Podcast Design

Maximilian Büsser: Design Tangents Episode Eleven

The punk rock provocateur of Swiss watchmaking on creating to fulfill your own desires

Josh Rubin, Evan Orensten

7 February 2024

Our latest Design Tangents podcast guest, Maximilian Büsser (who we have known for more than 15 years) is nothing less than a renegade in the very traditional Swiss watch world. As the founder of MB&F he’s continued to surprise and delight watch and clock collectors globally with his visionary pieces—and draw attention to historic partners. In 2014, Büsser was the subject of a COOL HUNTING Video, and one year later we collaborated with the pioneering provocateur on a COOL HUNTING Edition Starfleet Machine. His work manages to be both futuristic and nostalgic—bound by a sense of wonder. Celebrating Swiss watchmaking, human craftsmanship, and mechanical art, MB&F’s creations are much more than time-telling machines (though they do that too).

Büsser began in the traditional watch industry. As a child, he thought he’d be a car designer and studied engineering. However, he ended up at the prestigious maison Jaeger-LeCoultre, back when it was a small brand and at a time when the world did not know what to do with mechanical watches. After seven years at Jaeger-LeCoultre, several as its CEO, he moved to luxury powerhouse Harry Winston, where he began to amass considerable success. “Watchmaking saved me,” he tells us. “It gave me a family. It gave me a life. It gave me a purpose,” he says.

However, there was a disconnect between his success at Harry Winston, his relationship to his own father, and his desire to do what he believes in and be proud of it. He started to imagine a small, disruptive company of his own. In 2005, he stepped away from the mainstream and began to redefine what watches could be. “MB&F is a life decision,” he tells us. “It is not a business decision.”

Büsser is full of advice. “Stop creating to please people. Try to create for yourself,” the entrepreneur says. “That’s not something you’re brought up on. I want to create something that I love.” Büsser adds that, at first, he didn’t know what he loved and part of the process with MB&F has been uncovering it. To learn more about what’s inspired him, how he has upended the industry and what he hopes for the future of the brand, listen in to Design Tangents now.

Subscribe to Design Tangents on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify, so that when each episode comes out it’ll be ready and waiting in your player of choice.

Design Tangents is presented by Genesis and produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Rob Schulte and Rachel Senatore and to Amber Lin for creating our show art. Discover more design podcasts from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com.

Podcast Design

Suchi Reddy: Design Tangents Episode Ten

Diving into the dance between emotion and logic in the design process with the acclaimed architect, artist, teacher and neuroaesthetics practitioner

Josh Rubin, Evan Orensten

24 January 2024

Our latest Design Tangents podcast guest, Suchi Reddy has inspired COOL HUNTING writers, editors and readers for years now. The founder of the architecture, art and design firm Reddymade, Reddy is an architect, artist, teacher and a practitioner of the mantra “form follows feeling.” Her roster of perspective-shifting works includes the mesmeric large-scale installation “Look Here” inside Washington DC’s National Building Museum, the immersive “me + you” sculpture for the FUTURES exhibition at the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building, the beloved “X” pavilion for Times Square Arts and a range of residential and commercial architectural projects including Google’s first retail store. Reddy, a passionate thought leader in creating spaces that make us feel, was the ideal guest to discuss the dance between emotion and logic in the design process; her insights inform and inspire.

The breadth and depth of Reddy’s work is unified by her values and distinct perspective. “I do not look at people’s work and say that’s interesting to me because of a style,” she tells us. “It’s interesting to me because of its substance—because of the idea that’s being explored. People ask if I’m a modernist? Yes, I am. But mostly, however, I’m a serenist. I will make whatever you want—but serene. If you’re a maximalist, or a developer that wants a beautifully energizing space, that’s what I’ll do, because I want to try to understand the feeling of the space or project that I need to communicate.” Reddy wants to direct design conversations around style to that of “the democratic space of the body. I want people to be able to understand spaces through their senses, through their feelings.”

