“There’s been a lot of hype around virtual reality,” David Pogue writes for Yahoo. “For my money, augmented reality (AR) is the bigger deal. That’s where you can still see the real world, but the computer superimposes graphics on it. As you look around, the sizes, angles, and distances of the simulated objects smoothly change in real time as though they really exist. ”
“Earlier this year, Apple gave AR a huge boost with its release of ARKit, a set of tools for software companies that make it easier to develop AR apps,” Pogue writes. “Using these tools, it took Ikea just 10 weeks to come up with Ikea Place, an app that lets you try out Ikea furniture in your actual home and inspect it from different angles. ‘Apple has solved things from both a software point of view and a hardware point of view, so they have the full spectrum,’ says Michael Valdsgaard, Ikea’s director of digital transformation. ‘Nobody else has that.'”
“Last month, Apple released iOS 11, required to use all of the new AR apps — and, in effect, made the iPhone the most common AR platform on Earth,” Pogue writes. “Now the apps themselves are reaching the app store. Plenty of them are games, of course, and that’s great — but I wanted to see if these apps can actually be useful. Software companies have had only 12 weeks to write these apps, so they’re mostly fairly simple. I thought I’d sample the first wave and give you a report.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The best AR apps, so far, are those that are actually useful, like Ikea Place and Night Sky 5. Many others we’ve tried are just playful, almost test-like, apps.
Do you have any favorite AR apps, yet?
SEE ALSO:
Apple’s Tim Cook on iPhones, augmented reality, and how he plans to change your world – October 10, 2017
iOS 11 ARKit augmented reality apps now appearing at Apple’s App Store – September 18, 2017
Apple ARKit to usher in an intriguing, amazing new world – August 31, 2017
Major developers reveal Apple ARKit apps ahead of iOS 11 release – August 29, 2017
Apple working on several prototypes of AR glasses – August 4, 2017
Apple’s next big move: Augmented reality – August 3, 2017
Apple’s rumored new glasses will be an even bigger deal than the iPhone – July 28, 2017
Apple smart glasses are inevitable – July 28, 2017
New app using Apple’s ARKit lets iPhone recreate 16 weeks of painstaking rotoscoping on the fly – July 27, 2017
Gene Munster: Apple Glasses will soon outshine the iPhone – June 28, 2017
Gene Munster: Expect Apple smart glasses in mid-2020 – June 27, 2017
Augmented Reality: Apple’s revolutionary offering leaves Google’s Android woefully behind – June 26, 2017
Apple’s AR is much closer to reality than Google’s – June 26, 2017
UBS: Apple may eventually launch ‘iGlass’ smart glasses – June 20, 2017
IKEA’s forthcoming Augmented Reality furniture app powered by Apple’s ARKit – June 19, 2017
Apple’s single most important WWDC 2017 announcement: ARKit – June 11, 2017
Apple CEO Cook discusses philosophy behind HomePod, ARKit’s potential market impact – June 6, 2017
Overnight, Apple will own the world’s largest augmented reality platform – June 7, 2017
Analysts: Apple’s Corning investment hints at AR glasses and wireless charging tech – May 14, 2017
Apple awards Corning $200 million in first Advanced Manufacturing Fund investment – May 12, 2017
Leaked document details Apple employee eye injuries, hints at Apple AR glasses – April 20, 2017
Apple began working on augmented reality glasses more than a year ago, sources say – March 27, 2017
Pogue has fallen a long way from the New York Times to Yahoo- now a unit of Verizon. Must be hard out there for a pimp.
Still one of the best tech writers out there. Bad career moves, but he’s no “pimp.”
*chuckle!*
Tried a few of the measuring apps and frankly they’re rubbish. Could just be the apps of course, but the measurements vary wildly. Measured a 50cm table and it thought it was 139cm. Sometimes it’s really accurate, but others it’s way off.