Latest news with #visionOS26
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Yahoo
Your GoPro and Insta360 cameras are getting a massive upgrade, and It's all thanks to Apple
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. At WWDC 2025 this week, Apple announced that Insta360, GoPro, and Canon had been partnering with company to develop native support for their cameras for the next version of VisionOS, visionOS 26. Insta360 has clarified what that actually means for creators using the X5 or Ace Pro 2 cameras. Apple has developed new parts of the QuickTime file, which it is calling an APMP (Apple Projected Media Profile), which can be used to describe the lenses and image produced by non-traditional cameras, including cameras with stitching, like the Insta360 X5. 'Apple's support for native playback of 360-degree and wide field-of-view video on Apple Vision Pro is a game changer that brings immersive storytelling full circle,' said Max Richter, VP of Marketing at Insta360. 'Soon, with visionOS 26, you'll be able to relive these awesome moments from Insta360 X5 and Ace Pro 2 like you're there all over again.' Apple's Jon Logan provided a detailed explanation of APMP for developers and video tech geeks at WWDC which can be seen here. It provides a clear explaination of the difference between rectilinear (flat) video formats and the alternatives that exist out there. Apple's improved software, as the company puts it "has built-in support for popular camera vendors' lens projection parameters and field of view modes" – that's not just my pick for best 360-degree camera, the Insta360 X5 but the GoPro Max (when it comes to spherical 360). More than spherical 360 – in which you'll be able to look around the room (or outdoor space) after the fact, there is also support for the wide-angle lenses of popular action cameras – again the Ace Pro 2 (and, inevitably, GoPro Hero 13 Black). Insta360 has a tradition of cooperating with Apple, from being the first 360 degree camera that made it to Apple Stores, to the Flow 2 Pro's support for Apple's DockKit, meaning iPhone users had on-device access to the gimbal's features. visionOS 26 is not expected to be fully available until this fall, though Apple developers can access early versions now and traditionally the iOS beta comes out about a month after WWDC.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Yahoo
From spatial widgets to realistic Personas: All the visionOS updates Apple announced at WWDC
Apple's updates to visionOS 26, the operating system powering its mixed reality headset, build on last year's Apple Vision Pro spatial computer that blends digital content with the physical world. At WWDC, Apple announced a range of updates for both consumer and enterprise customers, from new spatial widgets and content to more realistic Personas and more. Apple's widgets offer personalized and useful information at a glance. With visionOS 26, they become spatial, integrating into your space. You can customize the widgets to the size, color, and depth you like, and place them where you want. New widgets include a clock that you can decorate, weather that adapts to the weather outside near you, music for quick access to tunes, and photos that can transform into a panorama or a 'window to another space.' An update to the visionOS Photos app uses a new AI algorithm that leverages computational depth to create multiple perspectives for your 2D photos, bringing images to life. Apple says it will feel like you can 'lean right into them and look around.' Spatial browsing on Safari can also make web browsing a more immersive experience. With certain supported articles, spatial browsing can hide distractions and reveal inline photos that 'come alive as you scroll.' Developers can also add spatial browsing to their own apps. Apple released Personas, an AI avatar to represent you on video calls, on the Vision Pro as a beta feature last year. With visionOS 26, Apple says Personas 'more realistically represent you.' The new Personas take advantage of 'volumetric rendering and machine learning technology' to enhance everything from how you look in full side profile view to delivering more accurate-looking hair, eyelashes, and complexion. Personas are all created on-device in a 'matter of seconds," Apple says. visionOS 26 lets you and another headset-wearing friend watch a movie or play a spatial game together. This capability is also being marketed for enterprise clients, allowing users to collaborate. For example, 3D design software company Dassault Systèmes is leveraging the ability with its 3DLive app to visualize 3D designs in person and with remote colleagues. visionOS 26 also lets organizations easily share a common pool of devices among team members, and even securely saves your eye and hand data, vision prescription, and accessibility settings to your iPhone so users can quickly use a shared team device or a friend's Vision Pro as a guest user. Apple said it would add more APIs so enterprises can create apps designed for visionOS. There's a new 'for your eyes only' mode that ensures only those who have been given access can see any confidential materials. Finally, Apple announced Logitech Muse built for Vision Pro, a spatial accessory built for the headset that lets you draw and collaborate in 3D with precision. More Apple Intelligence features are coming to the Apple Vision Pro. For instance, visionOS 26 supports new languages like French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish, along with support for English in Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, and the U.K. Users can also now 'look to scroll' using just their eyes to explore apps and websites. They can also now unlock their iPhone while wearing the Apple Vision Pro, even when wearing the headset, and visionOS supports relaying calls from iPhone so you can accept a call from the Apple Vision Pro. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Tom's Guide