For Reddy’s practice, art and architecture work in tandem. Her contributions to the public art space also allow her clients access into her brain. “My practice is quite unusual in that it covers architecture, interior design, public art installations and artistic works. We’re also interested in the research that underpins the workings of neuroaesthetics, a study that looks at how spaces and experiences impact our brains and bodies.” Through neuroaesthetics, Reddy designs an agenda of equity, equality, agency and empathy for all that she creates.

“21 years into doing this, what keeps me going is the fact that I feel this incredible satisfaction when something is made,” she says. Whether her work manifests as a private residence, or a collaboration unveiling at Milan Design Week, it is predicated on an understanding that we build our worlds outward from our bodies—and feelings will always influence our intepretation of everything that we see. Listen to the latest episode to learn more about the ways that form follows feeling.

Subscribe to Design Tangents on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify, so that when each episode comes out it’ll be ready and waiting in your player of choice.

Design Tangents is presented by Genesis and produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Rob Schulte and Rachel Senatore and to Amber Lin for creating our show art. Discover more design podcasts from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com.

Samsung’s Latest Phones Leverage AI to Improve Utility

Last week Samsung presented their latest Galaxy line of products with a heavy focus on Galaxy AI. Integrated throughout the phone features, it’s clear their focus is on improving everyday apps over adding entertaining gimmicks. Circling a product in a photo to initiate a search for it, live speech translation during a mixed language phone call and filling in parts of a photo left blank while editing are just a few things Galaxy AI is reported to do with underlying power from Google’s Android operating system. Ian Carlos Campbell digs in over at Inverse. And keep scrolling from there for Ray Wong’s hands-on review.

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CES 2024: Supernal’s Visionary eVTOL Concept, S-A2

Up close on the pilot-plus-four-passenger electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle from Hyundai Motor Group’s Advanced Air Mobility company

Evan Orensten

11 January 2024

Debuting at CES 2024, the S-A2 is the latest concept from Hyundai Motor Group’s electric vertical take off and landing vehicle division, Supernal, as it prepares to enter the commercial market in 2028. This pilot-plus-four-passenger aircraft follow’s Supernal’s S-A1 (which was unveiled at CES 2020) and represents a substantial advancement in both design and technology. With the S-A2, Supernal’s mission—to guide us into a world where everyday passenger air travel is efficient, affordable and safe—comes into greater focus.

This isn’ just a concept—it’s a holistic plan for a future predicated on aerospace meets automotive. S-A2 is designed with eight all-tilting rotors to cruise at 1,500 feet, traveling at 120 miles per hour for 25 to 40 miles at a time. It’s also quiet—doing so at 45 dB when horizontal, and 65 during vertical takeoff. Where is such a vehicle necessary? Supernal foresees an eVTOL as most beneficial in urban centers, traversing routes defined by user need.

Beside the SA-2 concept, on Supernal’s “vertiport” at the Las Vegan Convention Center, Luc Donckerwolke (president, chief design officer and chief creative officer of Hyundai Motor Group) describes the earliest beginnings of the S-A2 to us. “We started this at the end of 2020, and the beginning of 2021,” he shares. “We were in full lockdown when I asked three studios to work in competition to get them out of their comfort zone. We were doing this without seeing each other—only in video conferences and we were working with engineers that had not worked together before. They were coming from NASA, Boeing, Airbus. We did 195 design proposals and then we narrowed them down. We brainstormed—thinking about all possible scenarios. We didn’t know if it would get somewhere. We were all learning.”

During development, there was no small model. “We went directly from data to realizing this,” Donckerwolke continues, motioning toward the S-A2. “We started in Germany, with one of the suppliers that I’ve work with for 30 years. We did not finish it over there. We finished the parts, packaged them and then shipped them. When they arrived here, we assembled it for the first time. Imagine the effort of doing something so immense and not being certain that it would work or even fit together until the very last second. But now this is something that we can utilize for the delivery and the logistics behind it.”

