Following the announcement of Vision Pro at WWDC yesterday, Apple is providing more details about the headset itself and the visionOS software platform in developer sessions. In a session on Tuesday, called “Design for spatial input,” Apple showcased two ways to interact with Vision Pro: a floating in-air keyboard and pairing a keyboard via Bluetooth.
Text input has been one of the most common questions about Vision Pro so far. In this WWDC session for developers, Apple points out two ways users can input text with Vision Pro.
First, you can type using a virtual keyboard with your fingertips. Apple explains that the keyboard’s design is meant to help guide users toward the button surface. The experience also includes feedback via spatial sound effects to “compensate for the missing tactile information.”
The buttons are actually raised above the platter to invite pushing them directly. While the finger is above the keyboard, buttons display a hover state and a highlight that gets brighter as you approach the button surface. It provides a proximity cue and helps guide the finger to target.
At the moment of contact, the state change is quick and responsive, and is accompanied by matching spatial sound effect.
These additional layers of feedback are really important to compensate for missing tactile information, and to make direct interactions feel reliable and satisfying.
But one thing Apple also emphasizes in this WWDC session is that holding your hands in the air will cause fatigue after a certain amount of time. For that reason, you will also be able to pair an external keyboard with the headset using Bluetooth and control and dictate text using your voice. Game controllers are also supported.
For more details on Vision Pro and visionOS, be sure to check out my full hands-on experience with the product.
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