Pet lovers, rejoice! After debuting immersive series and specials on subjects ranging from nature and travel to music and sports on the Vision Pro over the past couple of years, Apple is now inviting viewers into the world of competitive dog showing with Top Dogs. Available now, the two-part docuseries offers a one-of-a-kind perspective on Crufts, the world’s biggest dog show, following competitors and their owners as they give their all in hopes of winning the coveted Best in Show trophy.
Let me tell you: having had a chance to see the docuseries, these are some very good dogs. Throughout the roughly 30 minutes of video, I got the chance to see tons of adorable and prim canines, some from breeds I’d never heard of before. Crufts attracts nearly 20,000 competitors each year, so there were plenty of great dogs to meet. It’s worth watching the show just for the shots of the cute pups alone.
But Top Dogs is about more than just making new canine friends. The series offers a great overview of the dog show itself, including some behind-the-scenes footage of the lower-level competitions I wasn’t familiar with from my casual viewings of dog shows in the past. The series also employs the best use of graphics I’ve seen so far in Apple Immersive Video, explaining the dog show’s various rounds with expansive 3D charts. It includes an excellent opening title sequence, too, something I didn’t realize I was missing in these immersive series up until now.
The show tracks the journeys of several dog-owner pairs throughout the event, highlighting the magnificent bonds between people and their pets as well as the thrill they experience moving through the competition. Of course, viewers also get to see the moment the Best in Show winner is crowned, which is very touching. And the series breaks up the various rounds of the dog show with clips from the other competitions at Crufts – one focused on speed and the other on agility – showcasing the dogs’ athletic abilities in addition to their looks.
The series does sometimes rely on non-immersive footage for moments and angles that weren’t captured in Apple Immersive Video. I didn’t find the transition back and forth between formats to be jarring, but the traditional footage did make me appreciate even more the added depth and dynamism of immersive video. As good as the 2D footage looked, it didn’t have nearly as much of an impact as the immersive segments did. If mixing immersive and non-immersive formats leads to more events being captured in this way, I think that’s a worthwhile compromise. The only change I’d like to see is making the non-immersive video slightly bigger in the frame; looking straight ahead, I could see top and bottom borders of the video in my line of sight, which further broke the immersion for me.
I had a lot of fun watching Top Dogs, and I recommend anyone with a Vision Pro check it out, too. It’s a nice change of pace for immersive video and, like Apple’s other immersive offerings before it, gives every Vision Pro user a chance to have an experience usually available to only a few people. You may never make it to Birmingham to attend Crufts in person, but you can see the best of it in high-quality 3D from the comfort of your home – no travel kennel required.
Top Dogs is available now in the Apple TV app on Apple Vision Pro.
