Apple Vision Pro personas break free from their boxes
Apple just introduced Spatial Personas for Vision Pro running visionOS 1.1. Instead of hovering like ghosts trapped in FaceTime tiles, up to five avatars can now sit in the same virtual room with spatial audio to collaborate, play games, or watch movies together.
FaceTime on the Apple Vision Pro used to feel like video calling a floating ghost stuck inside a rigid window box. Apple is finally letting those avatars break free.
Apple officially rolled out Spatial Personas for Vision Pro users running visionOS 1.1. The feature takes your digital persona out of the traditional tile and drops it right into your physical room alongside others.
Breaking out of the FaceTime box
Up to five people can now hang out in the same shared virtual space using SharePlay-supported apps to watch movies, collaborate on work, or play games.
Spatial audio is baked in, meaning if a friend sits to your left, their voice actually comes from your left. Plus, each participant can adjust their own view and move objects around without messing up anyone else's screen.
Why it matters
We think this is the first real glimpse of what social computing should feel like on spatial hardware. Wearing a headset is inherently isolating, and chatting with floating flat windows never fixed that; putting lifelike bodies around a shared digital table changes the vibe completely.
That said, it heavily depends on SharePlay, and Vision Pro's third-party app ecosystem is still noticeably sparse. And until Apple polishes the uncanny valley feel of Persona faces, hanging out with friends might still feel a bit haunted.
Sources (1)
- theverge.com(opens in a new tab)Originaltheverge.com