11-06-2025
- Tom's Guide
I just tried visionOS 26 — and the most exciting thing is actually not the Vision Pro
Apple famously does not talk about future products (delayed Siri notwithstanding), but I couldn't help but look ahead as I tried out all of the new features in visionOS 26 for the first time, which is in developer beta now and arriving this fall. Yes, the new visionOS will launch on the Vision Pro, and as far as we know there's no new spatial computing hardware coming from Apple this year — although there's rumors of a lighter Vision Air headset on the way. But as I stared at a panoramic photo widget of Japan and Mt Fuji on the wall in front of me — just like a window — I was thinking a lot more about the implications of visionOS 26 for the rumored Apple Glasses. During one visionOS 26 demo, I was able to play around with the new spatial widgets, which I think have huge implications for a pair of Apple smart glasses. I opened the new Widgets app in visionOS and then placed a clock on the wall I was staring at, and I could adjust the color and width of the frame. But with another tap I could then make it appear like that widget was literally sunken into the wall, adding an almost freaky sense of depth. I also walked from one room to another to demonstrate the fact that you can pin widgets and make their locations persistent. So, for example, your music widget could always be in the same spot. And as I walked up to that widget I could see more info on the Lady Gaga album and start playing my music. All of this is cool if you happen to have $3,500 to burn on a Vision Pro and don't mind wearing a 1.3-pound headset all day. But I think use cases like this get much more interesting when you can shrink the technology down to work on a pair of smart glasses. The Vision Pro could turn 2D photos into 3D before, but it was doing so by displaying information differently to your left eye and right eye. The new Spatial scenes feature works differently and quickly turns your flat pics into something much more immersive, thanks to generative AI. In one image I could literally peek behind a rocky outcropping and see more of a body of water that wasn't even there in the original photo. Apple is using a new AI algorithm that leverages computational depth to crate multiple perspectives from your 2D photos. The result is that it feels like you can get various perspectives of the images just by leaning into the shot and tilting your head. Again, I can see slipping on a pair of glasses to get this effect, but I don't know if the payoff is worthwhile if we're talking about a bulky headset. Easily the most jaw-dropping moment of my visionOS 26 demo was being able to see someone paraskiing, thanks to 8K footage captured by an Insta360 3D video camera. The point of this demo was to show that visionOS 26 supports native playback of 180-degree, 360-degree and wide FOV content from 3D cameras. Apple's new Apple Projected Media Profile takes these shots and remap them into a sphere around you. As the paraskiier essentially floated down a mountain and screamed his head off, I was both excited to live vicariously through him and relieved I was not him. Honestly, I think this format is fine for the Vision Pro and might be tough to pull off in Apple Glasses, as they would have to give you a very wide field of view. But the demo was still impressive. There was only moment I laughed out loud during WWDC 25 — other than seeing Craig Federighi's CGI-enhanced windblown hair after emerging from an F1 race car. And that was Apple showing two people wearing a visionOS headset together watching a movie on a couch. First, who is going to do that when you're in the same room? And, more important, who the heck can afford $7,000 worth of hardware for that sort of experience? But there was a more compelling shared experiences demo for visionOS 26. An Apple rep loaded up a 3D version of Neil Armstrong's space suit and I could then zoom in on in and walk around it. This could be a great learning tool, for example, for parents trying to explain concepts to kids. But I had to remember to take the Vision Pro's battery with me before I got up and walked around the space suit to inspect it, which puts a damper on the experience. This would be much more compelling with smart glasses. Last but not least, I wanted to mention that I tried the new Persona in Vision Pro with visionOS 26. The virtual me definitely looks more realistic now, especially when you turn your head. Before the side view was a real challenge. You'd turn your head, and it almost looked like you turned into a ghost with the missing detail. My hair and skin both looked more realistic, and Apple paid closer attention to little details like eyelashes. Frankly, I still don't really love how my Persona looks. I wish I could smooth out my skin a bit and maybe whiten my teeth slightly. But you can enhance your Persona by changing the portrait effect, as well as accessorize with glasses. I could see myself perhaps dialing into a video call in the future if Apple could pull this off with smart glasses. At the risk of beating a dead horse, I like a lot of the features in visionOS 26, but until I see a lighter, more affordable spatial computer from Apple, I think Vision Pro will continue to be a tough sell. I believe Apple's ultimate goal is to create a pair of smart glasses that can deliver all of the above experiences and then some. Earlier this year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that Apple's Tim Cook was keenly focused on 'lightweight spectacles that a customer could wear all day' — offering AR elements that 'will overlay data and images onto real-world views.' In fact, Apple is reportedly 'hell-bent on creating an industry-leading product before Meta can.' For me, visionOS 26 provides a very good starting blueprint for what Apple glasses could offer.
