Explore the next frontier of mixed reality through Apple Vision Pro
The Apple Vision Pro is a spatial computing device announced by Apple in June 2023. It is a headset that allows users to interact with digital content in a three-dimensional space.
Defining the use case
Work and collaboration
· Employees engaging with training simulations in such a vivid medium can learn faster, retain more information, and genuinely enjoy the learning process.
· Brainstorming sessions allowing remote teams to interact in real-time, strengthening communication and relationships irrespective of geographical barriers
Education
· Medical students can familiarize themselves with complex equipment in a simulated environment to boost confidence before handling real equipment in clinical settings
· Engineering students might test mechanical designs, identifying flaws and making improvements without the costs and hazards of building physical prototypes.
Real Estate
· The real estate and architecture sectors can transform the way properties are showcased and sold.
· It allows potential buyers to navigate through real estate objects without being physically present.
· Its interactive features such as real-time modifications, furnishings previews, and more, enrich the buying or investment experience.
Why should you migrate to Apple Vision Pro?
Migrating iOS app to Apple Vision pro can offer some benefits depending the nature of application. Here are some reasons:
· Advance computer vision capabilities: Features such as image recognition, object tracking, text recognition.
· Integration with Apple ecosystem: Seamlessly integrate your app with Apple services such as Core ML for machine learning, ARKit for augmented reality experience, SwiftUI for building user interfaces.
· Security and privacy: With Apple Vision Pro, you can benefit from built-in security features and ensure that sensitive data is handled securely within your app.
· Future-proofing: By migrating your app to Apple Vision Pro you can future-proof your application.
Roadmap to update your app
If you have an existing app that runs in iOS and iPadOS, then it can be run on Apple Vision Pro as well. For visionOS support you need to update project’s setting and recompile your code. Depending on app you might need to make some changes that are only found on iOS. Mostly same technologies are available on both platforms.
1. Add visionOS as a supported destination for your app — The first step to updating your app is to add visionOS as a supported destination
2. Isolate features that are unavailable in visionOS — Some frameworks have behavioral changes that impact your app in visionOS, and some frameworks disable features when the required hardware is unavailable.
3. Update your interface to take advantage of visionOS features — After your existing code runs correctly in visionOS, look for ways to improve the experience you offer on the platform. In visionOS, you can display content using more than just windows.
4. Update your app’s assets — Add vector-based or high-resolution images to your project specifically to support visionOS.
You can convert any Unity project to the supported by visionOS. Below list needs to be taken care for unity:
· Use Unity 2022 or later
· Convert shaders to shader graph
· Adopt the universal render pipeline
· Move to the input system package
· Think about the volumes
Tools and technology
Tools
o Xcode
o Reality Composer Pro
o Unity
Frameworks
o Swift UI
o Reality Kit
o ARKit
o Accessibility
Conclusion
iOS apps can be enhanced to leverage the capabilities of Vision Pro, thereby expanding the user experience. Additionally, any applications developed using Unity 3D can also undergo conversion to integrate with Vision Pro features.
Image source: https://developer.apple.com/visionos/
