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How to turn any photo on your iPhone into a trippy 3D spatial scene


One tap transforms a regular photo into a dynamic image that shifts and bends as you tilt your handset - and this iOS 26 feature doesn't even require a newer iPhone.

Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET Spatial Scenes are an AI-powered depth effect that turns 2D photos into dynamic, 3D-like images. Spatial photos and videos, on the other hand, are formats that must be captured with special hardware on the iPhone 16 or newer models -- and you view them in full 3D using an Apple Vision Pro. Like me, he initially dismissed them as a gimmick, but the experience turned emotional when it "realified" old snapshots of his pets, including a cat he lost decades ago.

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