Commentary: Apple’s amazing augmented reality experiences are here, and don’t need a new iPhone.
Weird things floating in the real world: AR is about to flood your iPhone.
Before the new iPhones were announced, I told some coworkers that I thought ARKit and its apps — which promise to place virtual things in our real world — would be a bigger story than the new iPhones. Most disagreed.
I’ve been tweeting some of my demos since the review of the new iPhones went live. As new apps arrive, like a preview of Ikea’s furniture-placement app Ikea Place, I’m getting even more impressed. So are people who see the demo videos. if you’re not familiar with AR or don’t know what it does, the videos below do a good job of demonstrating it. Here’s what AR on a phone can do.
Excuse me, I’m just laying out IKEA furniture on a subway platform #ARKit #iphone8plus pic.twitter.com/lECKVB4VQi
AR at the train station: Sky Guide with 8 Plus pic.twitter.com/20DcULmxTm
Back at Apple’s developer conference in June, it seemed like a big deal. Now, it seems like the key to Apple’s next wave of app development.
Thomas & Friends AR train kit on Wall Street, #iPhone8Plus. I’ll be on @CNBC at 11:40am pic.twitter.com/lKsu9FUUhS
Apple says that the A11 Bionic chip has better graphics to handle improved processing needed to make AR render properly, plus improved gyro and accelerometer sensors that will be key for accurate camera-plus-motion-sensor tracking. To make virtual things appear in the real world on your phone, syncing the two is critical.
In brief demos I tried of the iPhone 8 using AR apps at Apple Park after the iPhone event, everything looked great. But, everything looked great before, too. I found it hard to differentiate. Then again, without side-by-side comparisons, it’s really hard to spot differences. It’s like two VR demos months apart in different rooms.
But, if you’re not waiting for the X, the 8’s advantages in AR might, for now, be incremental.
I’d say that Apple’s done a good enough job on existing phones that it’s very possible the “AR advantage” on the iPhone 8 will be really hard to appreciate. For now.
Splitter Critters with #ARKit, #iPhone8Plus. Just solving a puzzle on a metal thing on Wall Street pic.twitter.com/OYyOdICnb5
Apple’s move to involve existing phones with ARKit is incredibly smart, though. It is driving an insane number of apps and experiments over the last few months. It’s creating buzz. And, it’ll insure that there will be a lot of amazing augmented experiences arriving very quickly. It might feel like the rise of iPhone games when the App Store first launched in 2008.
The iPhone X has front-facing AR tech and Face ID that allows emoji puppetry, and promises of facial controls for all sorts of things. But the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus doesn’t. This year, for the time being, the best tech on Apple’s new iPhones isn’t something that lives on the new iPhones exclusively at all.
That means it won’t exclude those who don’t upgrade, and could reach far more people. That’s good for developers, good for regular users and, in the end, it’s really good for Apple’s AR vision to gain an even stronger foothold. Because, to the average person, AR is confusing, maybe gimmicky and something that needs to be eased into. Like VR or any new tech. But I find it more promising than wireless charging, or camera upgrades. That’s this year’s biggest leap forward on the iPhone by a long shot.
My first clip of ARkit on #iphone8 from last Friday. Insight Heart. pic.twitter.com/RnPiaheMjN
