Apple Vision Pro’s Persona avatars are ready for apps like Zoom

Image: Apple

Apple Vision Pro’s new 3D avatars aren’t just for Facetime calls but also appear automatically in other video chat apps.

When you wear a Vision Pro, Apple’s planned mixed reality headset will use a 3D avatar to represent you in Facetime calls. Apple Vision Pro owners scan their faces and hands using the front cameras before first use so that the system can later animate near-photorealistic Persona avatars in video chats, using eye and face tracking data.

An official developer video from the WWDC event now confirmed that these “personas” will also appear in other supported video chat apps. So services like Zoom, Google Meet, or Discord will simply get the avatar image delivered instead of a video stream. Special adjustments should not be necessary, for this usage.

Zoom and Co. on the Apple Vision Pro

Even AR face filters could work. After all, strictly speaking, the video chat apps themselves won’t know that they only receive the video stream of an avatar instead of a real face.

Many other existing iPad and iOS apps should work natively on the Apple Vision Pro, according to Apple. The developer video titled “Run your iPad and iPhone apps in the Shared Space” explains how their original touchscreen operation is implemented in the virtual world.

Another video, “Enhance your iPad and iPhone apps for the Shared Space,” briefly discusses the Apple Vision Pro’s compatibility with video chat apps. It sounds like a well-thought-out solution.

While all of the details of Apple’s headset are unknown, a lucky few got to try out the headset at WWDC. We summarize these first experiences in this hands-on overview of the Apple Vision Pro. If you missed the Apple Vision Pro announcement check out our overview.

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