Use spatial capture on iPhone

Capture stills and clips that can be viewed in 3D on the Apple Vision Pro

- GEORGE CAIRNS

THANKS TO OUR ever-present iPhone cameras, we have been able to document family milestones and everyday events for many years. Throughout this time, Apple has focused on developing methods for us to relive precious memories in new ways, such as Live Photos that display a threesecond video (and audio) snippet from before and after the photograph was taken.

With the inclusion of the new Spatial mode in the Camera app, Apple has provided us with an even more effective way to step back in time! Traditional photographs are two-dimensional, displaying only width and height. However, we don't think about a memory as being a flat photograph or a flat video because our brains encode memories spatially. The iPhone Camera's Spatial mode adds a third dimension to our clips and stills-depth. This extra dimension enables you to experience a memory as if viewing it first-hand.

In this article, we'll explain how the iPhone's Spatial mode works its magic, and give you tips and techniques on how you can shoot your own spatial photo and videos so they'll look their best when viewed in 3D on the Apple Vision Pro.

When you tap the Spatial mode icon in the Camera app, a message tells you to rotate the iPhone from portrait (vertical) to landscape (horizontal) orientation. This is because the iPhone 16 needs to film/ photograph the action using two side-byside cameras - the Ultra Wide camera and the Main camera. The adjacent positioning of the cameras mimics the position of our own eyes. Like our eyes, the two cameras capture slightly offset views of a scene. The information from both is then used to create a stereoscopic image that adds depth, which is something that flat 2D photos lack.