Later today, Apple will add to visionOS 1.1 a new Spatial Personas feature in beta. With that, Apple Vision Pro users will have an improvement over the Digital Personas function already available with the spatial computer.
Before this feature was released to all users, Apple invited a few journalists to take a first look at this upcoming feature. Road to VR writes that Spatial Personas are more immersive, as they’re “rendered in a shared space without the frame.”
Up to five people can join a Spatial Persona video call, and while you can only see their heads, shoulders, and hands, “it really feels like a huddle instead of a 3D video chat. It feels much more personal.”
Spatial Personas on Apple Vision Pro is a step toward a more compelling spatial computing world
For example, Inverse also got a chance to test this new feature before it’s available. Raymond Wong says his persona not only looks better but when he got a FaceTime call from Apple’s PR team, he was first greeted by regular Personas, which then became more immersive with the new Spatial Personas feature.
After you start a FaceTime call, you can quickly tap Control Center to select this new feature. He writes:
“The two people weren’t actually standing in my living room, and they couldn’t see my messy apartment either, but their heads, hands, and the upper part of their torso floated in my room as if they were standing in front of me on the left and right. They could move around in their physical space to position themselves closer or farther away from me or each other, and I could too. If you try to walk through another Persona, they turn into a circle-shaped contact card (and they or anyone else will see you doing it). You could be that person and annoy everyone, but it goes without saying that you should respect each other’s personal space, even if it’s virtual. The three of us could sit down or stand up, and just like in real life, our eye levels would match accordingly.”
This feature is especially useful with SharePlay as you can watch a movie together, play games, and more. With that, you can take advantage of the beautiful Apple Vision Pro display, and when you look at your side, there are other people with you, making this experience more immersive.
BGR will let you know all the new features with visionOS 1.2, iOS 17.5, and more once their first beta is released.
