Apple's New visionOS 2 Adds 3D to Your 2D Photos

Apple started out Monday's virtual keynote with a little chat about the first major update to its spatial computing platform, visionOS for the Apple Vision Pro.

Mike Rockwell, Apple’s vice president of the Vision Products Group, boasted of a catalog of more than 2,000 apps made specifically for Apple Vision Pro since it was announced only four months ago.

“Apple Vision Pro delivers revolutionary experiences for users and developers, and we’re excited to advance spatial computing even further with visionOS 2 just months after its initial release,” Rockwell said in a statement. “From navigating visionOS more seamlessly to pushing the boundaries of how users connect with memories, and enhancements to key Vision Pro apps, we can’t wait for users to experience the range of new capabilities with visionOS 2. And with a robust set of tools that enable developers to create richer spatial apps, visionOS 2 makes Vision Pro even more powerful.”

2D to 3D, Gestures, and Work

Haley Allen, Director of visionOS at Apple, demoed some of the new features, like converting your regular-old 2D photos to 3D, or what Apple calls spatial photos, noting that Apple is using machine learning to transform your photos. Spatial photos can be shared with others, too, to look at in their own Apple Vision Pro.

There are new gestures in visionOS 2, as well, that can help you bring up the Home View and Control Center, plus some extra information at a glance, like the time, battery level, and volume.

If you're into using your headset as a big Mac screen, you're in luck. visionOS 2 upgrades Mac Virtual Display with higher resolution and bigger sizes. You can now work on your Mac's screen with a display in Vision Pro that Apple says is equivalent to two 4k monitors next to each other. There's also new support for a mouse and Magic Keyboard (you can finally see it while working in the headset).

Trains, Guest Users, and APIs

Apple Vision Pro users can now move apps around, putting them wherever they want, and that includes iPad and iPhone apps they're running in the space. Train support is now here, too, adding to the recently announced airplane mode. More movies while traveling is probably a good thing, right?

New Guest Users can be added, too, with eye and hand data saved for up to 30 days.

Spatial video can already be taken by iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, but now Canon is releasing a new spatial lens for their EOS R7 camera.

Rockwell ended the presentation with a quick chat about APIs, the code that lets developers add all these powerful features to their own apps. There are new Volumetric APIs, TabletopKit (to let apps lock to flat surfaces), and Enterprise APIs for things like surgical training, equipment maintenance apps, and more.

The Vision Pro is coming to more countries, too, with pre-orders available in China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore (June 13) and Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the UK on June 28.