What spatial video actually is
Spatial video is Apple's term for stereoscopic 3D video captured and encoded specifically for Vision Pro's micro-OLED per-eye displays. It's a marketing name for an established technique, tuned to Apple's pipeline.
Under the hood it's still two synchronized video streams, one per eye, wrapped in Apple's HEVC-based spatial container with embedded depth metadata.
How to capture it
- iPhone 15 Pro / 16 Pro and newer — native spatial video recording built into the Camera app
- Canon RF Dual Fisheye lens on a compatible body — professional-grade spatial capture
- Third-party dual-lens rigs exported to Apple's spatial format via conversion software
Spatial video vs VR180 vs SBS
VR180 uses a wide 180° hemispherical field of view designed for headset immersion. Spatial video uses a narrower, more traditional framing closer to a normal video, prioritizing a 'photo that breathes' feeling over full immersion.
Side-by-side (SBS) is a delivery convention, not a capture format — spatial video files can be converted to SBS for playback on non-Apple headsets.
Where to watch it
Spatial video plays natively in the Photos app on Vision Pro. It can also be viewed on other headsets after converting to SBS or MV-HEVC-compatible players, though some depth fidelity is typically lost in conversion.
See it in action at 3dstreaming.org