See how typing works in the Apple Vision Pro virtual office
An Apple engineer introduces text input in Apple Vision Pro. In addition to a virtual keyboard, it will also be possible to use a physical keyboard.
One of the key features of Apple Vision Pro will be the immersive office and its “infinite workspace”. This means you can place as many virtual screens as you want in real space and theoretically have no physical limits, no matter how small the real office is. Apple calls this Spatial Computing and now shows how text input works on the virtual keyboard.
Virtual keyboard with audiovisual support
Because Apple Vision Pro relies entirely on hand tracking, your fingers logically type on the virtual keyboard without any haptic feedback. Similar approaches like Meta's Direct Touch work reasonably well, but smooth typing is hardly possible.
Apple tries to solve this problem with the built-in depth sensor, which can better detect spatial distances. On the other hand, the virtual keyboard offers a little help to compensate for the lack of haptics. When you move your finger over a key, it will be highlighted to make it easier to hit. The closer you get to the key, the brighter it gets.
How to compensate for missing sensory information pic.twitter.com/aTNbc0CVCX
— Ben Geskin (@BenGeskin) June 6, 2023
For a better “feel”, the keys float slightly above the keyboard. When you type, you press them down and a sound is heard that is spatially located where the keyboard is. This should make it feel like you are actually pressing a key in front of you. You can see exactly what this looks like in the video above by Apple engineer Eguene Krivoruchko.
Magic Keyboard also compatible
Because typing in the air naturally lacks haptic feedback, Apple's virtual keyboard is not a permanent solution for extended work sessions. That is why Apple offers two other input options: Magic Keyboard and voice input.
The Magic Keyboard is a wireless keyboard with an optional tracking pad that is compatible with most iPhone, iPad, and Mac models. No word yet on whether other bluetooth keyboards will be compatible.
Alternatively, you can enter text by voice. Speech recognition should work well with the six microphones built into the Apple Vision Pro.
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