Apple Vision Pro to launch with 3D movies and Disney Plus spatial experience - everything that is coming is here.

Apple Vision Pro to launch with 3D movies and Disney Plus spatial experience - everything that is coming is here.

Apple and Disney have teamed up to bring Mouse's catalog of Disney Plus content, 3D movies, and spatial environments from the iconic film franchise to the upcoming Apple Vision Pro.

Disney Plus subscribers who purchase Apple's $3,500 mixed reality headset, which will be available on February 2, will be able to stream all Disney Plus content. This includes thousands of TV shows and movies, as well as Hulu content for eligible subscribers.

Several great streaming services have announced Vision Pro support, including Amazon Prime Video, Paramount Plus, Tubi, and Fubo. But Disney is trying to do more than that by also offering a Vision Pro-only experience. In a press release, the company lists dozens of movies that will be available for 3D viewing on the headset: Avatar: Waterways, Avengers: Endgame, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Elemental, Encanto, and more.

These films can be rented through the Apple TV app, and users who have already purchased the non-3D versions can upgrade at no additional cost.

"At Disney, we are always looking for new ways to combine exceptional creativity with groundbreaking technology to create truly amazing experiences that entertain, inform, and inspire," Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a press release Tuesday. "Apple Vision Pro is a great example of this. "Apple Vision Pro is a groundbreaking platform that brings fans closer to the characters and stories they love while deeply immersing them in all that Disney has to offer. We are proud to once again partner with Apple to bring an extraordinary new Disney experience to people around the world."

Hollywood has been trying to make 3D a "thing" for decades now, with little success. Vision Pro is undeniably more sophisticated than 3D glasses and stereoscopic screens, but it remains to be seen if it's enough to move audiences to 3D, which audiences have historically not favored, although the $3,500 admission price certainly isn't working in its favor. [Disney's Plus Theater inspired by Hollywood's historic El Capitan Theatre, the Scare Floor from Pixar's "Monsters, Inc.", Marvel's Avengers Tower overlooking Manhattan, the Star Wars world of Tatooine starring Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder cockpit, and more.

These viewing options include animation and audio that "make the space feel alive," Disney said, and incorporate Easter eggs for sharp-eyed fans to discover. The environment was originally developed using the Universal Scene Description format created by Pixar, which was open-sourced in 2016 and allows developers to collaborate in real time across creation tools and development pipelines to create multiple enabling them to build complex 3D experiences across applications at scale.

Among the features Apple touts about Vision Pro is the ability to enjoy spatial video on the headset's display, which adds an immersive 3D quality to the video playback experience. My colleague Mark Spoonauer, who has used the Apple Vision Pro in person, describes the spatial video viewing experience as one in which the details, sounds, and textures unfold before your eyes. If Disney's immersive environments are anything like what you've already seen on the Vision Pro, you'll feel like you've stepped into your favorite movie.

Pre-orders for the Apple Vision Pro will open on January 19, ahead of the February 2 release date.

Categories