AR MEASUREKIT

MEASURE ANYTHING WITH AUGMENTED REALITY. Free | measurekit.com

ARKit is a new framework in iOS 11 that lays the groundwork for developers to include AR features in their apps, and a growing number of measuring tape apps are rapidly filling the App Store. Because they’re built on the same ARKit features, these apps all work similarly, and AR MeasureKit exemplifies both the cleverness and the frustration of this emerging technology.

Open it and a live view from your camera fills the screen, which ARKit spends a few seconds analysing. You need to wave your iPhone or iPad gently around. It may then ask you to point at a surface, and by this, it means a horizontal, flat surface — for now, that’s the only thing ARKit really understands. The app’s only free tool is the Ruler. In theory, you point your iPhone or iPad at whatever you want to measure, tap a start point and an end point, and the app draws a line between them in 3D space, instantly calculating its length. Sadly, you can’t just tap anywhere on the screen; you have to get the point you want in the centre. Then you need to move to the end point. However, given the system’s limited accuracy, your start point begins to drift. The slightest movement jolts your centre point off target, and it’s no good using two hands to steady the screen, because you’ll need one free to tap it.

Under ideal conditions our measurements were about right — but they can be wildly wrong. The way the lines drifted out of perspective as we moved made us wonder if ARKit truly understood where they lay in 3D space. This was also the Angle tool’s downfall. We liked the tool that measures someone’s height, but everyone knows roughly how tall they are; you measure to find out exactly. Unfortunately, that’s what ARKit seems unable to do.