Someone checked out Spatial Video on a Vision Pro and it seems to be pretty wild

So, you might’ve heard that the Vision Promay actually get released sooner rather than later. A while back, there was talk of a delay up until March, but now? Well, we’re talking about January once more. And that just happens to be right around the corner.

So… Can we get hyped about the Vision Pro likely becoming one of the best VR headsets around?

Well, yes. But honestly, we still have a lot to unpack about the device. Which is great, because it’s really boring to get a new piece of tech and know everything about it from the get go. But with the Vision Pro, even the things that we sort-of know about feel like a mystery.

Take Spatial Video, for example. The iPhone 15 Pro is already capable of taking such videos, but can you view them as they were intended? No. Someone made an app to view such media on the Quest 3, but can we guess how accurate that is when compared to the Vision Pro? No.

But hey, at least we can see what someone else says it feels like.



So, before we begin, let’s remind ourselves what Spatial Video even is. It’s a special format destined to be best experienced on the Vision Pro: Apple’s upcoming and first XR headset. One can record such clips only with the iPhone 15 Pro, but can play them back as regular 2D vids if one doesn’t have a Vision Pro just laying around.

But what do they feel like? Well, Apple’s trailer made it look like a truly immersive moment. However, as my own grandmother recently uncovered, immersion has a lot to do with interaction. And it’s not like these Spatial Videos will let you walk around in them, right?

Well, judging by this shared experience, Spatial Video sounds a lot like enhanced 3D. On paper, this isn’t anything groundbreaking, but it may very well end up feeling a lot more realistic. That being said, a hidden cost may be at play here.

There is mention of a “ghostly playback quality” that made the experience feel like an “immersive memory” and I don’t think that this is because of any intent that the Big A had. I think that this is a side effect of the depth data being blurry, due to the iPhone 15 Pro not being completely aware of what depth actually means.

Kind of like those instances where a photo’s bokeh effect feels off whenever the phone couldn’t properly tell how much depth each subject in the frame actually had.

Will that end up being the case or is this just a side-effect of this entire pre-release beta software thing? Time will tell. And if we’re lucky, there’s not that much more waiting in store. Enjoy the holidays, because 2024 may get exciting rather quickly!