Zoom for Apple Vision Pro allows callers to see your digital persona.

Zoom for Apple Vision Pro allows callers to see your digital persona.

If you're expecting an Apple Vision Pro headset this weekend, you probably know that you won't be able to download the Netflix app. But do you know what will be available? Zoom.

Of course, the Zoom app is not the same as the one on your iPhone or iPad. It's a bespoke version of the best video calling app available, taking advantage of all the hardware and features of the Apple Vision Pro (including the Persona feature).

Persona is one of the features Apple uses to ensure that Vision Pro users are not too disconnected from the outside world. This means that your face is scanned to create an "ultra-realistic" avatar that will appear in your video calls.

The general idea is that when you call someone from FaceTime or Zoom, the avatar will display your facial expressions and hand movements for the other caller to see. So if you are the type of person who has a rather emotional face or likes to talk with your hands, you will not go wrong when you call using this headset.

The use of Persona avatars is optional. Even if you prefer not to be on camera, so to speak, it is still possible. Unless your boss is a micromanager who insists that everyone be on camera at all times.

Zoom claims that the Vision Pro app's spatial experience can be "scaled to perfect size," which means that your Persona avatar will appear the same as any other caller; non-Vision Pro users will see a floating tile and will be displayed as a "floating tile. Eventually, however, it will be possible to use a feature called Team Chat, which allows you to pin up to five other callers anywhere in the virtual space.

Doing so will make the call feel more like a proper face-to-face meeting, apparently allowing Vision Pro users to "feel more connected." It would also be possible, at some point in the spring, to share and display 3D objects within Zoom's virtual space. This would theoretically help differentiate Zoom on Vision Pro from FaceTime.

Not necessarily the most thrilling app available for expensive spatial computing machines, but still quite important. Apple is trying to push Vision Pro as a device that combines both entertainment and productivity. For it to succeed, it needs the major players in the app world to agree.

While I don't want to be stuck on Zoom calls all day, it means I can continue to use my Vision Pro without having to switch to another machine.

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