Apple Vision Pro to Support Screen Mirroring via AirPlay and Other Tidbits

Thursday October 5, 2023 10:05 am PDT by Steve Moser

Apple's upcoming Vision Pro headset will support screen mirroring via AirPlay or FaceTime, according to code found in the beta 4 release of visionOS 1.0.

visionos windows
Code in beta 4 includes the following strings:

Select a device to mirror content to from your Apple Vision Pro
Only one activity is available when mirroring or sharing your view through ‌AirPlay‌ or ‌FaceTime‌.

This suggests that users will be able to mirror their Vision Pro display to an external monitor or TV, or share their view with others through ‌AirPlay‌ or ‌FaceTime‌. Other headsets like Meta Quest have similar features which can help to reduce the feeling of isolation of the headset user from others.

Reset EyeSight Data

Apple's visionOS 1.0 beta 4 also includes a new option to reset EyeSight data. EyeSight is the feature that displays a user's simulated eyes on the external display of the ‌Apple Vision Pro‌. The option reads:

You can reset EyeSight by going to Settings > People Awareness and tapping Reset Personalized EyeSight. This will remove personalized eye details from EyeSight, like your eye shape and measurements, but EyeSight will still use your skin tone where available. After you have reset EyeSight, you can restore it by recapturing your Persona.

Sharing of Persona Data

The code indicates that a user's Persona will be sent to all participants in a ‌FaceTime‌ call in order to allow other participants to view the user's Persona. ‌Apple Vision Pro‌ can generate Personas via machine learning that allow users to share virtual representations of themselves that reflect face and hand movements in real time with others over ‌FaceTime‌.

For ‌FaceTime‌ calls on a visionOS device, your Persona will be sent securely to all of the people on the call so they can view your Persona. After a call is completed, your Persona may remain stored encrypted on the other call participants’ devices for up to 30 days. The other call participants will be able to access your Persona only when they are on a call with you.

The code also indicates that Personas, but not the data used to generate them, could be stored on Apple's servers, albeit in a manner that isn't accessible to Apple.

To create your Persona and personalized EyeSight, ‌Apple Vision Pro‌ cameras capture images and 3D measurements of your face, head, upper body, and facial expressions. The data used to build your Persona and EyeSight do not leave your device. Your Persona may be stored on Apple servers, encrypted in a way that Apple cannot access.

Additional New Alerts

visionOS 1.0 beta 4 also includes the following new alerts:

Calling unavailable while in Travel Mode
Brighten your lighting to use your Persona.
This video has excess motion, and could cause discomfort if expanded.

Apple has stated that ‌Apple Vision Pro‌ will launch in the U.S. in early 2024 before expanding to other countries at later dates.

Related Roundup: Apple Vision Pro

Buyer's Guide: Vision Pro (Neutral)

Related Forum: Apple Vision Pro

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Top Rated Comments

IIGS User

39 months ago

Ya know, it's expensive as hell and no one really know what to do with it just yet.

That's what makes it so exciting. People are going to be completely AMAZED as what gets done with this thing 5 years from now when it's more than half the price it is now.

I can remember calling the iPad an "oversized smartphone that no one will do anything with" when it first came out. I said it would fail in the marketplace and no one would buy them.

Now they're literally used everywhere. The waitress at the restaurant takes my order with one, the Cinnabon at the mall uses theirs as a cash register. People in all walks of life and businesses are using them every day to be more productive and improve efficiency. Children use them to learn. It's really something that first started out as. Wait for it... The NEWTON. Became the iPhone, then the iPad and the whole world of Apple we have today.

So, I say knock this thing at the peril of looing short sighted. I think it's a game changer in the next five years for all sorts of things we haven't even thought of yet.

And the price will come down with time. It's a new product and a totally fresh take on an existing concept.

I'm totally excited as to what will be done with Apple Vision in the next 5-10 years.

Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)

mdelvecchio

39 months ago

How's this for shortsighted: first major product Apple has ever launched that is actually objectionable hardware that's in the way of the software experience. The software experience may, or not may, be interesting. But the hardware is not something anyone actually wants to use. You have to use it in spite of it. That's a big, big problem.

Hey remember when mainframe guys mocked the mouse? They called it a frivolous toy and slower than command line interfaces. Remember that?

It’s wild how those enjoying one use case can’t get their heads around other use cases. Same as it ever was!

Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)