Major App Developers Show Off ARKit Apps Ahead of iOS 11 Launch

[MacRumors]

Apple this week invited several media sites to its Cupertino campus to show off some upcoming ARKit apps being developed by major companies like The Food Network, Ikea, Giphy, and AMC, according to CNBC, The Verge, and TechCrunch.

Ikea demonstrated its previously announced "Ikea Place" app, designed to allow users to preview what Ikea furniture will look like in their homes ahead of a purchase. The Verge says it's highly customizable, letting users see the size, materials, and texture of furniture.

The Food Network is developing an app that will let users create custom digital desserts that can then be reproduced in real life through a custom recipe, while AMC and Next Games have teamed up for an augmented reality zombie game called "The Walking Dead: Our World."

Image from CNBC​

GIF app Giphy plans to introduce tools that will let GIFs be added to the real world, and Climax Studios CEO and developer Simon Gardner showed off an upcoming AR game called Arise, which is an augmented reality puzzle game solved by tilting the iPhone to steer a character through the level.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, a popular children's story turned into an app, will take advantage of ARKit to offer kids a chance to raise a virtual caterpillar, feeding it until it turns into a butterfly.

Image from Apple, via The Verge​

All of the developers present had the same general opinion about ARKit according to The Verge -- it "could be the real game changer in AR." Many of the developers said it was simple to create an ARKit app, sometimes taking just 7 to 10 weeks to develop. For more on these ARKit apps, make sure to check out the full reports from CNBC, TechCrunch, and The Verge.

Along with these official looks at ARKit, we've also seen several developer concepts surfacing in the months since ARKit was announced. Check out our previous coverage for details on what will be possible with the new feature:

- 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
- Latest ARKit Demo Showcases Virtual Drawing
- Latest ARKit Demos Include Sculpting, Food Ordering, Virtual Pets and Zombies

The first ARKit apps will launch in September following the public debut of iOS 11. When iOS 11 and ARKit become available, Apple's iPhones and iPads will instantly become the largest augmented reality platform in the world. ARKit will be available on all Apple devices with iOS 11 and an A9 processor or better (iPad Pro and iPhone 6s/6s Plus and later).

Article Link: Major App Developers Show Off ARKit Apps Ahead of iOS 11 Launch

 

[macTW]

So pumped for this!!

 

[jiggad369]

Only the beginning.

 

[lunarworks]

Shame none of this will work on my iPhone 6.

I'm due for an upgrade anyway.

 

[AngerDanger]

Meanwhile, I'm still working on AdaptAR, an app that uses AR to overlay the cables, dongles, and adaptors required to connect two Apple devices.

 

[BornAgainMac]

Only the beginning.

Count Dooku said that.

 

[djlythium]

OMFG, Arise looks SO COOL!

 

[djcerla]

In related news, Google is in full panic mode, trashing Project Tango and all the related OEM investments to slavishly follow ARKit with... (drumroll) ARCore!

Which is vaporware with a vague "next winter" release date.

 

[Porco]

As much as this has the potential be an amazing serious tool in so many fields like medicine, education, industry... it's kind of comforting to see it being used for cakes, zombies and caterpillar stories so early on.

 

[luvbug]

Perfect AR app idea; it's called "The Good Ol' Days". The app covers up all the decaying buildings, homeless people, garbage piled up in the streets, and burned out cars, so you can walk around pretending the world is still as it was "in the good ol' days". Whaduyathink? It's a winner, right??

 

[yaxomoxay]

Can be great for boardgames!

 

[terenze]

Meanwhile...I am trying to develop a shoe size recommendation app too.

 

[brunosh]

Monument Valley in AR would be awesome!

 

[iapplelove]

Ok so why is this new tech not exciting me? Am I getting old? Just plain boring or what?

Edit for spelling

 

[Zirel]

It’s here.

The SDK, the documentation, the expertise, the framework, the critical user base, the content.

Enough of vaporware. As one man once said “real artists ship”.

 

[oplix]

Worse gimmick than 3d TV. Believe me, I know a gimmick when I see one. I have a fairly good understanding of the world and how it's run on marketing.

This is another one of those "we need something new, lets see if THIS works" type of ideas

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

Ok so why is this new tech not exciting me? Am I getting old? Just plane boring or what?

Yeah I was more excited previously, but as it gets closer to launch I find myself much less interested. I hope I'm pleasantly surprised or at least that it is successful regardless if I use it. I think there is more potential in the future (when you have actual glasses), but now I'm just thinking it's more niche at the moment.

Reminds me of when I first got my iPhone and I was so excited to download all these small niche apps (like a ruler). I thought it was so cool to have them, but the use case ended up being virtually nil. I'd have like 20 random apps that I thought I'd use, but end up using like most of them like once or twice.

 

[hortod1]

Ok so why is this new tech not exciting me? Am I getting old? Just plane boring or what?

Was thinking the same thing. Just don't see what's so great about it. Apparently I'm turning into my dad.
[doublepost=1504041925][/doublepost]Can't wait for even more zombie-like people walking around, staring at their phones, looking at nothing, wandering into traffic, etc. I really hadn't had enough with the Pokémon clowns - uh, I mean people.

 

[Rogifan]

Worse gimmick than 3d TV. Believe me, I know a gimmick when I see one. I have a fairly good understanding of the world and how it's run on marketing.

This is another one of those "we need something new, lets see if THIS works" type of ideas

And if Apple wasn’t playing in this space everyone would be saying how they are doomed and how everyone else is out innovating them.

 

[macfacts]

So what was holding back developers on Android, they had project tango? What does ARkit have that will make it a success with users and developers?

 

[Markoth]

Worse gimmick than 3d TV. Believe me, I know a gimmick when I see one. I have a fairly good understanding of the world and how it's run on marketing.

This is another one of those "we need something new, lets see if THIS works" type of ideas

I can say with certainty that you'll be eating those words in the next few years. AR might not be the game changer they think it will be, but it stands a chance of making a lot of everyday things a lot easier, once more businesses get on board.

 

[jamesrick80]

So what was holding back developers on Android, they had project tango? What does ARkit have that will make it a success with users and developers?

As its name suggests, ARCore is Android’s equivalent to Apple ARKit: a baked-in augmented reality platform for developers. Where Tango’s custom hardware requirements have left it languishing on mediocre smartphones, ARCore is less powerful but more accessible. It’s launching on the year-old Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy S8 phones, supported by Android 7.0 Nougat as well as its recently released successor Android Oreo.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.th...ality-platform-announce-release-pixel-samsung

 

[Vanilla35]

Ok so why is this new tech not exciting me? Am I getting old? Just plane boring or what?

While I am really excited to see this being effectively used in enterprise environments and for professional use, I'm really not enthused about personal. VR excites me a lot more in general, but that's because of the nerd in me.

What I am thinking: Where is the value add? It's the same stuff we can already do in video games, just as an overlay to our environment. Even if this was extended to be incorporated everywhere in everyday use, it's still confined to your personal devices's small screen. I'm not convinced.

The only way I see this changing is in the distant future with glasses, or something similar. That's way far off though. Either I'm missing something, or this is way overblown by most people.

 

[alex2792]

I don’t really see any value in a phone base AR, now glasses (that don’t look ridiculous) could really benefit from something like this.

 

[gene731]

So pumped for this!!

I am as well, this looks interesting and can't wait to see how app developers will incorporate this technology into their apps.