Posts tagged with "Vision Pro"

Apple Announces New Immersive Video Content for the Vision Pro

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

Beginning today, Apple says it will begin releasing a series of films, documentaries, music, sports, travel, and other video content for the Vision Pro.

First up is ‘Hot Air Balloons,’ which will be available beginning at 6 PM Pacific today, and is part of a series dubbed Boundless. That will be followed in August by a new installment of Wild Life, and a new travel series called Elevated in September. Later this year, Apple will release an immersive concert experience with The Weeknd, a scripted short film called Submerged by director Edward Berger, a behind-the-scenes and court-side look at the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend, and Big-Wave Surfing, part of a new sports series with Red Bull.

According to Tor Myhren, Apple’s vice president of Marketing Communications:

Apple Immersive Video is a groundbreaking leap forward for storytelling, offering Apple Vision Pro users remarkable experiences with an unparalleled sense of realism and immersion. From soaring over volcanoes in Hawaii and surfing huge waves in Tahiti, to enjoying performances by the world’s biggest artists and athletes from all-new perspectives, Apple Immersive Video revolutionizes the way people experience places, stories, sports, and more by making viewers feel like they’re truly there. It’s the next generation of visual storytelling, and we’re excited to bring it to more people around the world.

I’m really looking forward to these new immersive videos. There’s been a real dearth of content produced for the Vision Pro since its release, but with the device available in more countries, it’s great to see new content available for the growing audience.

visionOS 2: The MacStories Overview

Today, Apple revealed visionOS 2, the first major upgrade to the software powering Apple Vision Pro. The update, coming this fall, will include quality-of-life improvements, new ways to create and share spatial content, additional tools for developers, and more.

Interacting with the Home View and Control Center will be easier than before thanks to new system-wide gestures. Holding your hand up and tapping your fingers together will bring up the Home View, while flipping your hand over will bring up a time and battery status popover that also acts as a Control Center launcher. These gestures are simpler than the previous methods of accessing these views, which required pushing the Digital Crown for the Home View and looking upwards to reveal the Control Center launcher. Apps in the Home View can now be rearranged, and compatible iPad and iPhone apps are no longer constrained to a single folder.

The new gestures for accessing the Home View and Control Center in visionOS 2.Replay

Mac Virtual Display is expanding later this year to support a higher resolution and larger size, resulting in a display roughly equivalent to two 4K monitors side by side. The experience of using peripherals with Apple Vision Pro will be improved with Magic Keyboard passthrough in immersive environments and support for mice. Guest User information will be saved for 30 days so users’ friends and family can use Apple Vision Pro without going through the setup process repeatedly, and Travel Mode will be supported on trains in addition to airplanes.

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Apple Announces Vision Pro Launching in More Countries Later This Month

During its WWDC 2024 keynote earlier today, Apple announced that the Vision Pro will be launching in more countries and regions later this month.

Specifically, the Vision Pro will become available for pre-order in China mainland, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore on June 13, with availability starting on Friday, June 28. On the same day, pre-orders will go live for customers in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, with availability starting on Friday, July 12.

From Apple’s announcement:

“The enthusiasm for Apple Vision Pro has been extraordinary, and we are thrilled to introduce the magic of spatial computing to more customers around the world,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We can’t wait for more people to see the impossible become possible, whether working and collaborating with an infinite canvas for apps, reliving treasured memories in three dimensions, watching TV shows and movies in a one-of-a-kind personal cinema, or enjoying brand-new spatial experiences that defy imagination.”

In addition to announcing availability in more countries and regions, Apple also showcased visionOS 2, the next major update to the Vision Pro’s operating system. Highlights from visionOS 2 include new gestures to invoke the Home Screen and Control Center, train Travel Mode, mouse support, and more. We’ll cover all the changes in visionOS 2 in a more detailed overview later today.

You can follow all of our WWDC coverage through our WWDC 2024 hub or subscribe to the dedicated WWDC 2024 RSS feed.

What If…? – An Immersive Story Will Debut May 30th

Source: Disney+.

Source: Disney+.

Earlier this month, I linked to What If…? – An Immersive Story, which Marvel Studios and ILM Immersive developed for Disney+. The project is an Apple Vision Pro exclusive for which there were few details originally. Now, however, we have a trailer and a launch date. What If…? – An Immersive Story will be available to Disney+ subscribers in just over one week on May 30th:

The trailer’s description explains the project’s premise:

The Multiverse is in danger and The Watcher needs your help. Dangerous variants are hunting Infinity Stones and altering the fate of not only their realities, but yours as well. To save the fate of the Multiverse, you’ll need to use your own hands to learn mystic spells, defend your allies in epic battles, and more. But, be careful… everything might not be all that it seems.

Source: Disney+.

Source: Disney+.

I can’t wait to try What If…? – An Immersive Story. There hasn’t been a lot of new immersive content since the Vision Pro’s launch. However, along with the appearance of Parkour in the TV app, which is set for release in a couple of days, the pace seems to be picking up.

Marvel Studios and ILM Immersive Announce an Upcoming Vision Pro Project Based on the ‘What If…?’ Series

Source: The Walt Disney Company.

Source: The Walt Disney Company.

