Sim racing is one of those genres where even small technological advances can fundamentally change the entire experience. This is exactly what the combination of the iRacing racing simulator with the headset now suggests. Apple Vision ProThe game's creators claim that the combination of the new version of the system visionThe OS and technology from Nvidia will bring a level of immersion to racing that has been virtually non-existent in simulators before.
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iRacing is aiming for Apple Vision Pro
Support will arrive this week along with a system update visionOS 26.4. This version brings a technology called foveated streaming, which is key to making the demanding simulator run smoothly even in mixed reality. The principle is quite clever. Vision Pro renders the highest quality image exactly where the user is looking. Areas outside the direct line of sight are rendered at a lower quality, saving performance and bandwidth. The result is an image that looks extremely sharp where it really matters – right on the track in front of you.
According to iRacing president Tony Gardner, this combination of technologies will offer "a level of immersion and fidelity that sim racing has never experienced before."
Virtual cockpit and real steering wheel
One of the most interesting things about the entire implementation is the connection of the virtual world with real hardware. Apple because it uses technology ARKit, which can combine digital images with physical objects around you. In practice, this means that if you have a racing simulator at home with a steering wheel, pedals and a cockpit, Vision Pro it can "align" it with the virtual car in the game. So when you turn the real steering wheel, you see exactly the same movement in the game.
Additionally, your own hands are displayed on the steering wheel. This may sound like a small thing, but it makes a huge difference in terms of realism. In regular VR, you often only see virtual hands or a model of the controller, while here you remain visually connected to your own racing hardware.
The calculations are run on a PC, Vision Pro displays the result
In order to achieve high graphic quality and realistic physics, iRacing relies on a rather interesting architecture. The calculations themselves do not run directly on the Vision ProThe entire simulator runs on a powerful PC equipped with an NVIDIA RTX graphics card, where vehicle physics and graphics are calculated. The resulting image is then rendered using Nvidia technology. CloudXR wirelessly streamed via Wi-Fi to the iRacing Connect app in visionOS.
Vision Pro This essentially becomes an extremely advanced display device that streams the finished image from a powerful computer. This allows the graphics quality to be very high without overloading the headset with calculations.
Vision Pro opens the door to other simulators
But iRacing isn't the only project that relies on the new technology. Together with support for Vision Pro Compatibility with the popular flight simulator X-Plane is also set to arrive for the first time. This is a relatively logical step. Simulators – whether racing or aviation – are among the genres where mixed reality has enormous potential. If you see a real controller, stick or steering wheel and a virtual cockpit at the same time, it creates a much more convincing illusion than with classic VR.
Nvidia also suggests that the technology used in visionOS 26.4 will not only serve gamers. A similar approach should gradually appear in industry, design or healthcare, where the combination of a powerful computing system and a lightweight headset can open up completely new work possibilities.
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updates visionThe OS is around the corner.
Apple last week released the first Release Candidate of the system visionOS 26.4. If everything goes according to the usual schedule, the final version could arrive this week. That's what we're talking about. Apple Vision Pro will take it a step further – and this time it will most likely please simulator fans. If iRacing delivers on its promise, it could be one of the first moments when mixed reality really shows why it has such huge potential in certain types of games.
