Apple Vision Pro team talks process behind designing newest visionOS 26 Environment

Apple Vision Pro has the power to transport users from their physical surroundings into a variety of immersive Environments, whether it’s the shores of Mount Hood or the surface of the Moon looking back at Earth.

With visionOS 26, Apple expanded its library with another planetary view that takes the immersive experience even further. Now, two of the people behind the work are revealing new details about the intricate design process required to bring these virtual spaces to life.

In a neat interview with Cool Hunting, Yuri Imoto from visionOS Product Marketing and Matt Dessero, a Human Interface Designer at Apple, discuss how these spaces go from concept to reality.

“Nature is our base,” Dessero explains. “We ask ourselves what mood these environments are going to create for our users. Will it evoke a sense of calmness? Will it give focus? A sense of wonder?”

The piece shows why Amalthea was chosen compared to Jupiter’s other moons. And without being able to rely on LiDAR scans and physical photography, Apple turned to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to accurately theorize what the surface of Jupiter’s moon, Amalthea, would actually look like.

“What we found out from JPL was that this moon is actually created from rocks pulled together by Jupiter’s gravity and held together by ice. So they theorize that there’s a lot of ice on this moon… that’s what we tried to represent here.”

Naturally, the team didn’t just build these on traditional monitors. To ensure the scale and “feel” were correct, they designed the environments while wearing the Vision Pro itself.

“The composition of what you’re seeing here was all done through me guiding an artist while inside headset,” Dessero explains. “It’s critical for layout. I mean, I can’t even tell you how critical it is down to the rocks, where all these pieces are in the foreground.”

The full piece at Cool Hunting is a great read for anyone interested in VFX, photography, and UI design.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.