Apple’s ARKit 1.5 Added Wall Detection System & 2D Images

Apple recently rolled out an upgrade to its AR Toolbox, ARKit, to developers in a beta version. ARKit 1.5 adds a few marquee features such as wall detection system and 2D images. It promises an even more realistic user experience, allowing your app to can see and place VR objects on vertical surfaces. Moreover, this allows users to accurately map irregularly shaped surfaces, and real-world images can easily be integrated into the Augmented Reality experience.

Why Add Wall Detection System to ARKit 1.5?

Apple's AR Toolbox, ARKit has been focused on offering horizontal plane detection. This allows developers to know where the floor is so that it can then use to place objects in 3D space whilst ignoring walls or other vertical surfaces. With the 1.5 update, ARKit now recognizes vertical surfaces and orient objects onto those surfaces. It can now define the surfaces in conjunction with horizontal surfaces also. Imagine an app that allows you to pop balloons at a wall, with the target mounted to an actual wall, rather than floating in space.

ARKit also got an update to the horizontal plotting as well to allow for better recognition of shaped objects and line detection. The overall tracking has been optimized in speed and accuracy and also display the ‘real world’ at a full HD, 1080p.

Another addition that seems fairly minor though it could get very, very interesting later on is the computer vision-based image recognition. If there are 2D images in the VR scene, say a poster or an artwork on a wall, ARKit 1.5 can now parse the image and allow developers to map their physical position in a space and on a surface. Cool eh?

This AR toolbox allows developers to build unparalleled augmented reality experiences for iOS 11 - the biggest AR platform in the world. If you’re working on creating an amazing VR or AR experience with ARKit and would like to share it with us, let us know in the comments section below.

Originally Published at MaxBoxVR's blog: https://www.maxboxvr.com/stories/education/apples-arkit-1-5-added-wall-detection-system-2d-images