The Spatial Personas feature is now available to test in developer beta mode through its release on the Vision Pro; allowing Apple to ghostly scan the user's likenesses of friends and colleagues from their windowed confines.
This enabled them to appear as if they're floating directly in your space; pointing and even interacting in a mixed reality-like environment.
Unlike the existing Persona feature, which is confined to a tile and facial expressions only, Spatial Persona features a transparent background and allows for additional movement, such as hand gestures, enhancing the lifelike experience.
Each user can control what they see and reposition objects without impacting what other users see, while spatial audio helps users sense where others are in the virtual space.
The Spatial Personas is now rolling out for all Vision Pro users running visionOS 1.1 or later, allowing users to break out of the traditional FaceTime tile and feel more present with others in a shared virtual space.
Over a month after the Vision Pro was launched, The Spatial Persona is a feature that Apple had promised back at WWDC 2023 when the Vision Pro was announced for the first time. And now, the promised future has arrived.
Spatial Personas activate via a small button toggle on FaceTime calls in Vision Pro that looks like a 3D head emoji. Apps that allow SharePlay can be activated to share a session between Personas, with up to five being able to join at once. The entire shared app space becomes a bordered zone in 3D space that can be dragged around and repositioned in your room. If the shared items or screens move along with the personas, you can stand still. However, your relative position to the other people is then shifted accordingly.
Users can also collaborate naturally, reposition objects, and enjoy a shared virtual space experience through the lifelike virtual gatherings on FaceTime calls with hand gestures, transparent backgrounds, and spatial audio.