Together with other news introduced today in the first beta version of iOS 11.3, we have the ARKit 1.5. And the news is good for those who are betting on this technology.
So, according to the TechCrunch explained, ARKit had been focusing on offering horizontal plane detection, allowing developers to know where the floor is (to orient or place objects in 3D space). Works well? No doubt, but this does not allow full 3D spatial recognition of a given field, since that horizontal plane essentially ignores walls or other vertical surfaces.
Now that has changed: the new version of ARKit can recognize vertical surfaces and allows us to place objects on those surfaces. That is, we can define these surfaces together with horizontal ones. A real idea of ​​what can come with a game of darts that allows you to play with the target mounted on a real wall instead of just floating around in space. At the beginning, however, ARKit 1.5 is unable to detect angled vertical planes.
Version 1.5 also improved ARKit in several ways, such as better recognition of objects with irregular shapes (circular tables or chairs), line detection, faster and more accurate general tracking, among other things. ARKit 1.5 also displays the "real world" in 1080p instead of 720p so the contrast in quality between the projected object and the real world is less bad on your iPhone screen.
Another novelty is that, if there are 2D images in the scene, ARKit can now analyze these images and allow developers to map the physical position of objects in a space or on a surface. Imagine, then, a poster stuck on a wall. This would allow the placement of related objects in the vicinity (floating text, audio triggers, etc.), something very interesting for museums, exhibitions, among other things.
Currently, there are about 2,000 AR apps on the App Store and that number is set to grow. Still, what counts here is not the number of apps available that use the technology, but the great experience that developers can offer with ARKit especially now, with version 1.5. Who come good news!
