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Latest ARKit Demo Showcases Virtual Cosmetics Boutique

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Ahead of the launch of iOS 11, developers have been busy experimenting with ARKit, Apple's upcoming augmented reality platform, to see how it could be used in various everyday scenarios and contexts.

The latest demo to catch the eye comes courtesy of ModiFace (via 9to5Mac), which specializes in creating augmented reality apps for the beauty industry. The company recently uploaded a video showcasing a lipstick previewer and virtual "beauty gallery" in a cosmetics store.

arkit-lipstick.jpg

The video demonstrates a person looking into the front-facing camera of their iPhone and trying out various shades of lipstick, minus the faff of having to actually apply it, enabling the user to quickly choose their preferred color.

Later in the video, the woman browses a virtual aisle of images of herself with various cosmetics digitally applied, making her selection a much simpler process than the traditional hassle of physical application.


ModiFace envisions further uses for ARKit in the cosmetic space, some of which it demonstrated in a second video that showcases a "virtual beauty counter".
"Users start with trying on different beauty products on their own video through ModiFace's iOS app. From there, once a selection of products have been made, they can then instantly see their products, product reviews, and product simulations on their own photo rendered as a virtual beauty counter. Users can walk close to the counter to zoom and view specific product visualizations or features. For example, to see the details of a lipstick, they simple walk closer to their photo and move their devices closer to a virtual lip."
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ModiFace says it will be testing virtual beauty counters with a variety of different partners over the coming weeks, but the first apps with ARKit won't be available until iOS 11 is officially available to the public in September.

So far, developers have demonstrate everything from live filter applications in a recreation of A-ha's Take On Me video to live measurements of furniture and room spaces, and we can surely expect many more to come. Check out the links below for more ARKit demos.

- ARKit Roundup: Turn-by-Turn Directions, Precise Room Measurements, and Pac-Man
- Apple's ARKit Used to Recreate Classic A-ha 'Take On Me' Video
- Apple Users' Mixed Reality Future Teased in Latest ARKit Demo
- Latest Apps to Showcase Apple's ARKit Include Simple Measuring Tape and Minecraft
- Developers Share First Augmented Reality Creations Using Apple's ARKit

Article Link: Latest ARKit Demo Showcases Virtual Cosmetics Boutique
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/08/23/latest-arkit-demo-shows-virtual-cosmetics-boutique/
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macduke

macduke

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The problem I have with all of this: Are people really going to walk around their homes or in public with their arms outstretched holding their phones so they can interact with this virtual environment?

I can see the argument for holding it up in front of your face to quickly select makeup or whatever. But these floating panes everywhere just seems like the wrong idea. IDK. Maybe I just haven't seen it implemented properly yet. The primary problems are arm fatigue and how weird it looks. I have a theory that Apple is starting out on the iPhone to get people and companies interested with small little demo apps and some useful utilities, and will then blow them away with a discrete wearable at some point several years down the road from now. These apps will serve as a foundation for that platform and allow it to take off quicker once Apple has the hardware nailed down properly.

The other obvious problem is battery life. Having your display turned on—especially if you're outside or in another brightly lit area—running complex visual analysis of the environment while drawing 3D objects on top of it sounds like a huge battery drain. Just recording video quickly drains the battery on my iPhone 7.
 
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Pakaku

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macduke said:
The problem I have with all of this: Are people really going to walk around their homes or in public with their arms outstretched holding their phones so they can interact with this virtual environment?
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Either it will be for short spurts (like the article's example), or by the time AR is common enough, battery development will have advanced far enough anyways.
 
macduke

macduke

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Pakaku said:
Either it will be for short spurts (like the article's example), or by the time AR is common enough, battery development will have advanced far enough anyways.
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Battery life, in terms of hours of use, hasn't improved significantly since the original iPhone—especially once you take into account the increased size of the bigger phones. Why? Because they keep using the new power budget from smaller chip processes to put towards performance. I hope battery life will start to improve more in the coming yars, but I feel quite jaded about the advancement of battery tech. Since I was a kid they've been talking about crazy batteries that last 24 hours in a laptop and charge in 15 minutes in these MIT labs and such and it never comes to fruition. There was even this really promising tech from MIT spinoff SolidEnergy they were talking about everywhere around this time last year. They were supposed to go into production in the spring and only required small modifications to existing lithium battery production lines, but I've heard jack crap about that since last August.
 
