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ARKit. Apple has solved few real world AR problems, which were usually hard for an average app developer to get started with. But with ARKit, apple, is "trying

ARKit. Apple has solved few real world AR problems, which were usually hard for an average app developer to get started with. But with ARKit, apple, is "trying" to do the heavy lifting in terms of plane and object recognition etc. Another thing is the platform of distribution. People will use AR apps, which will hit the app store after September like crazy. And these same people, will be primary audience for Apple headset. It's like, before releasing headset, Apple is proving people that you really need a headset to overcome the pain of "continuously" moving your phone in the space. Also, other OS and vendors will follow the trend and release AR compatible phones/hardware early. The only potential pitfall, I see is, battery usage. If it's properly optimised, I think a large AR wave on smartphones is about to hit. Just my 2 cents!

hacker_9 9y ago
I knew nothing of ARKit until a few days ago when it started popping up on my twitter feed like mad. I have to say the tech literally sells itself because of the eye candy [1]. It finally feels like we are living in the future. [1] https://twitter.com/madewithARKit https://twitter.com/madewithARKit
- sah2ed 9y ago
  Really cool demos of ARKit there! Makes me pumped for the kind of clever apps that will be built for iOS and optimized for the upcoming iPhone. I especially liked the kitchen measurement demo.
gordon_freeman 9y ago
Does anyone know is there something similar to this in Android OS? How Google's plans are to explore the AR space?
- arnioxux 9y ago
  Wasn't google tango their solution? (but requires custom android hardware for depth sensor) https://get.google.com/tango/ https://get.google.com/tango/ I haven't heard anything about them for a few years now. Visual-inertial SLAM has been working for a few years on mobile phones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7bjsIqlbS0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7bjsIqlbS0 So there should be plenty of third-party libraries you can use.
  - jesalg 9y ago
    Apple already has the first mover advantage on this. Will be interesting to see how Google/Android will overcome it especially given they don't entirely control the hardware. They should at the very least add the necessary hardware in the next Pixel phone.
  - phn 9y ago
    The beauty of it is that ARKit also requires somewhat specialized hardware. But since apple controls the hardware as well, they can pull it off much faster than the android eco-system ever will. They solve the chicken and egg problem, having phones with the needed hardware before the apps/demand even exists.
mbesto 9y ago
ARKit seems like one of those technology breakthroughs that actually has gotten way less hype than you would think, but is legitimately a huge advancement.
- dkarl 9y ago
  All the hype I've seen has been about retail applications that consumers are not going to tolerate after the (minimal) novelty wears off, which is why I think it's being mostly ignored. I think the killer apps will be ones that make people better and faster at things they are strongly motivated to be better and faster at and/or are getting paid to do by someone who can buy the hardware and order them to use it.
- angryasian 9y ago
  why do you say this ? https://techcrunch.com/2010/12/16/world-lens-translates-words-inside-of-images-yes-really/ https://techcrunch.com/2010/12/16/world-lens-translates-word... World lens has been around since 2010 Layar since 2009 https://techcrunch.com/2009/08/17/layar-proves-the-augmented-reality-revolution-is-not-in-silicon-valley/ https://techcrunch.com/2009/08/17/layar-proves-the-augmented... Yelp Monocal in 2009 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZyOZBqI8FM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZyOZBqI8FM ARKit is still the same hold your phone up to do AR. Why is it different now ?
  - mbesto 9y ago
    > Why is it different now ? Because it doesn't require hardware and it's incredibly accurate...
    - angryasian 9y ago
      it never required hardware it was the same exact implementation. you hold up your phone in a magic window
      - mercer 9y ago
        Surely you realize that there's a tremendous difference between on the one hand using solid API's and tools that are baked into the OS (and thus 'installed' on a huge number of people's devices), and on the other hand either building it yourself or relying on yet another app that needs to be installed? Not to mention execution: my experience with Layar is that it was pretty shit for the most part. Wordlens was cool, but it's not like I can just build an app that uses Wordlens' tech, and even if I could, it would be, well, Word Lens. Not AR in the broader sense. Everything I've seen from ARKit seems much more solid and much more practically useful than the 'floaty overlay that roughly stays in place' glorified tech demos I mostly see.
