Alongside the second beta of iOS 17, Apple this week released the first-ever beta of visionOS, giving developers who didn’t get a chance to try out Vision Pro at WWDC their first look at the vision of corporate mixed reality. (Without wanting to repeat the F-word too often, Apple describes the software as its “first space operating system.”) You don’t need an actual Vision Pro headset to explore the software, which is fortunate because they won’t continue selling until next year. You only need the latest beta version of Xcode.
It’s still early days, but some interesting tidbits have already emerged. For example, there are several environments present in the beta, which can be used to shut off the outside world by turning the digital crown on the headset. “Environments allow you to transform the space around you, so apps can extend beyond the dimensions of your room,” Apple explains on its website. “Choose from a selection of beautiful landscapes or magically replace your ceiling with clear, open skies.”
There are 13 environments so far, ranging from the beach to the moon and including several generic locations: the beach, the moon, the sky, the white sand and the winter, autumn, summer and summer light. spring. In addition, there are several views of the real world:
- Haleakala National Park in Maui, Hawaii
- Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California
- Lake Vrangla in Drammen, Buskerud, Norway
- Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon
- Yosemite National Park in California
As noted by Macrumors, there is also a visual search feature that allows the wearer to interact with items and text in the world, and translate text between over a dozen languages. This is more of an actual AR feature than Apple’s demo, so it’s possible Vision Pro will have more functionality by the time it hits customers’ hands next year.
Apple also outlined a few categories of apps that don’t fit visionOS, including motion-based apps that track location changes or offer turn-by-turn directions or navigation, and photography apps, though Vision Pro has a dozen cameras on board.
As fascinating as it is, the beta (official name visionOS 1.0 Developer Beta) is not intended for use by members of the public. As the name suggests, it’s up to app developers to work on it. Developers can download the SDK and learn more about some of the visionOS features on Apple’s Developer Portal. Apple is unlikely to have a public beta until visionOS 2.0 arrives.
