Spatial Personas for Apple Vision Pro to Launch in Beta Today

Apple is set to launch a new 'Spatial Personas' feature for Apple Vision Pro in beta today. The company demonstrated the feature to RoadtoVR and Inverse.

Currently, when doing FaceTime call with another Vision Pro user, their persona (head, shoulders, and hands) are shown within a floating box. With Spatial Personas, FaceTime shows a representation of other participants within each wearer's space, making everyone feel like they're sharing the same experience in the same place.




During a shared experience in FaceTime, people can interact with each other in natural ways through their Spatial Personas. For example, people can speak or gesture directly to others, tell when someone is paying attention to them, and know which person is using a shared tool or resource.

RoadtoVR writes, "Previously the frame made it feel sort of like you were doing a 3D video chat. Now with the shared space and no frame, it really feels like you're standing right next to each other. It's the 'hang out on the same couch' or 'gather around the same table' experience that wasn't actually possible on Vision Pro at launch."

Inverse observed that "In addition to realistic eye contact, spatial Personas are also directional. That means if several Personas are hanging out together in visionOS, you can see where they are relative to your position. For example, if I point to a Persona on my left with my left hand, everyone else will see that, and the person I'm pointing at will see that I am pointing at them from their right side. It's basic presence 101 stuff and Apple nails it, even in beta. Similarly, just like when you're making a FaceTime call with people (either in 2D or a Persona) in Vision Pro in their tiles, audio is directional (or spatial Apple calls it) as well. Everyone will hear each other's voices relative to where they are positioned in virtual space."

Apple says that a person who participates in SharePlay activities on Apple Vision Pro will have the option to participate using their Spatial Persona.


The system arranges Spatial Personas around the activity content, giving each person a clear view of the content and each other. Each person sees the facial expressions of other participants, what they're looking at, and where they're pointing. This experience creates the feeling that they're in the same physical space interacting with shared content and each other.

Apple has been making improvements to Personas since their launch and it seems today's update will be significant. We're also expecting visionOS 1.2 to drop around 1pm EST. Please download the iClarified app or follow iClarified on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and RSS to be notified when it is available!





[Non-spatial Persona]