amelius 9y ago
Why do you think AR will become a "thing"? Do people really want to run around wearing glasses/headsets all the time? If you'd ask me, this idea could just as well end the same way as 3D TV.
- forkLding 9y ago
  I think its all about marketing when it comes to convincing people, nobody imagined computer phones and the idea would seem weird then, like why put a computer on your phone. I think ARKit has potential, Pokemon Go is still big and Snapchat glasses has generated hype among people that don't identify the glasses with AR.
- jedberg 9y ago
  > Do people really want to run around wearing glasses/headsets all the time? Absolutely! If I could wear some regular looking glasses that could identify objects, give me directions, etc, I would totally wear them. I'm really good with faces, in that I can see someone after a long time and know that I know them, but I'm really bad with names, so I can never remember their name. If I could have glasses that looked in my contacts or Facebook or whatever and told me the name of the person I'm looking at, that would help me be less awkward at social gatherings.
  - amelius 9y ago
    > that would help me be less awkward at social gatherings And how do you think the people you are "talking" to feel when you're constantly occupied with your AR glasses? :)
    - jedberg 9y ago
      Hopefully they would be subtle enough not to be distracting. Like my smart watch. :)
  - Jach 9y ago
    If the glasses can name people from your contacts, it's only one more step to name and recognize everyone it can including strangers, including showing any related info like reddit aliases (known and suspected), reputation in some reputation tracker or even criminal history, favorite alcoholic beverages and other interests to help with dating... enough people don't want that so they'll ban AR devices and punch out people they catch wearing them. This stuff is already going on to varying degrees, but mostly businesses watching people. Getting people watching people and really kicking off AR needs, besides the tech, more assurances that no one can tell you're watching. I agree there wouldn't be much adoption barrier for having to wear hardware, so many people wear glasses and sunglasses and hats all the time anyway, the barrier is just being inconspicuous.
paul6987 9y ago
I just wish Apple allow devs to built apps into the build in camera vs. having to open tons of apps. Camera's on all smartphones is the most used app why not make even more useful and fun to use? Also, wearing any AR or VR headset is a horrible experience. AR needs to be created where it's seen and enjoyed without a headset! It just needs to blend in with daily life sans the need to wear a headset.
indescions_2017 9y ago
Yeah. It's ARKit. A thousand times over. For some time I thought the convergence of modern computer vision (including server-side machine learning based object discrimination) and mobile cameras had the potential to create tech indistinguishable from magic. And with Pokemon Go there was a glimpse at the possible consumer demand for the right combination of user interface and compelling content or use case. But now consider something like "Medical Mixed Reality" following an exponential law of growth into the coming decades. Imagine travelling virtually inside the human body to excise the moribund sections of a liver in vivo with the help of a robotic laser operating on a patient on another continent. Multiply the potential across verticals. And across platforms like Microsoft HoloLens, Google Tango, MagicLeap and you begin to see how the future will be "mixed"! Augmented Reality's A-ha Moment: http://www.madewitharkit.com/post/163454867118/augmented-realitys-a-ha-moment-by-chip-sineni http://www.madewitharkit.com/post/163454867118/augmented-rea...
tootie 9y ago
ARKit is impressive, but AR is a solution looking for a problem. I don't foresee it becoming really useful anytime soon.
mncharity 9y ago
Yes, ARKit. With 3D hand tracking and gesture recognition.[1] When the new Clay SDK releases (RSN?)[2], I expect a new wave of ARKit demos. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa9wgHkIucs&start=43 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa9wgHkIucs&start=43 [2] http://claytheworld.com/news/ http://claytheworld.com/news/
bitwize 9y ago
Agreed. AR, like so many other computing technologies, didn't properly exist until Apple invented it for us.
kluck 9y ago
As far as I can tell this is not open source. It seems to be a toolkit/framework and is supposed to be the basis of actual applications with focus on augmented reality. I don't think it will become widely used if the developers are not able to inspect its code, especially when the code comes from Apple. They do have a track record of adding hidden "features" one would like to deactivate.