Gizmodo
11-06-2025
- Gizmodo
Okay, Apple Vision Pro's ‘Spatial Personas' Don't Look Like Trash Anymore
It's still too expensive to buy a headset to make one, though. For the average person, $3,500 is still too much money for Apple Vision Pro. The price is even more exorbitant when you compare it to a $300 Quest 3S or $500 Quest 3 headset with similar VR and XR capabilities, though the visual fidelity and responsiveness are not on the same level. At WWDC 2025, Apple announced visionOS 26 with a slew of new features, including 'spatial Personas,' widgets that you can anchor into your physical space like your walls, and a new spatial web browsing feature that converts 2D photos on websites into 3D ones. As genuinely cutting-edge as these features are (I kept saying 'wow,' 'whoa,' and 'holy sh*t' my entire demo time), it still costs you three-and-a-half grand to experience them. When Apple Vision Pro launched last year and then added spatial Personas—a 3D-generated avatar of yourself that can be used during FaceTime or in a virtual meeting—everybody laughed at them. Literally pointed and (in Nelson Muntz's voice) Ha-Ha-ed at how comically bad they could look. Many people's Personas had holes in the back of people's heads, hair without volume, and skin tones that looked just a bit too bright and clinical. And despite resembling the uncanny valley, there was something just a bit off about them. Here's what my Persona looked like at the time: I'm happy to report that spatial Personas are getting a, um, major facelift (pun intended). The capture process still involves holding the Vision Pro in front of you and using the cameras to 3D scan your face, but the detail of the avatar is so much more realistic. Here's what my new spatial Persona looks like in visionOS 26: There are still some imperfections (like the crookedness of my striped shirt), but my face—my god—it's almost like staring into a mirror. My long hair part was rendered accurately, and when I smiled and laughed, my teeth, cheeks, and eyebrows moved more naturally as opposed to before, which was kind of stiff. My Persona no longer looks like a PS3 character. If you're paying $3,500 for Vision Pro, your virtual self damn well better look more realistic than a console from almost 20 years ago! Apple's not saying what it did specifically to improve the quality of Personas (perhaps using more polygons?), but here's what the press release says: 'Taking advantage of industry-leading volumetric rendering and machine learning technology, the all-new Personas now have striking expressivity and sharpness, offering a full side profile view, and remarkably accurate hair, lashes, and complexion.' The rest of my Vision Pro demo was comparably mind-blowing (as Vision Pro still tends to be), but it also further drove home the fact that you need to have deep pockets in order to enjoy visionOS 26. I saw various widgets—clocks, calendars, a Lady Gaga poster that I could pinch with my fingers to play music, and even a framed window with a #shotoniPhone panorama of Japan's Mount Fuji that I could look 'into.' The higher resolution of Vision Pro's displays and the ability for the widgets to stay anchored or pinned on a wall without jittering or moving made them look very convincing as real objects. The only thing that broke the illusion was almost walking into walls trying to look more closely at the widgets. I also tried out the new spatial browsing in Safari. When toggled on, it turns the browser window into a Reader-ish mode view that removes all of a website's design and only shows the text and the media. As I scrolled down a page, 2D photos would convert into 3D ones with depth—Apple calls these 'spatial scenes.' And man, do they look good. The depth isn't like some cheapo 3D movie conversion. They look like they're shot with expensive 3D cameras, and unlike most 3D content that has a certain sweet spot for feeling the depth, you can actually view them from different angles. It's really neat. Before I took the Vision Pro off my head, I was teleported to the shore and taken ski gliding via 360-degree videos. Apple says visionOS 26 can play native 180-degree and 360-degree videos from Insta360, GoPro, and Canon cameras. There's no need to convert the video files into a compatible format for Vision Pro—they just work out of the box. While not as professional as Apple's own 'Immersive Video' content, this should at least get the ball rolling on expanding user-created content. It's a baby step, but a necessary one considering one of the biggest roadblocks to the Vision Pro, besides the large price tag, is having enough spatial/immersive content for users to consume. Apple didn't have a demo for using PlayStation VR2 Sense controllers to play games in Vision Pro, but I'm sure I'll get to try that out at some point. I have the controllers at home, so whenever that's ready to go, I'll give it a whirl. I left my visionOS 26 demo impressed at the progress Apple's making. Spatial computing is starting to take a more solid shape. I just wish Apple would drop the price on Vision Pro or hurry up and release a cheaper version so more people could try out this cutting-edge tech. I always feel like nobody believes me when I tell them how awesome Vision Pro and visionOS on a technological level. They just look at the price and stop listening, which is a real shame.