The designers were integral to imagining the successful final product. It was a radical utilization of their skill sets. “I took them away from cars to design this,” Donckerwolke says. “After, I expect them to have a freedom of mind from the typical things that we tend to repeat and repeat and repeat in car design. We have opened the creative mindset and broadened perspective. The horizon is wider now. There’s no such thing as car design anymore. The future is mobility. The future is challenging everything.”

The S-A2 features a minimal design that uses color to telegraph functionality. The cabin is a microcosm of the entire concept—and the finishing represents the sheer amount of effort. “Before it was like this cabin was always a frustration,” he says. “Now this thing has its own life.” Multiple redundancies have been built into the design for safety—from rotor balance offsets (if one were to stop) and numerous power sources.

“Next, it’s going to go to the Irvine Development Center,” Donckerwolke adds. “And then it’s going to go to Farnborough—and it might go somewhere else—but it’s basically now going to be with the engineers in the Irvine center and that’s going to invest in next steps.” Supernal is working in partnership with the FAA. This year, they’re submitting an application for certification of the S-A2. Next year, they intend to have a prototype—and in 2026 and 2027 pre-production vehicles will be tested. After 2028, if all goes according to plan, there might just an abundance of eVTOLS flying over many cities around the world—perhaps with private ownership down the line too.

Podcast Culture

Zane Lowe: Design Tangents Episode Nine

We kick off of our second season with Apple Music’s head of artist relations, podcast host and lead anchor for Apple Music 1 Radio on diligence, instinct and what makes for a great interview

Josh Rubin, Evan Orensten

10 January 2024

To kick off the second season of Design Tangents, COOL HUNTING’s podcast exploring the creative processes and inspirations that drive change-makers, we needed to lead with a voice anchored in passion and wisdom. That was what brought us to Zane Lowe’s studio at Apple Music in LA, where we sat down with the influential host. Lowe, once referred to as “Pop’s Unofficial Therapist” by the New York Times, is Apple Music’s head of artist relations and the lead anchor for Apple Music 1 Radio, and hosts the The Zane Lowe Interview Series and The Zane Lowe Show podcasts. Lowe’s roles are owed to his intuitive skills at interviewing and his passion for music—born from a need to find a place where he felt understood. In our insightful conversation, Lowe shares his thoughts on diligence, instinct and what makes for a great interview. He also relishes us with a tale of an interview that changed his life and taught him there was space for him to be both a fan and do his job.

In 2015, Lowe spearheaded the efforts behind the launch of Apple’s Beats 1 Radio, which transformed into the renowned Apple Music 1 Radio, helping usher in a new era of music broadcasting. Throughout his tenure, Lowe has learned about the importance of structure and balance, and the power of listening. “I was terrible at being present when I was younger, only up until very recently have I felt like I’ve been in practice on that,” he shared with us. “It’s a practice for sure and it will be forever. That’s where self-awareness comes in handy.”

Lowe is known for presenting his questions and interpretations to his guests in the most thoughtful way. He notes that it’s about reading the energy of the room—and being as informed as possible in advance. “I cannot talk to you unless I’ve heard your music,” he says. “That, to me, is research 101. The number one thing I have to do, and I’ve said this before, is that I have to feel the music. I have to know the intention, from my perspective, of the music.”

“Music doesn’t get put in the same descriptive categories as some of the other arts,” he adds. “It’s been so successfully commodified and commercialized and distributed as a packaged product that people often forget that it’s not the intention most of the time.” Lowe seeks to uncover why each track has been made—and his listeners benefit from his curiosity. Tune in to learn more about Lowe’s process, what moves him and a recent experience that set a new standard for sound experiences.

Subscribe to Design Tangents on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify, so that when each episode comes out it’ll be ready and waiting in your player of choice.

Design Tangents is presented by Genesis and produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Rob Schulte and Rachel Senatore and to Amber Lin for creating our show art. Discover more design podcasts from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com.