hacker_9 9y ago

I knew nothing of ARKit until a few days ago when it started popping up on my twitter feed like mad. I have to say the tech literally sells itself because of the eye candy [1]. It finally feels like we are living in the future. [1] https://twitter.com/madewithARKit https://twitter.com/madewithARKit

sah2ed 9y ago
Really cool demos of ARKit there! Makes me pumped for the kind of clever apps that will be built for iOS and optimized for the upcoming iPhone. I especially liked the kitchen measurement demo.

gordon_freeman 9y ago

Does anyone know is there something similar to this in Android OS? How Google's plans are to explore the AR space?

arnioxux 9y ago
Wasn't google tango their solution? (but requires custom android hardware for depth sensor) https://get.google.com/tango/ https://get.google.com/tango/ I haven't heard anything about them for a few years now. Visual-inertial SLAM has been working for a few years on mobile phones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7bjsIqlbS0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7bjsIqlbS0 So there should be plenty of third-party libraries you can use.
- jesalg 9y ago
  Apple already has the first mover advantage on this. Will be interesting to see how Google/Android will overcome it especially given they don't entirely control the hardware. They should at the very least add the necessary hardware in the next Pixel phone.
- phn 9y ago
  The beauty of it is that ARKit also requires somewhat specialized hardware. But since apple controls the hardware as well, they can pull it off much faster than the android eco-system ever will. They solve the chicken and egg problem, having phones with the needed hardware before the apps/demand even exists.

mbesto 9y ago

ARKit seems like one of those technology breakthroughs that actually has gotten way less hype than you would think, but is legitimately a huge advancement.

dkarl 9y ago
All the hype I've seen has been about retail applications that consumers are not going to tolerate after the (minimal) novelty wears off, which is why I think it's being mostly ignored. I think the killer apps will be ones that make people better and faster at things they are strongly motivated to be better and faster at and/or are getting paid to do by someone who can buy the hardware and order them to use it.
angryasian 9y ago
why do you say this ? https://techcrunch.com/2010/12/16/world-lens-translates-words-inside-of-images-yes-really/ https://techcrunch.com/2010/12/16/world-lens-translates-word... World lens has been around since 2010 Layar since 2009 https://techcrunch.com/2009/08/17/layar-proves-the-augmented-reality-revolution-is-not-in-silicon-valley/ https://techcrunch.com/2009/08/17/layar-proves-the-augmented... Yelp Monocal in 2009 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZyOZBqI8FM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZyOZBqI8FM ARKit is still the same hold your phone up to do AR. Why is it different now ?
- mbesto 9y ago
  > Why is it different now ? Because it doesn't require hardware and it's incredibly accurate...
  - angryasian 9y ago
    it never required hardware it was the same exact implementation. you hold up your phone in a magic window
    - mercer 9y ago
      Surely you realize that there's a tremendous difference between on the one hand using solid API's and tools that are baked into the OS (and thus 'installed' on a huge number of people's devices), and on the other hand either building it yourself or relying on yet another app that needs to be installed? Not to mention execution: my experience with Layar is that it was pretty shit for the most part. Wordlens was cool, but it's not like I can just build an app that uses Wordlens' tech, and even if I could, it would be, well, Word Lens. Not AR in the broader sense. Everything I've seen from ARKit seems much more solid and much more practically useful than the 'floaty overlay that roughly stays in place' glorified tech demos I mostly see.

amelius 9y ago

Why do you think AR will become a "thing"? Do people really want to run around wearing glasses/headsets all the time? If you'd ask me, this idea could just as well end the same way as 3D TV.

