Apple's new Vision Pro headset can scan a user's face and use advanced machine learning to create a photorealistic "Persona" of them for video calls. And in a future visionOS update, these avatars will become even more realistic.
Spatial Persona on Vision Pro
In its Platforms State of the Union video for developers this week, Apple announced that it is working on "Spatial Personas" that will allow Vision Pro users to "break out of the familiar FaceTime tile and feel more present, like they are gathered in the same physical space." Spatial Personas will have a transparent background and be able to display more movement and body language for a more lifelike experience.
A regular Persona on Vision Pro
Spatial Personas will be available on FaceTime calls, including for SharePlay sessions.
"In a SharePlay session, Spatial Personas let you feel present with others in a way technology has never enabled before," said Apple, in a related WWDC video. "You can look your friends in the eye, express yourself naturally with movement and body language, and best of all, enjoy a shared activity together using your app."
Apple said a developer preview of Spatial Personas will be available later this year, but it did not indicate when the feature will be publicly released. Vision Pro does not launch until early 2024 in the U.S. and will be priced at $3,499.
Apple today provided developers with the first betas of upcoming watchOS 26.6, tvOS 26.6, and visionOS 26.6 betas for testing purposes. The software two weeks after Apple launched the 26.5 versions of each platform.
The software updates are available through the Settings app on each device, and because these are developer betas, a free developer account is required.
There's no word on...
Images of parts designed for an unreleased all-black Apple Vision headset have been leaked online, courtesy of X account @LusiRoy8.
The image shows what appear to be power strap and audio pod parts that look identical to Apple's existing Apple Vision Pro hardware, except with a dark finish that is not commercially available. The account that shared the images claims that the parts are for a...
Apple is still working on a cheaper, lighter successor to its Vision Pro headset, but it is unlikely to launch before late 2028 or 2029, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says that Apple needs to come up with a slimmer design for the $3,499 headset and bring down the cost before it can return to the category, which is essentially "on ice" ...
By all means let’s combine “Spatial Personas” with “Personal Voice” and then our AI-generated images and sounds can just talk to each other over FaceTime long after we’re dead.
This is an impressive forward-thinking technology but I'm not a fan of 3D Spatial Personas'. It just looks creepy. No matter who it's going to be. It will always remind me of Zuckerberg.