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Kia’s Visionary Leap into the Future with its “Platform Beyond Vehicle” Strategy

Radical modularity and architecturally-driven design are the basis for their look into the future and provide a viable path to get there

Evan Orensten

9 January 2024

At CES 2024, Kia Motors presented a transformative vision for the future of transportation through its Platform Beyond Vehicle (PBV) strategy, which marks a significant shift in the company’s direction. This multi-phase plan, as outlined by Kia’s President and CEO, Ho Sung Song, is not merely an advancement in mobility technology but a complete reimagining of space and lifestyle possibilities. A look at the third phase of this plan—and its forecasted rollout in 2032—feels like science fiction, or a future that’s unattainable in eight short years. And yet, when viewing a map of all three passes, there’s a believable path forward.

Kia envisions PBVs evolving into “a highly customizable mobility solutions platform.” Karim Habib, Vice President of Design at Kia, described a vision where PBVs would integrate more deeply with future mobility ecosystems and city infrastructure. Vehicles will be managed as part of a single smart operating system. With advancements in autonomous driving, urban air mobility, robotics and energy storage, PBVs in phase three would help unlock “completely new lifestyles by creating a robust mobility ecosystem.” With this phase, Kia aims to reach a stage where mobility and daily life are seamlessly intertwined. PBVs will play a central role in how people live, work and interact within smart cities and communities.

Today Kia’s PBV concept is most vividly captured in the Kia Concept PV5, a symbol of PBV innovation. This modular vehicle is designed to transcend traditional transportation, offering versatile solutions that adapt from taxis to delivery vans to recreational spaces seamlessly. As Habib put it, the PBV strategy aims to create vehicles that are “unbounded by the traditional restrictions of space and time,” offering a “blank canvas to reimagine lifestyles.”

Phase One of this journey introduces the PBV5, optimized for uses like hailing and delivery, featuring enhanced data connectivity for software-defined fleets. This phase represents the birth of versatile, multi-purpose electric vehicles (EVs). Phase Two evolves PBVs into AI-based mobility platforms, integrating artificial intelligence to interact with users and stay continually updated. This phase marks the beginning of new business forms linked with robotics and other future technologies. Phase Three transforms PBVs into highly customizable mobility solutions, integrating them into the future mobility ecosystem and smart city infrastructure.

The design of Kia’s PBVs is pivotal, featuring a “Dynamic Hybrid” weldless body structure for adaptable vehicle purposes. Extensive use of sustainable materials like bio plastic and recycled PET fabric highlights Kia’s commitment to environmental responsibility. The interior designs offer innovative features, such as a cockpit that doubles as a desk, and steering wheels that transform into desk lamps, ensuring that the vehicles serve as mobile living and working spaces.

Kia’s PBV ecosystem encompasses various vehicle models, including the PBV5, PV7 and PV1, designed to interact and connect, enhancing versatility and offering endless possibilities. This ecosystem also includes sophisticated In-Vehicle Infotainment, Fleet Management Systems and charging solutions, leveraging AI and data to offer customer-centric solutions and predictive maintenance.

Underlining the importance of global collaboration, Kia has established partnerships with companies like Uber and Dubai Taxi Corporation. These alliances are integral in enhancing Kia’s dedicated PBV business system and extending its reach into diverse mobility domains, including robotics and Advanced Air Mobility.

As Kia embarks on this ambitious journey, it’s evident that the company’s vision transcends traditional mobility. The PBV strategy represents a roadmap toward a more sustainable, connected and versatile future, where transportation is seamlessly integrated into daily life. Pierre-Martin Bos, Vice President and BDM Director of Kia PBV Business Division, summarizes this vision: “The Kia PBV business is the pinnacle of our customer-centric approach, driving us toward becoming a sustainable mobility solutions provider.”