forkLding 9y ago
I think its all about marketing when it comes to convincing people, nobody imagined computer phones and the idea would seem weird then, like why put a computer on your phone. I think ARKit has potential, Pokemon Go is still big and Snapchat glasses has generated hype among people that don't identify the glasses with AR.
jedberg 9y ago
> Do people really want to run around wearing glasses/headsets all the time? Absolutely! If I could wear some regular looking glasses that could identify objects, give me directions, etc, I would totally wear them. I'm really good with faces, in that I can see someone after a long time and know that I know them, but I'm really bad with names, so I can never remember their name. If I could have glasses that looked in my contacts or Facebook or whatever and told me the name of the person I'm looking at, that would help me be less awkward at social gatherings.
- amelius 9y ago
  > that would help me be less awkward at social gatherings And how do you think the people you are "talking" to feel when you're constantly occupied with your AR glasses? :)
  - jedberg 9y ago
    Hopefully they would be subtle enough not to be distracting. Like my smart watch. :)
- Jach 9y ago
  If the glasses can name people from your contacts, it's only one more step to name and recognize everyone it can including strangers, including showing any related info like reddit aliases (known and suspected), reputation in some reputation tracker or even criminal history, favorite alcoholic beverages and other interests to help with dating... enough people don't want that so they'll ban AR devices and punch out people they catch wearing them. This stuff is already going on to varying degrees, but mostly businesses watching people. Getting people watching people and really kicking off AR needs, besides the tech, more assurances that no one can tell you're watching. I agree there wouldn't be much adoption barrier for having to wear hardware, so many people wear glasses and sunglasses and hats all the time anyway, the barrier is just being inconspicuous.

paul6987 9y ago

I just wish Apple allow devs to built apps into the build in camera vs. having to open tons of apps. Camera's on all smartphones is the most used app why not make even more useful and fun to use? Also, wearing any AR or VR headset is a horrible experience. AR needs to be created where it's seen and enjoyed without a headset! It just needs to blend in with daily life sans the need to wear a headset.

indescions_2017 9y ago

Yeah. It's ARKit. A thousand times over. For some time I thought the convergence of modern computer vision (including server-side machine learning based object discrimination) and mobile cameras had the potential to create tech indistinguishable from magic. And with Pokemon Go there was a glimpse at the possible consumer demand for the right combination of user interface and compelling content or use case. But now consider something like "Medical Mixed Reality" following an exponential law of growth into the coming decades. Imagine travelling virtually inside the human body to excise the moribund sections of a liver in vivo with the help of a robotic laser operating on a patient on another continent. Multiply the potential across verticals. And across platforms like Microsoft HoloLens, Google Tango, MagicLeap and you begin to see how the future will be "mixed"! Augmented Reality's A-ha Moment: http://www.madewitharkit.com/post/163454867118/augmented-realitys-a-ha-moment-by-chip-sineni http://www.madewitharkit.com/post/163454867118/augmented-rea...

tootie 9y ago

ARKit is impressive, but AR is a solution looking for a problem. I don't foresee it becoming really useful anytime soon.

mncharity 9y ago

Yes, ARKit. With 3D hand tracking and gesture recognition.[1] When the new Clay SDK releases (RSN?)[2], I expect a new wave of ARKit demos. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa9wgHkIucs&start=43 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa9wgHkIucs&start=43 [2] http://claytheworld.com/news/ http://claytheworld.com/news/

bitwize 9y ago

Agreed. AR, like so many other computing technologies, didn't properly exist until Apple invented it for us.

kluck 9y ago

As far as I can tell this is not open source. It seems to be a toolkit/framework and is supposed to be the basis of actual applications with focus on augmented reality. I don't think it will become widely used if the developers are not able to inspect its code, especially when the code comes from Apple. They do have a track record of adding hidden "features" one would like to deactivate.