visionOS 2: Spatial characters can touch fingers, give high fives and fist bumps with visual and audio feedback

First introduced in April, the spatial Personas in Apple Vision Pro are designed to appear as if they are in the same physical space. To improve the experience, the lifelike avatars will soon be able to communicate directly with each other using a number of new gestures in visionOS 2.

Spatial Personas, which were featured at last year’s WWDC, allow Vision Pro users to “break the familiar FaceTime tile and feel more present, as if gathered in the same physical space,” according to Apple. They have a transparent background and can show body language and additional movements, such as hand gestures, for a more lifelike experience.

As shared by indie developer xChester on social media, spatial Personas in the same environment can now give a high five, fist bump and finger touch, and the visionOS 2 beta provides visual and audio feedback to emphasize the virtual interaction.

Elsewhere in visionOS 2, Spatial Personas can be summoned in the Photos app via SharePlay, allowing Vision Pro users to enjoy their panoramas, spatial videos and more – all while feeling like everyone is in the same physical space.

visionOS 2 also gives developers more control over spatial Personas, allowing them to fine-tune the placement of Personas in their app, enabling new shared experiences in games, for example.

Apple also released visionOS‌ 1.2 earlier this week, and the update adds Persona improvements such as improved hair and makeup appearance, as well as better rendering for Eyesight.