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New Year, New Behaviors with the iPhone 15 Pro Action Button

Billy Sorrentino talks about the design process behind this new button and we round-up apps to use with it

Josh Rubin

8 January 2024

At this point easing into the new year we’re reconciling resolutions with realities. Changing behavior sounds easy in concept but in reality it can be quite a challenge. Apple‘s new iPhone Action Button, introduced on the iPhone 15 Pro models, asks us to change the familiar behavior of flipping the ring/silent switch and provides a simple approach to using apps to help follow through with 2024 resolutions.

“As a design team we really go deep into the integration of hardware and software, creating a visual relationship between them so users don’t feel a difference,” shares eight year veteran of Apple’s Design Team, Billy Sorrentino, while talking about the Action Button and the settings interface to control it. That interface is a significant departure from the lists and toggles used to personalize other aspects of the iPhone. Its animated full-screen visuals offer a rich and informative explanation of the button’s potential functions and how to use them. “When hardware becomes software it becomes a kind of entirely new type of design language,” Sorrentino explains. “And Dynamic Island is a prominent recent visible representation of this but as a team we’ve been fascinated with this for a while and kind of go in really deep on it.“ The mention of Dynamic Island is especially relevant because it’s where visual confirmation of Action Button usage is reflected.

Rich integrations of hardware and software are not unique to Apple—and yet they do it so well because of the collaborative nature of their creative process, where digital and physical design seemingly carry equal weight in the studio. “Where we pride ourselves is being a team that’s built on a bunch of different disciplines all sitting together—UI designers next to industrial designers next to type designers, 3D designers and spatial designers. So as we approach problems, we really make sure that we’re bringing in the best of the whole studio to solve them,” he says.

The Action Button can be set to nine different options and given that one of them lets you choose a Shortcut, there really are endless possibilities given the Shortcut app’s extensive support for scripting a wide range of app and iOS interactions. You can start a meditation timer, log a glass of water, start a yoga workout, set a reminder to stand up and move around, create a new journal entry or pretty much any other function to help follow through with that New Year’s resolution.

While we have go-to apps that are long time favorites, we’re also always testing new ones. Here are a few we think are worth checking out to help with behavioral change.

Learn on the go by chatting with ChatGPT’s voice interface

Start a yoga class with Asana Rebel

Open a meditation soundtrack from Endel

Dictate a draft of anything for Audio Writer to transcribe and edit

Capture a moment in words and pictures using Apple’s Journal app

Start a Golden Hour countdown timer with Lumy

Open your next Duolingo language lesson

Develop new habits by logging activities with Tangerine

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Apple’s Next Generation CarPlay Shown with Aston Martin and Porsche

Deep integration between iPhone and vehicle offers holistic user experience customized for each brand

Josh Rubin

20 December 2023

The next generation of Apple‘s CarPlay is a leap forward in the integration of the iPhone with your car, offering seamless integration with the vehicle’s multiple displays and providing a holistic and intuitive user interface that’s unique to each car brand. This evolved version of CarPlay extends beyond the central infotainment system to include the driver’s information cluster and all other screens in the car, providing all vehicle information and interaction through a singular interface paradigm that also supports the user’s ability to select widgets to appear in predetermined areas on the screen—much like customizing the iPhone lock screen today. This version of CarPlay appears the moment the car is turned on and combines locally rendered content with features powered by the iPhone’s wireless connection to the car. Today Apple announced the first two partners on board to integrate this new generation, Aston Martin and Porsche, and showed us preliminary screens.

In the development of the next generation of CarPlay, car makers and Apple are forging an even closer partnership, focusing on crafting a unified yet distinct interface tailored to each vehicle. This collaboration is crucial in ensuring that the new CarPlay not only upholds the unique brand qualities and characteristics of each automaker but also allows for the creation of custom gauge clusters, layouts and widgets that resonate with their specific brand identity and ethos. Alan Dye, Apple’s Vice President of Human Interface Design, encapsulates this vision: “With the next generation of CarPlay, we partnered with automakers to design an entirely new, unified experience that enables the very best of Apple and each particular automaker. It is a blend of a user’s personal experience of iPhone paired with a celebration of the strong brand identity of each automaker. The next generation of CarPlay also introduces a driving experience that leverages the advanced capabilities of the car along with the power of iPhone. We’ve designed a complete system of controls that allows for seamless interactions between vehicle functions alongside the features of iPhone. We can’t wait for users to experience it in the future.”

