Zoom’s Apple Vision Pro App Loses The Webcam By Scanning Your Face & Movements
Image via Zoom
Zoom and Apple are bringing a dash of virtual reality to your next video call, making “wish you were here”—and webcams—a thing of the past. Maintaining eye contact without feeling awkward behind your screen is one of the struggles of hybrid work, but with the introduction of the Zoom app for Apple Vision Pro, launching on February 2, remote meetings will be looking more personal than ever.
The app merges Zoom’s video conferencing features with the “spatial computing” prowess of Apple’s mixed-reality headgear to make those digital meetings feel as close to an in-person chat as possible. Users can connect with colleagues and customers in a shared space, making every virtual handshake or nod feel real.
Set to turn heads, perhaps even literally, is a new ‘Personas’ feature, which uses face scans to create digital avatars of chat members. These doubles can mimic your facial expressions and hand movements in real time, making it appear as though you’re right there in the room, minus the headset.
The Vision Pro’s augmented-reality capabilities also allow these digital meetups to blend with your actual surroundings. Imagine discussing quarterly reports with your avatar colleagues floating around your living room or kitchen.
And since you’re no longer confined to your computer screen, you can also share 3D files with collaborators for design and media projects via this app with a new 3D Object Sharing function coming this spring.
While AR/VR interactions can feel clunky, Zoom’s new medium seeks to enhance the sense of presence and authenticity to make meetings more engaging and productive.
The company also plans to scale up the immersive experience with features like real-world pinning of meeting participants and integrated Team Chats.
“Zoom on Apple Vision Pro helps teammates stay connected no matter when and where they work, or how they communicate and collaborate,” shares Smita Hashim, chief product officer at Zoom. “The integration of Zoom on Apple Vision Pro and visionOS extends our platform promise of allowing participants the ultimate meeting experience from anywhere and delivers on our commitment of seamless collaboration and communication.”
With that, it’s worth noting that the Apple Vision Pro’s launch will see it missing some key apps like Netflix, Spotify, and YouTube, so work and play may not be all that incorporated into the ecosystem yet.
