'Dune' and Alicia Keys lead Apple Vision Pro's new Immersive Video
Apple has announced that over 150 films will be available in 3D on Apple Vision Pro at launch, alongside nature and music documentaries, plus watching drive-in movies in Luke Skywalker's landspeeder.
"Dune" on Apple Vision Pro
Following previous reports of 3D movies being added to the Apple TV app, Apple has unveiled films, documentaries, and "all-new immersive entertainment experiences" for Apple Vision Pro.
"Apple Vision Pro is the ultimate entertainment device," Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, said in a statement. "Users can turn any place into the best seat in the house, enjoy personal concerts and adventures with Apple Immersive Video, interact with lifelike prehistoric creatures in Encounter Dinosaurs, and even land on the surface of the moon using Environments."
"It's unlike anything users have ever seen before and we can't wait for them to experience it for themselves," he continued.
While promising over 150 3D movies at launch of the Apple Vision Pro, the company has listed only 4: "Dune," "Avatar: The Way of Water," "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," and "The Super Mario Bros. Movie."
Apple says that 3D movies will be available to rent or buy from the Apple TV app, and users who buy a 3D version will be able to view them on Apple Vision Pro. Several streaming services will also debut 3D movies, including Disney+.
"At Disney, we're constantly searching for new ways to entertain, inform, and inspire by combining exceptional creativity with groundbreaking technology to create truly remarkable experiences," said Bob Iger, The Walt Disney Company's CEO. "Apple Vision Pro is a revolutionary platform that will bring our fans closer to the characters and stories they love while immersing them more deeply in all that Disney has to offer."
"We're proud to once again be partnering with Apple to bring extraordinary new Disney experiences to people around the world," he continued.
Vision Pro's Personal Theater
The Apple TV app on Vision Pro will include a Cinema Environment, which is said to transform any space into a personal theater. "Users can even choose their favorite seat from the floor or balcony," says Apple, "and the front, middle, or back row."
Apple Vision Pro comes with a Travel Mode that will "stabilize visuals for use on planes," plus a "Guest User" option "to share specific apps and experiences with family and friends."
Movies can appear to be being shown in different environments. Disney+ subscribers can watch films as if they are on the Scare Floor from "Monsters, Inc.," or the ultimate drive-in experience from the "cockpit of Luke Skywalker's landspeeder, facing a binary sunset on the planet Tatooine from the Star Wars galaxy."
Poster for Alicia Keys: Rehearsal Room
Immersive music and nature
With what Apple calls Apple Immersive video, and describes it as "a remarkable new entertainment format pioneered by Apple," users can watch 180-degree, 8K video with Spatial Audio. At launch, a set of four titles will be available, including a special "Prehistoric Planet" from filmmaker Jon Favreau.
"Ever since Apple introduced me to this new technology," said Favreau, "I've been intrigued with the opportunity to explore storytelling using these innovative immersive tools."
"I'm especially proud to be featured in the launch of this groundbreaking product," he continued.
Alongside nature documentaries "Prehistoric Planet" and "Wild Life," Apple Vision Pro users will be able to watch "Alicia Keys: Rehearsal Room."
Apple Arcade and the App Store
Apple Vision Pro will have its own App Store available at launch, and Apple now says that users will get a new, free app called "Encounter Dinosaurs."
As briefly shown in Apple's launch event, the company says that "Encounter Dinosaurs makes it possible for users to interact with giant, three-dimensional reptiles as if they are bursting through their own physical space."
"Encounter Dinosaurs" is made by the "Prehistoric Planet" team, and lets users "peer into the Cretaceous, a period more than 66 million years old, where dinosaurs roamed the earth and Mother Nature reigned supreme."
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Comments
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/1-35-micro-oled-display-4K_1601021705068.html
Normally 4K is 3840 x 2160 but the panels in a headset aren't 16:9 and there's one per eye so it's slightly above 4K.
When watching a movie, it will be rendered onto a shape using a transform in 3D space. Any transforms across pixels blur the pixels and when the movie is scaled up to the size of a wall, the viewer might not have the entire movie in their field of view so 8K keeps it looking sharp. Large TVs go up to 8K:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/tvs/8k-tvs/pcmcat1552503373763.c?id=pcmcat1552503373763
That's for ~80-100" TVs, Apple Vision Pro can show a 100 foot display:
https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/apple-vision-pro-3d-movies-100-feet-wide/
They can do upscaling/interpolation now (MetalFX) so anything 4K+ will probably look fine at that size but if they author in 8K, they may as well show it in that format. The more color and resolution, the better. This will probably need 50Mbit internet and unlimited download. 50Mbit/s x 90 minutes = 34GB per movie. Maybe AV1 or similar can get it lower than 50.
I no longer have a 3D TV. If I rip them into 3D MKV files, can I stream them to the Apple Vision Pro through Plex?
FYI: Plex supports 3D streaming to a 3D TV.
"Displays the size of a postage stamp that deliver more pixels than a 4K TV to each eye."
Maybe they're using a 2 x 4k = 8k calculation? Not that that would be correct, but I highly doubt that the AVP are delivering 8k worth of pixels to your eyes. The screens would have to be above 5k for that.
This review says Disney+ streams stereo videos, 4K, HEVC, HDR, independent streams for each eye (15:26):
Movies will have to be encoded in a 3D format supported by the available apps, it's likely they will support the standard formats but there may be more optimal ones for a virtual display. Plex has an app for VR headsets but the ratings are bad:
https://www.meta.com/en-us/experiences/1779825005402730/
Once the hardware is available in the beginning of February, people will find out the most optimal format to encode in.
New Apple hardware usually comes with 3 months free Apple TV+.