The design system introduced by Apple provides a range of options in terms of shapes, organizational structures and information presentation, enabling automakers to create displays that are both on-brand and informative. This next-gen CarPlay enables the incorporation of vehicle-specific information and features, including speed, RPMs or energy use, fuel or charge levels, temperature and odometer readings and more, into the interface.

Only Nike and Hermès have had the the opportunity to bring elements of their brands into native Apple experiences as we’ve seen on Apple Watch. Opening up the CarPlay interface design to auto manufacturer partners is a big leap, but they’ve provided a thorough toolkit for user interface customization and shared that they are working closely with their brand partners to ensure thoughtful, thorough and usable co-designs.

Aston Martin has meticulously customized CarPlay to complement its brand ethos and driving experience. They have opted for a minimalist dual gauge layout that highlights their driver-centric cockpit using precise tick marks on the gauges, paying homage to the brand’s analog history. The text “Handbuilt in Great Britain” hugs the tachometer and the interface is accented with British racing green as a reminder of their heritage. The next generation of CarPlay is expected to be integrated into the Aston Martin lineup in 2024. We do not yet know if it will be available as an update in any existing models or if it’s limited to new cars.

Marco Mattiacci, Global Chief Brand and Commercial Officer shared, “At Aston Martin we strive for excellence and performance and this was the key reason we chose to partner with Apple on the next generation of CarPlay. The integration of the latest state-of-the-art technology combined with a bespoke intuitive interface is paramount to creating the ultimate Aston Martin customer experience. We look forward to sharing more as we work together with Apple to bring the next generation of CarPlay to Aston Martins in 2024.”

Utilizing the CarPlay design system provided by Apple, Porsche has adapted its interface to feature a distinctive three-dial layout, including a central power meter and a left-positioned speedometer, paying tribute to Porsche’s rich motorsports history. The customization extends to the use of circular graphics, inspired by the gauge borders in earlier Porsche vehicles. The circular drive mode indicator in the UI is specifically designed to match the driver mode knob, ensuring that the interface is both intuitive and functional. While we didn’t get to see screens of the different modes, it seems apparent that the colors, graphics and layouts for each drive mode can be designed to convey the emotion of that setting as they are in many auto manufacturer’s interfaces today.

Michael Mauer, Porsche’s Vice President of Style commented, “We have long been committed to providing Porsche owners with the brand and sporty driving experience synonymous with the Porsche. In addition to the sports car itself, digital offerings that are perfectly tailored to our customers are becoming increasingly important to the overall driving experience. We recently brought the My Porsche app to CarPlay to provide drivers with even easier access to car functionality, and in the future we will be adding support for the next generation of CarPlay to Porsche models. We look forward to delivering an experience that adds the personal touch of a driver’s iPhone to the exclusivity of a Porsche.”

The next generation of Apple’s CarPlay marks a significant advancement in automotive technology, showcasing a seamless and intuitive integration with vehicles. This evolution is not just an upgrade in functionality; it’s a fusion of Apple’s cutting-edge technology with the unique identities of esteemed automakers like Aston Martin and Porsche. Through meticulous customization and design, these brands have infused their vehicles with an interface echoing their heritage and ethos, while Apple’s comprehensive toolkit ensures a user-friendly and cohesive experience. Apple continues to work with a broad range of automakers to bring the next generation of CarPlay to iPhone users and this collaborative endeavor between Apple and automakers is a leap forward in creating a more connected, personalized and immersive driving experience. The introduction of this technology into the Aston Martin lineup in 2024 and its anticipated integration into Porsche models highlight a future where the distinction between digital and automotive luxury is beautifully blurred, offering drivers an unmatched experience that blends the best of technology with the spirit of driving.

