With iOS 17.2, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max users can now record three-dimensional videos, spatial videos, an innovative new capability that helps users capture life's precious moments, and relive those memories in apple vision pro, starting early next year.
“iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max feature the most powerful camera systems we've ever built, including the best video quality on any smartphone,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.
«And now, we are setting a new bar for what is possible, allowing users to record special moments as they happened. “Space videos are magical, and we can’t wait for users to experience them on Apple Vision Pro early next year.”
Enable spatial video capture on iPhone
Once spatial video capture is enabled in Settings, users can take advantage of the advanced camera systems on iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max to capture their favorite moments in three dimensions. Space videos are captured in 1080p at 30 frames per second in the standard dynamic range.
With advanced computational videography and HEVC compression techniques, the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max offer impressive spatial memory in a compact file size.
Space videos on iPhone 15 Pro: How does it work?
Space videos should be recorded by holding the phone horizontally. The iPhone 15 Pro uses its main and ultrawide cameras side by side in landscape mode to create the 3D video. Record two 1.080p and 30fps videos at once, resolving lens limitations and distance differences with computational work.
The file is saved in HEVC format, similar to other video files Apple , with a storage size of about 130MB per minute. That's not too bad, probably because the files are limited to that relatively low resolution and frame rate of 1.080p and 30fps.
Clips can be shared via Messages or AirDrop, but there could be cases where the files are compressed in other apps, losing the 3D data. Even so, video clips should be usable anywhere like an everyday video file.
You have to activate spatial video mode, either within the Camera app settings or with a switch on the Vision Pro glasses in the Camera app itself.
The camera app makes recommendations on how to turn the camera to the side and maintain a certain distance from a subject. The spatial video recording mode avoids adjustments to brightness and contrast, which means that low-light recording can end up grainier than normal videos, we will need good light.
Capturing great space videos
Capturing spatial videos on iPhone is as easy as capturing standard videos on iPhone: with the Camera app open in Video mode, Turn your iPhone horizontally, tap the Space Video icon, and then tap Record.
iPhone begins recording video from the main and advanced ultra-wide-angle cameras, and scales the ultra-wide-angle camera's field of view to match that of the main camera, which is then saved in a single video file. Magic!
Viewing space videos
On the iPhone and other devices, space videos appear as regular 2D videos and can be viewed or shared like any other video using apps like Messages. Users can find all the space videos they capture within a new space album in the Photos app, and all of their space videos will be synced across their devices with iCloud.
Space videos come to life on Apple Vision Pro. With iCloud, users will be able to access their entire library in the Photos app and view your videos in full scale with brilliant colors and spectacular details. With Apple Vision Pro, spatial videos can be played in a window or zoomed into an immersive view that transports users back to every recorded moment.
Spatial video capture on iPhone arrives ahead of the debut of Apple Vision Pro, so iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max users can start capturing moments with family and friends to enjoy from the first day they get their hands on them. some Apple Vision Pro.
How will space video evolve?
There is no API for Apple's HEVC 3D video format, which means the files are not designed to be recognized by third-party applications yet. But it's possible that app developers will find some kind of solution. Besides, It is a shame that at the moment there is no other way to watch 3D videos than on a Vision Pro.
There is no recording limit on videos, so you could theoretically make a full-length 3D space video. But clips will only be able to be trimmed, whether on iPhone or Vision Pro. Final Cut Pro, Apple's video editing software, will have spatial video editing support. Meanwhile, if you end up trying to edit these video files in a Mac or iOS video editor, they will end up being converted to 2D-only files.
It's also a little disappointing that the videos can't be recorded in 4K resolution, but I'm sure they'll improve the quality in the future.
Conclusion
Apple often seems like it's trying to become not just a lifestyle, but a souvenir company. Automated photo collections are now called “Memories.” And this is what 3D space videos in Vision Pro feel like, digital memories.
Apple's choice to frame spatial videos in a type of blurred frame makes it look like the videos are being projected almost holographically into the room, with the edges dissolving a bit.
Apple's spatial video format appears in its own new category in the Photos app, and it won't yet appear in Memories. Maybe this new spatial video tab in Photos will become the repository for new 3D experiences.