With more details on Apple Vision Pro being available during WWDC23, developers found out that in current release of visionOS access to outward facing cameras will not be provided to third-party applications.
The only access apps could get is simulated camera with user’s Digital Persona (and only if user approves access). This camera will act like front facing camera on iPhone allowing recoding of user’s face reconstructed using ML model.
In order to build immersive AR experiences developers have to rely on ARKit entities and scene understanding capabilities.
Reference: Vision Pro keeping camera access under lock and key compared to iPhone and iPad
Recommendations
Developer:
Get familiar with application restrictions. For iPhone and iPad apps that are planned to be available on Vision Pro – don’t assume existence of rear-facing cameras. Review sessions on visionOS ARKit as it differs from iOS implementation.QA engineer:
Be ready to test apps for appropriate behavior when camera hardware does not exist on target device.PM/DM:
Update feature backlog, adjust application features that rely on camera feed, consider using ARKit and RealityKit information to substitute video stream.