Augmented reality boost

Apple’s mash-up of the real and computergenerated worlds gains shared experiences

The upcoming iOS update will feature version 2 of ARKit, supporting apps that let virtual objects interact in real spaces, via the camera, on your screen. ARKit 2 will recognize more types of surfaces, and the augmented world can be preserved for later, with objects in place, or shared in real time for multiplayer AR. These capabilities were demoed using a game built by LEGO.

Matt Moss ( twitter.com/ thefuturematt), one of 350 students awarded WWDC scholarships, quickly released an iPhone demo of on-screen buttons operated just by looking at them. He pointed out the accessibility potential of this. ‘Nope ads won’t abuse this,’ tweeted more cynical security engineer Josh Pitts ( twitter.com/midnite_runr).

Tara Reddy ( twitter.com/ taralouisereddy), whose social gaming startup LoveShark plans to release its first title in July, sees more enticing possibilities, like “battling characters on the kitchen table with your friends.” ARKit is the first tech, she told us, that gives developers such easy access to AR. “It’s ready-made for us, and we can concentrate on our apps rather than the underlying tech.” Adobe’s Abhay Parasnis, on the WWDC stage, said iOS had “by far the most powerful platform for AR,” praising Apple’s new Universal Scene Description file format, created with Pixar and due to gain native support in Adobe CC apps.

AR, based in the real world and usually viewed on an ordinary screen, involves similar technologies to VR, which is currently pushing into the mainstream with the Oculus Go headset. There’s speculation Apple is working on a head-mounted set, but for now “they’re quite different experiences”, reckons Tara, who doesn’t envisage users wearing helmets in public — although “I could see AR glasses for home or work when the hardware is good enough.” Roll on WWDC 2019…