Unity Announces Support for Apple's visionOS Platform
Unity, a leading game development platform, has officially announced its support for Apple’s visionOS platform. This move comes after months of collaboration with developers, and it signifies a significant step toward expanding Unity’s capabilities to enhance spatial experiences on Apple Vision Pro. The support is now available to all Unity Pro, Enterprise, and Industry subscribers, empowering developers to leverage Unity’s familiar authoring workflows, XR tools, and cross-platform compatibility for creating immersive spatial applications.
Unity's Support for visionOS
Unity's support for visionOS opens up a world of possibilities for developers. By utilizing Unity for Apple Vision Pro, developers can craft diverse spatial experiences using the platform's versatile features. There are three main types of spatial experiences that can be created with Unity's support for visionOS.
Immersive Mixed Reality (MR) Experiences
Developers can design immersive mixed reality (MR) experiences that seamlessly merge digital content with the real world. These experiences can run alongside other applications in a shared space, providing users with a truly immersive and interactive experience.
Virtual Reality (VR) Experiences
Unity's support for visionOS also allows for the porting of existing virtual reality (VR) games or the creation of entirely new, fully immersive experiences. These experiences replace the user's environment with customized content, transporting them to virtual worlds and providing a truly immersive VR experience.
2D Windowed Applications
Unity enables the deployment of content in user space as a 2D window that offers flexibility in resizing and repositioning. This allows for the creation of applications that can be easily adjusted and customized by the user, enhancing accessibility and usability.
Getting Started with Vision Pro Development
To initiate spatial application development for Vision Pro using Unity, developers need to download the latest version of Unity 2022 LTS from the Unity Hub and ensure the installation of the visionOS Build Support module. It is important to note that the ongoing development of visionOS is currently exclusive to Mac computers equipped with Apple's proprietary chips.
Unity aims to facilitate the learning curve for developers by introducing training courses for Vision Pro space application development in China. These courses will provide developers with the necessary skills and knowledge to create compelling spatial experiences using Unity and visionOS.
Streamlining the Creation Process
Unity is also providing developers with template scenes and examples through visionOS resource packs, streamlining the creation process. These resources will help developers get started quickly and efficiently, saving time and effort in the development process.
For developers seeking to migrate iOS (or iOS-compatible) applications to visionOS, Unity has introduced a convenient one-click solution. This solution aids developers in seamlessly adjusting existing content to transform it into a 2D windowed application within a shared space. This not only simplifies the migration process but also enhances the accessibility and usability of the applications.
Unity's support for Apple's visionOS platform opens up new possibilities for developers looking to create immersive and interactive spatial experiences. With Unity's familiar authoring workflows, XR tools, and cross-platform compatibility, developers can now leverage their existing skills and tools to create compelling applications for Apple Vision Pro.