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Recording Spatial Video and Viewing it in Apple Vision Pro

During our third demo with the headset the nuances of spatial video come to life

Josh Rubin

14 December 2023

In iOS 17.2, Apple enabled Spatial Video recording on iPhone models 15 Pro and Pro Max. These iPhones capture spatial content using the phone’s main and ultrawide cameras simultaneously, and the format utilizes the stereoscopic difference between the two camera positions and focal lengths to render three dimensional video when viewed using the Apple Vision Pro headset. My first Spatial Video demo got me thinking about use cases, and I’ve been recording a range of content to try out. Yesterday I had the opportunity to see my videos come to life on a Vision Pro headset.

Recording Spatial Video on an iPhone requires a bit of imagination—what you see on-screen is the same flat, familiar preview you see in the regular video recording mode. I was curious to experiment with light, reflection, distance from the subject and movement in my recordings and had both correct and incorrect guesses about how they’d feel in the Vision Pro. Here are my initial findings and impressions.

Available Light

On a few occasions while recording the iPhone warned “More light recommended.”  I was pleasantly surprised when viewing that content in the headset: the movies still had plenty of depth and the image quality remained crisp and not grainy. One clip, certainly a moment from the future, was from a night drive in an autonomous Waymo on the streets of San Francisco. In another clip there was a strong, focused spotlight on peonies sitting on a table in a dark bar. This contrast made for a nice dramatic moment and even the objects in the shadowy background had depth.

Distance from subject

Keeping the subject between two and eight feet from the camera resulted in plenty of depth between foreground and background. The best scenes had multiple focal points within that two to eight feet range, and gave the most significant and satisfying sense of immersion. A slow walk through Ugo Rondinone’s stained glass clocks at Art Basel Miami Beach last week played back just like my experience in the original visit.

Movement

Movement is where it gets a little more complicated. Knowing the viewer will be static and the content immersive, it’s best to avoid creating too much difference between what the viewer is seeing and what they’re feeling because it can feel disorienting and create nausea. Shots with the camera stationary (such as on a tripod) are ideal, but camera movement is often necessary or desired to make a satisfying story. I found that recording linear and gently curved movements, especially in open spaces, created videos that were easy to view. By contrast, sharp turns in close quarters created more jarring videos. Given that a stationary camera is ideal, we found that optimizing for movement of the subject is even more important for dynamic, engaging experiences. In multiple videos with Rory, our jovial canine mascot, his presence was felt as he ran, played and chomped on his toys.

Sound

The audio captured in my video recordings completed the spatial experience on the Vision Pro, and I had an incredibly accurate sense of where the sounds were coming from. Closer sounds were especially satisfying—Rory’s chomping on a chew toy had ASMR-level satisfaction.

I also had a chance to look at some static images I captured with a DSLR and my iPhone, non-spatial (2D) videos, and panoramas. Similar to my experience at the previous demo I was keen to expand the image viewer as large as possible and placed it on the wall across the room. I immediately noticed how delightfully exacting the color rendering of photos was in Vision Pro compared to the iPhone 15 Pro Max screen—the gentle sunset pinks behind thick rain clouds over a dark ocean looked the same to me as they do on the iPhone’s HDR Retina screen.

Looking at panoramas in immersive view was also a treat, and surprisingly it wasn’t the distant landscape shots that were the most impressive: the panoramas from tighter, closer spaces—like at the Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt or JR’s epic collage, “The Chronicles of Miami,” rendered so perfectly in the headset that they almost felt 3D, despite looking distorted here in their flat view.

Apple has not yet announced a release date for Vision Pro beyond “early next year” and after this third demo of it that timeline feels promising. Every nuance of the experience has tightened and improved with each subsequent demo and we’re eagerly awaiting its release. Simply viewing photos and videos in the headset is already a luxury of focused attention combined with incredible color and resolution quality, and the prospect of creating content for this new spatial world is intriguing.