Now that classes are starting to wrap up for the year, I finally had a chance to look into the new features in ARKit 3. This version of ARKit has made huge jumps forward in terms of interactivity and immersion. A few features I am excited to experiment with:

• people occlusion (AR objects can appear in front of and behind people)
• projecting on horizontal and vertical planes in AR Quicklook
• ‘bundles’ or individual AR objects in the one file
• more realistic ray traced shadows in AR Quicklook
• on-the-fly adjustment of AR objects to better match the backdrop (i.e. Depth of Field, graininess)
• face tracking using the new Reality file format
• image tracking using the new Reality file format
• a massive range of animation and interaction features using the new Reality file format
• the introduction of a new framework RealityKit, with built in physics and animation systems (i.e. less coding)

If you want to geek out on the specifics, here is the Apple presentation about the new features.

It is amazing to see how much this technology has developed over the short time I have been working in the AR space. Interesting to note that many of the above features are things I have been waiting for from Adobe’s Project Aero. Unfortunately, much of the above is only available on the latest-and-greatest iPhones which has forced me to upgrade #hailcorporate.

Hoping to post experiments soon!