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Lord Hamsa

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Scottsoapbox said:
"The traditional hassle of physical application."

Seriously? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

If you're looking at a dozen or more varieties for each of several products? Yeah, I can see this as being much preferable to applying and removing cosmetic samples over and over.

Ditto if this same concept can be applied to "trying on" clothing - be able to see how different combinations would look on you without having to undress, dress, undress, dress, etc.
 
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justperry

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macduke said:
Battery life, in terms of hours of use, hasn't improved significantly since the original iPhone—especially once you take into account the increased size of the bigger phones. Why? Because they keep using the new power budget from smaller chip processes to put towards performance. I hope battery life will start to improve more in the coming yars, but I feel quite jaded about the advancement of battery tech. Since I was a kid they've been talking about crazy batteries that last 24 hours in a laptop and charge in 15 minutes in these MIT labs and such and it never comes to fruition. There was even this really promising tech from MIT spinoff SolidEnergy they were talking about everywhere around this time last year. They were supposed to go into production in the spring and only required small modifications to existing lithium battery production lines, but I've heard jack crap about that since last August.
Click to expand...


Going a bit off topic here, although related.

You need a bit more patience, the problem with new higher capacity (A lot higher) is that we need 100% safe batteries, lithium ion can already be a dangerous technology, next one needs to be 100% safe even when punctured.
Lets say you want an iPhone that last you a week on a single charge, this means the energy is also 7 times higher and if it's an unsafe battery and it explodes in your hand it (your hand) will be a goner.
There's another problem, manufactures won't change their strategy, lithium ion is a cash cow nowadays, look how much one cell actually cost but if you buy lets say a battery pack for a bike/drill it will cost you a small fortune.
There are batteries in the making which are much cheaper, have much more energy density and charge much faster, it will be here, just not in a few years yet.
 
macduke

macduke

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Jun 27, 2007
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justperry said:
Going a bit off topic here, although related.

You need a bit more patience, the problem with new higher capacity (A lot higher) is that we need 100% safe batteries, lithium ion can already be a dangerous technology, next one needs to be 100% safe even when punctured.
Lets say you want an iPhone that last you a week on a single charge, this means the energy is also 7 times higher and if it's an unsafe battery and it explodes in your hand it (your hand) will be a goner.
There's another problem, manufactures won't change their strategy, lithium ion is a cash cow nowadays, look how much one cell actually cost but if you buy lets say a battery pack for a bike/drill it will cost you a small fortune.
There are batteries in the making which are much cheaper, have much more energy density and charge much faster, it will be here, just not in a few years yet.
Click to expand...
It's easy to say that I should be more patient but I've been hearing about these fancy batteries since around 2001-2002 and nothing ever happens. You have a good point about potential energy, though.
 
justperry

justperry

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I'm a rolling stone.
macduke said:
It's easy to say that I should be more patient but I've been hearing about these fancy batteries since around 2001-2002 and nothing ever happens. You have a good point about potential energy, though.
Click to expand...

I know, I wish it would go much faster.
There's another 'problem' which I think is real although some might think it's a complot theory, control over energy is a fact, I think certain technologies are 'bought' to then vanish/never heard from again.
 
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Lauren Olivia

Lauren Olivia

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I hope the shades adjust to the lighting you're in, unlike most current solutions that try to do something similar. ARKit is going to be such a silent killer.
 
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JosephAW

JosephAW

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justperry said:
Going a bit off topic here, although related.

You need a bit more patience, the problem with new higher capacity (A lot higher) is that we need 100% safe batteries, lithium ion can already be a dangerous technology, next one needs to be 100% safe even when punctured.
Lets say you want an iPhone that last you a week on a single charge, this means the energy is also 7 times higher and if it's an unsafe battery and it explodes in your hand it (your hand) will be a goner.
There's another problem, manufactures won't change their strategy, lithium ion is a cash cow nowadays, look how much one cell actually cost but if you buy lets say a battery pack for a bike/drill it will cost you a small fortune.
There are batteries in the making which are much cheaper, have much more energy density and charge much faster, it will be here, just not in a few years yet.
Click to expand...
Still waiting for fuel cells to be integrated into our phones so we can run for a week.
 
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