Turn Any Picture into a 3D Scene

There’s a really fun new feature that makes your photos feel more alive and immersive than ever – it’s called Spatial Photos. It will turn any picture in your Camera Roll into a kind of fake 3D scene which, as you tilt your iPad, feels like you’re actually there.

All we need to do is open up the picture in question. In the very top corner, there’s a tiny hexagon-shaped icon – this is the Spatial Photos button. When you tap it, your iPad will analyse your picture, and you’ll see a colourful wave wash up across it from the bottom. It then works out the foreground, middleground and background of that picture.

And just like that, you can see it come to life. You won’t see the iPad physically tilting, but you will see the picture moving on screen. When you’re holding the iPad in your hands, it genuinely feels like you’re looking through a portal back to the moment the picture was taken – it’s really quite clever.

This doesn’t just work with portraits – it works with any photo in your Camera Roll. Here’s a picture at Yosemite National Park, and you can see this lovely natural scene. When I turn it into a Spatial Photo, the trees and the mountains in the background suddenly have a real sense of depth. Your iPad cleverly fills in the gaps behind the original picture to make it feel like it’s truly alive.

My advice is to zoom in slightly once you’ve turned it into a Spatial Photo so it fills your whole iPad screen. Then it really does feel like you’re holding a portal back to that scene. It can make your pictures come alive, and it’s a really fun thing to try.

Now, be warned – there’s no way to actually save these Spatial Photos, but you can bring them back again by tapping that button. It only takes a split second to work.

If you want to see what else your iPad can do that you may not have realised, check out our YouTube channel and make sure you subscribe. I’ll see you next time.

[Music]