The release of Apple’s new “spatial computer” grabbed plenty of headlines, with tech demos showing techtopian scenarios for users to fully immerse themselves in their typical day-to-day computing (read: smartphone usage). Stepping aside from the luxury of plonking a $3,499-sized wad of cash on a device for you to pretend you’re at the cinema or to look at wall-sized photos of a particularly messy night out (or your kids; different worlds,) the concept of augmented reality holds a lot of value to some, particularly where there’s a reliance on 3D modeling apps and tools to concept and make products.
For the uninitiated, Apple’s Vision Pro headset is a self-contained computing device with its own OS and apps. Being an Apple device, it seamlessly integrates with the company’s other devices, letting your experiences with a device such as an iPad bleed digitally into your view through the Vision Pro’s glass. Displays float and can be positioned freely, objects can overlay into what you see in the space in front of you, and to control it all, you can pinch, twitch, and sweep your hands around without the burden of a handheld controller, as with other extended reality (XR) devices.
While Apple’s new device doesn’t necessarily present a landmark technological innovation (augmented reality headsets have been around in various forms for years), the Appleification of a concept is a powerful thing; simplification and polish. And some CAD players have been quick to throw their support behind the device. Those that haven’t may indicate the “limitless” canvas it offers hasn’t quite captured the imagination of all, despite bullish claims for the concept’s future.
Onshape parent company PTC was one of few to be a part of Apple’s opening salvo of demonstrations for the device in industry.
In a short video, we see Greg Brown, vice president of product management at Onshape, present a model visualization use case from the PTC’s lofty HQ, pulling apart and inspecting a detailed violin model hovering before them, and leaving a comment, shared within the project file for others to act upon. It’s the classic demonstration of augmented reality tech – visualization. In the video, embedded below, Brown says this is just scratching the surface. Elaborating separately to All3DP, he explains: “beyond visualization, the current Onshape Vision app on the Apple Vision Pro unlocks a number of collaboration, ideation, and evaluation workflows.”
Crucial to Onshape’s offering is that the service operates as a single source of truth for its users, meaning that designs are centralized and can evolve organically with discussion and tagging possible in tandem from anywhere on the planet.
The Vision Pro knits tidily here. “Early adopters have also commented on opportunities to extend to their globally distributed teams, to provide more immersive markup capabilities, leveraging more of the unique aspects of the Apple Vision Pro’s user interaction model.
The Apple Vision Pro is a natural, progressive step for Hungary-based Shapr3D, whose 3D modeling app has a long connection to Apple. Notably intuitive to use, particularly with Apple devices like the iPad and Apple Pencil, Shapr3D’s app is multiplatform across devices and operating systems, but has featured as part of Apple keynotes for some years now. The company was quick to launch a dedicated Shapr3D app for the Vision Pro, with its key use case being that of a collaborative CAD environment for users across a variety of devices and operating systems to share an instance of a project and work on it live. Changes to the drawing are reflected instantly in a three-dimensional representation of the work.
“This fully flexible workflow expands into the arena of design reviews with stakeholders,” a representative tells us. “Not only do designers collaborate alongside each other, but they can invite stakeholders to participate interactively in the design review process. Stakeholders take part in the visual conversation unfolding right before their eyes in AR as they add finishes, seeing the updated model in real-time to make decision-making outstandingly clear.”
For Shapr3D, this ultimately all leads to the lowering of barriers for teams. Greater integration and the blurring of traditionally hard borders. “Cross-functional teams can work together in new ways, Shapr3D intends to match the latest technology to the ultimate goal of unblocking design.”
Elsewhere, CAD/CAE giant Autodesk has been conspicuous in its silence towards the device. While extended reality (XR) is a branch of technology and user interaction that seems ripe for integration with the company’s huge portfolio of 3D modeling and creation products, currently, its usage of the tech has been limited to just two, both with strong links to other players in the XR space.
There’s the Meta-linked Workshop XR, which provides the architecture, environment, and construction verticals with fully virtual spaces to collaboratively review models. Only Meta’s newer Quest headsets are supported, with a representative at Autodesk telling All3DP that “currently, Meta offers the essential features our Workshop XR customers require, specifically user, device and custom app management, and customer support.”
The company’s other XR-leaning product is VRED, a visualization tool typically used for photorealistic product renderings, particularly automotive. The demands of an application like VRED has Autodesk pointing out that “professional” grade headsets, such as those produced by Varjo, are necessary “to meet customer expectations of speed, resolution and other aspects of experience quality.”
As things stand, Autodesk does not currently have the Vision Pro in its plans. But that is not to say it never will. “We certainly believe XR will become an increasingly critical and highly effective way for our customers to spatially engage with Autodesk solutions, and are considering potentially adding support for other headsets in the future.”
Back at Onshape, the outlook is a little more certain. Brown explains: “Based on experiences in the few months since its launch, I certainly see the adoption of the Apple Vision Pro in many design processes across a variety of industries.” While adoption is already happening, it’s less clear that the device presents a must-have application for all users. “A number of Onshape customers I’ve worked with have already purchased their own Vision Pro devices and are implementing new workflows around them. It is too soon to say whether or not every designer will utilize such a device, and for what percentage of their day, but spatial computing is going to be a valuable tool in design processes.”
As with the majority of technological steps forward, adoption will be a gradual thing, driven by individual companies’ unique applications for the tech. We won’t all be clamoring for the Vision Pro (particularly not with that price tag – jeez) but in the CAD space, there’s plenty of room for its uniquely hands-on approach to digital manipulation.
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License: The text of "Does Apple’s Vision Pro Offer a Bold New Future for CAD?" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.