New Terms Introduced with the Apple Vision Pro

As an educator who has been involved with technology for nearly 3 decades, I feel that I have a responsibility when teaching others about new devices, systems, and software to use the “correct” terms to describe physical attributes, actions, and interface elements.

Imagine you have been asked to teach a group of teachers who will later teach students how to use some new device and, although you know exactly how to do the thing you are teaching, you find yourself saying, "tap that square thingy with the arrow coming out of the top in the upper-right corner." Of course, I am referring in this example to the Share button, an important and often-used iPhone and iPad interface element. Early on, this fabled symbol acquired the name “squarrow” (a portmanteau of square+arrow) seemingly from origins unknown, except that in one week after first hearing it, all students and teachers in my schools were suddenly using the term sometime during 2012.

Over the years, I have found that the best place to find the terms for new technology is both in official user manuals—and in the case of Apple technology—on the Apple Developer website. I have also found it helpful to cross-reference certain terms and elements in both locations to be sure of the usage is consistent and/or learn more details about other possible uses.

A new device with a new operating system (OS) almost assures a new set of terms, and Apple Vision Pro is no exception. This article will share as many of the terms as I can find to help both myself learn them, and also hopefully help others who find themselves in a teaching situation.

In case you have never stumbled upon them, Apple publishes extensive and exceptionally well written online User Guides that get updated the moment a new version of an OS is released. The Apple Vision Pro User Guide can be found here.

To my chagrin, I have noticed that Apple is NOT naming some of the interface elements, instead referring to them by graphic in the description. Here is one example:

As a teacher, I’d like to be able to refer to that down-arrow-in-a-circle symbol by a name, but alas, it doesn’t have a name. For the purposes of this article, I will use an asterisk* to note any term not specifically used by Apple to name an interface element, and the name I use will be my best guess based upon other Apple OS conventions I have encountered over the years.

Physical Features of the Apple Vision Pro Device

Terms

• Audio Straps
• Cover
• Digital Crown
• Displays
• Fit Dial
• Head band (Dual Loop Band)
• Head band (Solo Knit Band)
• Light Seal
• Light Seal Cushion
• Power
• Release tab
• Top Button

Basic Interface Elements of the Apple Vision Pro

Terms

• Home View (Apps View)
• Tab Bar

Although Apple does not specifically state it anywhere I can find it, the Home View is comprised of three possible views, all accessible from the Tab Bar (a bulleted list and the icons are shown here):

• Apps View
• People View
• Environments View

In general, I have observed that "Environments" and any "immersive" features are used interchangeably along with the "mountain with a sparkle" icon to refer to simulated virtual environments.

The following controls are used on the Apple Vision Pro for navigating basic features of visionOS and apps. The living room image used below originated on the Apple website, but I altered it to show various interface elements. (The view shown is for educational purposes and contains several interface elements that would not normally be shown simultaneously in visionOS.)

Terms

• Close button
• Control Center access button*
• Resize handle*
• Window bar
  

Names and Descriptions of Apple Vision Pro Hand and Eye Gestures

The following hand and eye gestures are discussed both in the User Guide and on the Developer site. I have combined the ideas into the bulleted list below.

I have also noted that both in the documentation and at the Apple Store demo, Apple specifies that any tap of any two fingers constitutes a "tap." However, in practice, and for the sake of clarity, I quickly adopted the habit of using only the thumb and forefinger as my tap gesture (either hand works equally as well). I continue to have mixed results when I try other finger combinations for a tap gesture.

• Tap your fingers together ("tap")—Select options, open apps.
• Touch—Interact with elements with fingers (e.g., touch keys on the virtual keyboard).
• Pinch and hold—Show additional options, zoom in and out.
• Pinch and hold with both hands—Pull apart to zoom in, push in to zoom out.
• Pinch and drag—Move windows/objects, scroll, resize objects.
• Pinch and drag (pinch and quickly flick wrist, "swipe")—Scroll quickly.

Inputs

As an aside, Apple specifies that three types of input are available in visionOS:

• Indirect input—Eyes are the target of an interaction. The thumb+forefinger movement starts the interaction. Other movements may follow (e.g., like moving the pinched finger to scroll).
• Direct input—A finger occupies the same space as an onscreen item (e.g., typing a key on an onscreen keyboard, pressing a button).
• Keyboard input—Use a physical mouse, trackpad, or keyboard connected via Bluetooth or on a connected shared device.

Other Features Specific to Apple Vision Pro

The following features that are specific to Apple Vision Pro and not already mentioned above are those I have used several times in the last week. I suspect many of these will be useful to anyone teaching about the device.

Features

• Take a screen capture
• Force Quit an app
• Capture a Spatial Photo or Spatial Video

Image Sources

• www.apple.com/apple-vision-pro/
• https://support.apple.com/guide/apple-vision-pro/adjust-the-fit-dev1d800e084/1.0/visionos/1.0