Apple’s latest innovation in mixed reality, the Apple Vision Pro, is set to revolutionize how we experience digital content. Coupled with the advent of spatial video recording capabilities on select iPhones, this technology is not just a step but a leap into the future of immersive multimedia. Here, we explore the synergy between the Apple Vision Pro and spatial video and how brands may tap into it for customer engagement.
The Apple Vision Pro: A Portal to New Reality
The Apple Vision Pro (AVP) is Apple’s foray into a new kind of headset that blends virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). (But don’t call it AR, MR, or VR – Apple refers to it as Spatial Computing and Spatial Video.)
The AVP boasts high-resolution micro-OLED displays, advanced spatial audio, and intuitive controls through eye tracking, hand gestures, and voice commands. This headset is designed to deliver an unparalleled immersive experience, making it a perfect platform for viewing spatial videos and 3d content.
Spatial Video: Bringing 3D to Life
Spatial video is a technology that allows the recording of video content in 3D, adding depth and realism to the viewing experience. When viewed through devices like the Apple Vision Pro, these videos offer an incredibly lifelike and immersive experience, making the viewer feel like they are part of the scene.
Apple updated iOS 17.2, adding the ability to record 3D “spatial” videos if you have an iPhone 15 Pro. This enables a stereoscopic view, creating amazing depth. Despite the “spatial” name, these videos are stereoscopic 3D, not full scenes you can move around in. You can’t get closer to recorded videos or view them from the side; they are not 360º. By adding the ability to capture spatial video on an iPhone, the videos will present a step forward to creating a sense of presence for the viewer using their mobile device to record media. This is a huge step in lowering the barrier to content generation.
iPhones That Support Spatial Video Recording
As of now, spatial video recording is a feature exclusive to the latest models in the iPhone lineup. The iPhones that support this feature include:
- iPhone 15 Pro: This model introduced the spatial video recording feature, allowing users to capture lifelike 3D content. It utilizes its advanced camera system in landscape mode to record two videos simultaneously, creating a depth-filled 3D effect.
- iPhone 15 Pro Max: Similar to the iPhone 15 Pro, the Pro Max version supports spatial video recording, offering the same high-quality 3D video capture with its sophisticated camera technology.
It’s important to note that to fully experience the 3D effect of spatial videos, a compatible headset like the Apple Vision Pro is required. While these videos can be played back in 2D on standard screens, the 3D effect is only appreciable with a headset capable of displaying this content.
Spatial Video and 360º Video
The combination of the Apple Vision Pro and spatial video recording on iPhones marks the beginning of a new era in content creation and consumption. This technology can transform various industries, from entertainment and gaming to education and professional training. Video will be stereoscopic and displayed in the highest quality available, unlike any other headset on the market.
Videos will be presented in multiple ways on the AVP – standard 4K letterbox style and panoramic view, providing a deeper sense through your peripheral vision. While iPhones can not record 360º videos, the AVP will display them! Below is a graphic that helps illustrate how video media will be displayed.
Based on Apple’s recent news release, users can access over 150 3D titles with incredible depth wherever they are within the Apple TV app. We expect the 3D versions of Disney titles displayed on digital screens to be as big as an IMAX theater with jaw-dropping 3D within the headset.
Apple Immersive Video
Vision Pro also introduces Apple Immersive Video, a remarkable new entertainment format pioneered by Apple that puts users inside the action with 180-degree, three-dimensional 8K recordings captured with Spatial Audio. Users can also enjoy new interactive experiences like Encounter Dinosaurs.
The AVP will provide dynamic new ways of watching media, including multiple screens, 3D graphics, and 3D models that break the 4th wall and enter your living space. This will allow for more infographics and dynamic content that you control.
Creating 360 and 180 Content and Media
Our live-action team has a deep history and experience capturing live-action content for almost every industry. Our team, led by director Dale Carman, has been in film and advertising for over 25 years. We understand how important it is to stabilize footage and how to expertly integrate CGI visuals in live-action footage. Groove Jones will use the same techniques and practices for capturing, post-production, and editorial for video content as we’ve been doing for nearly a decade. The Apple Vision Pro will become the premium viewing device for 360-degree videos, and we anticipate that brands will want to use it for brand activations, conferences, and sales presentations.
Below is the award-winning 3D experience our co-founder, Dale Carman, directed for AT&T’s Don’t Text and Drive campaign. The production included live-action capture plus a complicated VFX shot of the vehicle, driver, and car crash.
Our team can deliver Hollywood-level VFX and action to your 3D live-action productions, just like the AT&T experience above, which included digitally adding the car and driver’s body into the shot and the collision at the end. Another great example is our VFX work for Comcast and NASCAR below. We shot the live-action scenes and then added a fully computer-generated VFX shot of the NASCAR pileup. Case study- https://www.groovejones.com/comcast-xfinity-daytona-500-racing-vr-experience
Apple’s Vision Pro and the spatial video recording feature on iPhones represent a significant milestone in the evolution of immersive technology. As we embrace these advancements, we can expect a future where our digital interactions are more lifelike, engaging, and impactful. The potential applications of this technology are vast, and it will be exciting to see how it shapes our digital experiences in the years to come.
Apple officially announces the date to pre-order the Apple Vision Pro – 1.19.24 @5:00 AM PST and availability 2.2.24. Learn more about the Apple Vision Pro – https://www.apple.com/apple-vision-pro
Learn More About the APV – A Beginner’s Guide to the Apple Vision Pro
Some of our 360º Video and CGI Work for Brands
Client: Travel Nevada
The Nevada Division of Tourism (TravelNevada.com) launched a mobile tour in California cities as part of its first-ever “Don’t Fence Me In” 360-degree video and experiential disruptive installation tour. The live-action video production took a crew of 20 people, traveling 750 miles across Nevada over seven days. Groove Jones managed and directed the video production and the mobile App production. Case study – https://www.groovejones.com/travelnevada-com-launches-360-degree-video-dont-fence-tour/
Client: Comcast and NASCAR
Groove Jones created a 360º video experience for Comcast Xfinity that launched at the Daytona 500. We take fans from their living room into a breathtaking, edge-of-your-seat ride and climatic pile-up on the track. Check out the case study here – https://www.groovejones.com/comcast-xfinity-daytona-500-racing-vr-experience
Client: Taser
Taser highlighted their Axon brand using spatial video, encompassing a suite of connected products from body cameras to evidence management with a unique and powerful Virtual Reality demonstration. The goal was to place police chiefs into a real-life situation that their police officers face daily. With 360º video, Groove Jones could put them in a frightening, life-and-death situation as it unfolded around them. Case Study – https://www.groovejones.com/taser/
Client: Markwins Wet ‘N Wild
Groove Jones worked with Wet n Wild® to bring their latest brand concept to life by creating an underwater 360 video experience. The world of mermaids inspires the Midnight Mermaid collection in a context you rarely see or experience: Nightfall. Check out the case study here – https://www.groovejones.com/underwater-vr-midnight-mermaid-experience-for-a-millennial-and-gen-z/
Client: View Glass
View Dynamic Glass uses the power of video to guide its customers through facilities that use its products. In the 360 video experience, we guide the viewer through four locations. Check out the case study here – https://www.groovejones.com/view-dynamic-glass-facility-tour/
