ARKit

Videos: cool stuff made with ARKit

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 21, 2017

Eager to learn why Apple's new ARKit framework is such a big deal? Look no further than a new website which offers a hand-picked curation of some of the coolest stuff developers have made thus far with ARKit, via The Loop.

For the uninitiated, augmented reality experiences superimpose computer-generated imagery on top of live video feed of the real world. According to Apple, ARKit uses a technique known as Visual Inertial Odometry to accurately track the world around an iPhone or iPad by fusing camera sensor data with motion data.

“These two inputs allow the device to sense how it moves within a room with a high degree of accuracy, and without any additional calibration,” the company says.

The following videos offer a look at the capabilities of the ARKit framework.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMd0dIAEJuc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hvfpxaxGwc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OV2mBbNtVk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xrVFDRJ8HQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4OeFjZCi9o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHJRExynkuI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdaWHv6hmJk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njQSiO2uj0s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rq2NChZ3c4E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HY868Jskrc

The ARKit framework uses computer vision to determine the layout of your surroundings and automatically find horizontal planes like tables and floors. It can track and place objects on smaller feature points and apply the right type of light to a virtual object in order to match the current lighting conditions in your room.

Ikea is working on an AR app in partnership with Apple that will let users try out furniture in augmented reality before buying it. Apple's WWDC 2017 keynote demos included an upcoming ARKit-driven game, called Wingnut AR, by director Peter Jackson's AR company.

If you like these demos, be sure to follow @madewithARKit on Twitter.

Ikea and Apple building AR app that’ll let you try out virtual furniture at home

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 21, 2017

Ikea is co-building a new augmented reality app together with Apple that will allow customers to try out virtual furniture at home, and then buy it.

Built on ARKit, Apple's new framework for powering augmented reality experiences on iOS devices, the app will basically superimpose tables, chairs and other furniture on top of your room, as seen through the lens of an iOS device's camera.

The app leverages ARKit's scene understanding and lighting estimation features that permit it to automatically find horizontal planes like tables and floors in a scene, as well as track and place objects on smaller feature points. ARKit even applies the correct amount and type of light to any virtual objects to match the current lighting conditions in your room.

According to a local report in Di Digital, the app is launching in the Fall of 2017, shortly after iOS 11 releases for public consumption.

“This will be the first augmented reality app that will enable you to make buying decisions,” said Michael Valdsgaard, Leader of Digital Transformation at Inter Ikea, to Di Digital. The executive couldn't promise that the in-app payment feature will work in the first version of the app.

The app will launch with 500-600 products available in AR. “When we launch new products in the future, they will first appear in the AR app,” Valdsgaard says.

Ikea said recently that its LED bulbs and other smart lighting products would soon gain compatibility with HomeKit, Apple’s smart home management platform.

At WWDC 2017, Apple announced a number of improvements for HomeKit, including software-based encryption that could enable existing non-HomeKit-compliant devices to gain support for HomeKit via a simple firmware update.

With ARKit, Apple turns iOS devices into the largest AR platform in the world

Steffen Reich ∙ Updated June 21, 2017

Augmented Reality is set to make its mark on Apple's iOS 11, as the impressive technology has been showed off on stage moments ago. ARKit brings the API to all developers, allowing developers to tap into the latest computer vision technology to build compelling virtual content on top of real-life scenes. It brings along all new possibilities for existing apps like the by now infamous Pokemon Go, as well as for new creations such as camera apps allowing for virtual object manipulation.

The technology is going to be rolled out across all the latest iPhones and iPads, virtually rendering Apple's devices the largest player in the Augmented Reality field over night.

The live demo given certainly looked awe-inspiring and showed multiple objects being rendered on top of an on-stage table and subsequently affecting each other when shuffled around. That is to say, the shadows cast by all objects and light emanating from the virtual lamp adapted to corresponding movements and displayed correctly on surface of the real world table.

In a second, equally impressive, demonstration, a Lego Batmobile was projected onto the table and disassembled in real time by touching the iPad's screen, camera angle and individual bricks could be smoothly manipulated. It remains to be seen what else developers and Apple themselves have up their sleeves later this year, this short excursion alone certainly did whet our appetite for more.