Today, Marvel Studios and ILM Immersive announced What If…? – An Immersive Story for Disney+ subscriber on the Apple Vision Pro. What If…? is Marvel Studios’ animated series that considers what might occur if major events in the Marvel Cinematic Universe turned out differently. Drawing on the animated series, the creators say:

Fans will be invited to step inside the Multiverse like never before and have the chance to dive into an immersive, narrative-driven and innovative story in mixed reality.

![](https://cdn.macstories.net/whatifimmersive_screenshot_watcherinfinitystone-1440x810-1715184370919.png)

Executive producer Brad Winderbaum adds that:

What If…? the animated series as well as the comic book has always been about looking over the horizon into realities that have yet to be conceived. What If…? – An Immersive Story takes this one step further and actually allows you to visit these strange new worlds, not as a Watcher but as an actual participant. The creative work on this project is nothing less than stellar and we could not be more excited for fans to interact firsthand with some of their favorite Marvel heroes.

There’s not a lot of detail on the special hour-long project yet, but Marvel Studios and ILM Immersive promise more details soon. Still, it’s good to see Marvel Studios and ILM Immersive are working on this. The interactive content for the Vision Pro has been sparse since its launch, so hopefully, this is a sign that the market is big enough to support more interactive content, and the Vision Pro will be expanding to other countries soon.

I appreciate the advance notice, too. I’ve had the What If…? series in my queue for a while, and now I have another reason to check it out.

Screens 5.2 Adds Support for the Vision Pro and Other Features

Screens by Edovia is a screen-sharing app that lets you control your computer from another device, and today, version 5.2 is out with an excellent set of updates that improve the app’s performance and usability. However, the biggest change is that Screens now works on the Vision Pro, which is a big deal for anyone managing computers remotely.

I’m a longtime Screens user, but I was initially skeptical about using it with the Vision Pro. How useful or easy-to-use would Screens be when running on the device? The answer is ‘very.’ The Vision Pro version of Screens is a terrific addition to the previously-released iPhone, iPad, and Mac versions, and combined with the other changes in version 5.2, this is a bigger update than the point release might suggest.

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Apple Announces New and Updated Apple Arcade Games Coming in May and June

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

Apple announced that four new games are coming to Arcade early next month:

In addition, on May 30th, Where Cards Fall, the excellent indie game by The Games Band that was published by Snowman and is already part of Apple Arcade, will be coming to the Vision Pro for the first time.

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

Where Cards Fall is a beautiful game that won an Apple Design Award in 2020. One of the game’s core mechanics is building structures from cards that help you advance from one level to the next, which strikes me as an excellent match for the Vision Pro’s spatial gestures.

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

Return to Monkey Island is getting the Apple Arcade ‘+’ treatment too. As Apple describes it:

Return to Monkey Island+ is an unexpected, thrilling return of series creator Ron Gilbert that follows the legendary adventure games The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge. The game continues the story of Guybrush Threepwood, his zombie pirate nemesis LeChuck, and his true love Elaine Marley. Return to Monkey Island+ is playable across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Players will solve puzzles and explore the islands with a clever evolution of classic point-and-click adventure game controls.

Anyone who grew up in the 90s on The Secret of Monkey Island should enjoy this game a lot. I’m also curious to try Tomb of the Mask+, a retro platformer.

In addition to the new games coming to Arcade and the Vision Pro, Apple announced updates to some fan favorites throughout May and June, including WHAT THE CAR?, Ridiculous Fishing EX, and Crossy Road Castle. For a complete list, be sure to check out Apple’s press release.

Vision Pro App Spotlight: Seasons Weaves Immersive Conditions Into a Comprehensive Weather App

Seasons is the sort of weather app I’d hoped for ever since I ordered my Vision Pro. It’s a unique mix of detailed forecast data combined with an immersive spatial computing experience. There’s a gee-whiz, proof-of-concept aspect to the app, but at its core, Seasons is a serious weather app and a spatial widget that’s a pleasure to incorporate into an everyday Vision Pro workflow.

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Apple Releases Spatial Personas Betas to visionOS 1.1 Users

Apple has added Spatial Personas to the Personas beta for all Vision Pro users running visionOS 1.1, the latest public release of the OS.

Spatial Personas are available in FaceTime where users can collaborate using SharePlay. That means you can work with colleagues on a presentation, watch TV with friends and family, play games, and more. According to Apple, Spatial Personas allow you to move around and interact with digital content, providing a greater sense of presence.

Apple says that each user can reposition content to accommodate their own surroundings without affecting the others participating in a SharePlay session. Spatial Personas are available to developers. The Spatial Personas feature also integrates with Spatial Audio, so audio tracks with the position of the other people participating in your FaceTime call.

If you have visionOS 1.1 installed, you may need to reboot your Vision Pro to see a new Spatial Personas button in the FaceTime app, although we’ve tried and don’t see the feature yet. Tapping on a Persona tile during a FaceTime call will also allow you to switch the Spatial Persona of the person you’re calling. Returning to a Persona from a Spatial Persona can be accomplished from the Vision Pro’s Control Center. There’s also a limit of five Spatial Personas per FaceTime call.