The Verge
11-06-2025
- The Verge
Praise be, my visionOS 26 persona is significantly less cursed!
For several months, my Slack avatar was a screenshot of my incredibly cursed Vision Pro persona. My virtual avatar's head was cocked back, cackling into the pixelated void, her hair one solid unmoving block. It wasn't good — but it also wasn't the end of the world. Everyone else's Persona looked just as horrible, and honestly, it was funny. So I was skeptical when, at the WWDC keynote, Apple announced that visionOS 26 had improved the system's floating avatars. And then I got to make one. The process to make Personas hasn't changed, but the end result is vastly improved. (Full disclosure: The video you see above was recorded by Apple and provided to me after my demo.) It doesn't completely erase the uncanniness — the bottom half of your face is still more expressive than the top, it got my nose a bit weird in certain angles, and some microexpressions feel stiff. But hair looks more like hair now. You can see eyelashes and skin texture. It was even able to capture my nose contour makeup. Side profiles have also been improved — something I noticed in a FaceTime with our old weekend editor Wes Davis, a fellow Vision Pro owner who also downloaded the visionOS 26 beta. Previously, if you turned your head to the side, you could look flattened, something akin to a PlayStation 2 era, non-cut scene video game character. It's easier to tweak your Persona now, too. You can customize lighting, skin tone, and get granular with eyewear if you're a glasses wearer. The biggest thing for me, though, is when I laugh and my eyes scrunch up, I no longer look like a caricature of myself. After spending a few weeks experimenting with AI image and video generation, I've been subjected to numerous demoralizing renders of my monolids. You might not know this if you're not Asian, but monolids aren't considered a desirable feature under traditional Western and Eastern beauty standards alike. I'll acknowledge that the fact they're often terribly rendered is a first-world problem. Nevertheless, it can be hurtful when blepharoplasties to reshape eyelids are an incredibly common procedure in my community. It might seem like a trivial thing to fixate on, but if the future is really meant to be lived inside headsets — I want my virtual self to actually look like me. In my brief hands-on, I also got the impression that Personas in visionOS 26 are also much better at capturing a variety of expressions. I know that the average person isn't going to be winking, making goofy faces, or purposefully contorting their face as if they were a Disney cartoon. But, if you are that type of person, I can say I was impressed at how much better the new Persona system is at handling my facial gymnastics. (Alas, Wes' new Persona still has an unflappably weird mustache.) But enough of my yammering, you can judge for yourself in the video above, compared to screenshots of my old Persona I've included below. I got a few other demos in my hands-on. I yeeted myself to a virtual moon of Jupiter. I saw a few examples of improved spatial videos taken on action cams. Apple is still convinced we all want even better spatial photos. But aside from Personas, the other demo I was pleasantly surprised by was widgets. I stand corrected. In our liveblog, I mocked an ever-present virtual wall clock. Having experienced a demo, however, I can see the appeal of a permanent-but-editable wall panel where I can hang digital album art, a Reminders app interface, and maybe recreate my own smart home control hub. It requires conceptual buy-in that these kinds of virtual spaces are a worthwhile endeavor, but if you're already onboard? Trust me, you'll like the widgets.
