Now that the Apple Vision Pro’s visionOS software is in the hands of developers and they’re able to run it in a simulator on the Mac, we’re starting to learn more and more about what the headset can do. And that includes the fact that there will be something called Travel Mode.
Travel Mode appears to have been built with flying in mind, and the headset will automatically adjust itself to deal with that fact. In some cases that will mean disabling entire features, while in others it may reduce functionality.
Apple is yet to confirm the existence of Travel Model, but it’s reportedly already mentioned in the very first visionOS beta.
‘Are you on a plane?’
MacRumors reports that it has been able to find a few different text strings that appear to explain how Travel Mode will work. The list of strings found includes “Are you on a plan?” as well as “Some awareness features will be switched off.” In fact, there will be a few features that will either be changed or disabled when Travel Mode is enabled.
The report details some changes that Vision Pro users can expect when on a plane, including the removal of awareness features.
“One of the text strings indicates that “some awareness features will be off.” This suggests that certain sensors and features which depend on spatial awareness might be turned off or scaled down,” the report notes. It’s suggested that the confined space that people find themselves in during flight could be at play here.
It’s a similar story for things like the disabling of Digital Personas, while the headset will also instruct wearers to “Remain stationary in Travel Mode.” That could be from a pure safety standpoint — Apple might not want people walking around an airplane while wearing its headset for obvious reasons.
We can of course expect to learn more about the Vision Pro in the coming weeks and months, with the headset expected to be released in early 2024. Before then we still have the iPhone 15 launch to look forward to, while a number of new Apple Watch updates are also on the cards