Apple Vision Pro: Your Personal IMAX Theatre?
I recently spent a fun hour testing the Apple Vision Pro. Having spent a lot of time using, as well as creating content for various VR and AR devices over many years, I was surprised to find that I don’t think the AVP is a VR device at all—it’s a personal IMAX theatre. Which I think might be great news for filmmakers.
A Cinematic Canvas
As I slipped on the Vision Pro, the first thing that caught my attention was the screen quality. It’s crisper and more vibrant than any other headset I’ve used. The resolution and color accuracy are unparalleled, creating an immersive 3D IMAX-like experience that felt both intimate and expansive.
This visual fidelity is a game-changer. Imagine being able to present your meticulously color-graded scenes exactly as intended, with every shade and nuance preserved. The refresh rate ensures smooth playback, crucial for maintaining the illusion of reality, especially during fast-paced scenes.
Stability in Motion
Moving my head around, I found the precision of the head tracking very impressive. Every movement felt natural and immediate, with the projected images remaining perfectly stable. This level of stability is crucial for maintaining immersion and reducing motion sickness—a common issue with other VR headsets. Here, there was no perceptible delay, no drifting of objects out of sync with my movements. It was as if the virtual elements were anchored in reality.
The initial calibration process, which tailored the device to my eyes, was quick and efficient. This ensured that the tracking remained precise throughout my session, reflecting even the subtlest movements accurately.
Gestural Interface: A Double-Edged Sword
Interacting with the Vision Pro’s gestural interface was a mix of delight and frustration. The natural gestures like looking and pinching felt intuitive and elegant, embodying the seamless user experience that Apple is known for. However, there were moments when the gestures didn’t register, breaking the immersion and leading to a few exasperated sighs.
What this human interface design really highlighted for me though is how much Apple DON’T want you to interact with the AVP, at least not in anything close to the same ways that the Quest, Index, etc., want you to interact - like a video game controller. As soon as you have joysticks at your thumbs, you want to use them to move across the space, turn around, etc. Apple is explicitly discouraging this type of interaction; there is no intuitive way to move your viewpoint. They really want you to stay in one place and have the content delivered to you.
The Stationary, Yet Immersive Experience
As I’ve set out - one of the most surprising aspects of the Vision Pro was its encouragement of a stationary experience. Unlike traditional VR systems that invite users to move around a 360-degree space, the Vision Pro creates an immersive environment and is really pushing 180-degree 3D as the default content format in a way that feels very much like a personal IMAX theatre. Sitting still, I was enveloped in a visual and auditory experience that was deeply engaging.
The field of view is not that wide - it’s decidedly “mid”, but it does effectively simulate a large cinema screen, focusing my attention and making peripheral vision unnecessary. Moving too much transitioned me back into pass-through mode, a gentle nudge to stay put and enjoy the cinematic experience. This made the Vision Pro perfect for long-form linear content, like films and documentaries, where the viewer is meant to sit back and absorb the story.
A New Platform for Storytelling
All of this makes me think that AVP could finally be a great platform for filmmakers. Traditional VR often struggles with linear, temporal narratives due to its immersive nature, but the Vision Pro handles transitions and cuts seamlessly. One of the experiences I tried involved frequent scene changes, and it felt surprisingly coherent and engaging.
This ability to maintain immersion through cuts and transitions opens up new possibilities for storytelling. It felt like a traditional theatre experience, yet more intimate and personalized. The integrated spatial audio further enhanced this, making me feel like I was part of the story rather than just a spectator.
Conclusion
The Apple Vision Pro is not just a VR headset; it’s a personal IMAX theatre. Its superior visual fidelity, precise head tracking, and immersive yet stationary experience set it apart from traditional VR devices. This makes it a revolutionary tool for filmmakers, offering a new canvas for immersive, high-quality cinematic storytelling. I’m looking forward to shooting some content for the Vision Pro over the coming months (more news on that to come soon, I hope).