Today, leading video conferencing solutions provider Zoom officially announced a new spatial application, ready for the Vision Pro debut later this week. Following snippets suggesting that Zoom will debut on the device, Zoom is now officially confirming its first spatial computing solution to assist the device’s first customers in leveraging XR productivity tools.
Zoom will debut its new application on February 2nd, and at the same time, US customers are poised to get their hands on the Vision Pro headset, with first-time adopters able to access Zoom on Apple Vision Pro via the device’s dedicated digital app store on release.
Moreover, Zoom on Apple Vision Pro will help teammates and workers stay connected “no matter when and where they work, or how they communicate and collaborate,” said Smita Hashim, Chief Product Officer at Zoom.
Hashim also added:
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.
The news follows Zoom’s debut of a video conferencing service on Apple TVs in December 2023. Interestingly, the Vision Pro will be compatible with the Apple TV for streaming purposes, perhaps laying a foundation for the Apple TV and Vision Pro versions of Zoom to work together.
More on Zoom on Apple Vision Pro
Zoom is incredibly well-versed in creating reliable video conferencing solutions for enterprise clients, helping users of various backgrounds facilitate a culture of connection, productivity, and collaboration.
Moreover, by launching the Vision Pro, Zoom can now leverage what Apple calls an infinite canvas of computing.
What Apple means by its infinite canvas concept is expanding computing beyond 2D screens and interaction, boosting engagement by presenting traditional 2D applications and 3D ones.
With the Zoom for Vision Pro application, device users can access the service on their toolbelt of immersive applications at launch, ready to start, join, collaborate on, and schedule meetings.
Additionally, the Vision Pro version of Zoom comes with platform-exclusive features that emphasise the prospective benefits of spatial computing.
The service will leverage Apple’s Persona system that creates a digital twin of a user. In Zoom’s case, these will be compatible with the new spatial service. The integration includes fully animated digital avatars with hand and face movements.
Zoom on Apple Vision Pro also allows dispersed teams to connect in a shared immersive experience for “users wanting to feel like they are in the same room as their colleagues and customers.”
The firm states that the immersive spaces do not require physical equipment or setup, and end users can scale the spaces to fit a range of business operations.
But that is not all. Zoom is also planning on supporting the service going forward – projecting much faith into the new headset. In Spring 2024, Zoom plans on bringing new features to the service, including:
3D object sharing that allows workers to collaborate over RT3D models. As Vision Pro aims its product towards productivity and workplace use cases, the upcoming shows how the device could become ready for a range of industry end users who need to stream large-scale 3D assets.
The service will also introduce a Team Chat feature that allows workers to communicate easily with text-based inputs.
Finally, among its Spring updates, Zoom also plans to add real-world pinning that allows users to choose where in-call colleagues appear in their spatial environment. A small but critical feature, as computing goes spatial, much like a desk, is that workers need to keep the autonomy of their XR space to drive production and happiness.
There are many new services coming ready for the Vision Pro’s debut later this week. Will these services push XR into the mainstream and into offices? Perhaps, and a strong line up of services like Zoom will assist in that goal.
