3,500, you can own and use the world’s first spatial computer – a Mac on your face! – that allows you to compute anywhere and everywhere…

Apple’s Vision Pro is a tremendous achievement and a very strong start to a whole new platform. I can’t wait to see how far and fast it will develop!

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The post How Apple could bring down the cost of future Vision headsets appeared first on MacDailyNews. Apple’s forthcoming Apple Vision Pro is a revolutionary spatial computer, running visionOS, that seamlessly blends digital content with the physical world, while allowing users to stay present and connected to others. Bloomberg News’ Mark Gurman this week looks at how Apple can bring down costs in future visionOS spatial computers.

Vision Pro creates an infinite canvas for apps that scales beyond the boundaries of a traditional display and introduces a fully three-dimensional user interface controlled by the most natural and intuitive inputs possible — a user’s eyes, hands, and voice. Featuring visionOS, the world’s first spatial operating system, Vision Pro lets users interact with digital content in a way that feels like it is physically present in their space. The breakthrough design of Vision Pro features an ultra-high-resolution display system that packs 23 million pixels across two displays, and custom Apple silicon in a unique dual-chip design to ensure every experience feels like it’s taking place in front of the user’s eyes in real time.

Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:

Given how expensive the technology is in the Vision Pro, it’s important to take a look at how Apple could bring down the cost. And it won’t be an easy task to pull that off while making money: the $3,499 price of the Vision Pro is at or near the cost to make it.

MacDailyNews Take: $3,499 is not expensive for a professional computer that provides access to a whole new platform.

The three priciest components in the Vision Pro are its camera and sensor array, its dual Apple silicon chips and the twin 4K micro-OLED virtual reality displays. For a non-pro model, Apple could probably use lower quality screens, either an iPhone-grade chip or an older Mac chip and fewer cameras for lesser performance.

Apple could also probably get away with a simpler headband design, require AirPods for spatial audio instead of the strap with speakers in the Vision Pro, move to a physical versus automatic IPD — distance between eye pupils — adjustment and remove features like the 3D camera. Combined with a more refined production process, economies of scale and a cheaper frame, I’d imagine Apple could knock several hundred dollars off the price.

But there are a few areas I believe Apple will not compromise on in a cheaper Apple Vision. The external screen, known as EyeSight, to show a wearer’s eyes, as well as the eye- and hand-tracking system, are as core to the Apple Vision as a touchscreen is to an iPhone. I would expect a cheaper model to keep those features.

Apple is currently planning a release of the cheaper model for as early as the end of 2025, meaning it won’t debut for about two years after the original Vision Pro. At the same time, Apple is already working on a second-generation Vision Pro with a faster processor, indicating it’s intent on a two-product strategy for the device in line with the standard iPhone and iPhone Pro models.

MacDailyNews Take: Prices will come down. Apple Vision 2 (no Pro), Apple Vision SE, and other lower-priced units will naturally come along, allowing the mass market to take up the future of computing that Vision Pro owners will be enjoying as soon as early next year.

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The post How Apple could bring down the cost of future Vision headsets appeared first on MacDailyNews.

The post How Apple could bring down the cost of future Vision headsets appeared first on MacDailyNews. Apple’s forthcoming Apple Vision Pro is a revolutionary spatial computer, running visionOS, that seamlessly blends digital content with the physical world, while allowing users to stay present and connected to others. Bloomberg News’ Mark Gurman this week looks at how Apple can bring down costs in future visionOS spatial computers.

Vision Pro creates an infinite canvas for apps that scales beyond the boundaries of a traditional display and introduces a fully three-dimensional user interface controlled by the most natural and intuitive inputs possible — a user’s eyes, hands, and voice. Featuring visionOS, the world’s first spatial operating system, Vision Pro lets users interact with digital content in a way that feels like it is physically present in their space. The breakthrough design of Vision Pro features an ultra-high-resolution display system that packs 23 million pixels across two displays, and custom Apple silicon in a unique dual-chip design to ensure every experience feels like it’s taking place in front of the user’s eyes in real time.

Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:

Given how expensive the technology is in the Vision Pro, it’s important to take a look at how Apple could bring down the cost. And it won’t be an easy task to pull that off while making money: the $3,499 price of the Vision Pro is at or near the cost to make it.

MacDailyNews Take: $3,499 is not expensive for a professional computer that provides access to a whole new platform.

The three priciest components in the Vision Pro are its camera and sensor array, its dual Apple silicon chips and the twin 4K micro-OLED virtual reality displays. For a non-pro model, Apple could probably use lower quality screens, either an iPhone-grade chip or an older Mac chip and fewer cameras for lesser performance.

Apple could also probably get away with a simpler headband design, require AirPods for spatial audio instead of the strap with speakers in the Vision Pro, move to a physical versus automatic IPD — distance between eye pupils — adjustment and remove features like the 3D camera. Combined with a more refined production process, economies of scale and a cheaper frame, I’d imagine Apple could knock several hundred dollars off the price.

But there are a few areas I believe Apple will not compromise on in a cheaper Apple Vision. The external screen, known as EyeSight, to show a wearer’s eyes, as well as the eye- and hand-tracking system, are as core to the Apple Vision as a touchscreen is to an iPhone. I would expect a cheaper model to keep those features.

Apple is currently planning a release of the cheaper model for as early as the end of 2025, meaning it won’t debut for about two years after the original Vision Pro. At the same time, Apple is already working on a second-generation Vision Pro with a faster processor, indicating it’s intent on a two-product strategy for the device in line with the standard iPhone and iPhone Pro models.

MacDailyNews Take: Prices will come down. Apple Vision 2 (no Pro), Apple Vision SE, and other lower-priced units will naturally come along, allowing the mass market to take up the future of computing that Vision Pro owners will be enjoying as soon as early next year.

Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!

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The post How Apple could bring down the cost of future Vision headsets appeared first on MacDailyNews.