Apple rolled out several tools intended to popularize augmented reality at its latest Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday.
The consumer technology giant debuted the second version of its ARKit coding platform, which developers can use to build AR apps that blend digital imagery into the physical world.
Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), Facebook (FB), and other technology giants believe that AR-powered apps will eventually become popular with consumers and lead to more hits, like Pokémon Go, which was released in the summer of 2016.
Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, demoed how the new ARKit 2 platform has improved tracking capabilities so that coders can build apps that can more realistically detail the real world.
He showed how the new ARKit-powered Measure app could be used as a sort of digital measuring tape for real-life objects, and in a demonstration, he captured the measurements of an old suitcase by hovering his iPhone over the object.
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Federighi also said that animation giant Pixar helped Apple develop its new USDZ file format that makes it easier for coders to save and share their AR apps and digital imagery. Coders will be able to email their USDZ files to other developers who can then
Adobe (ADBE)CTO Abhay Parasnis came on stage and said that Adobe is supporting the new AR file format and that Photoshop users will be able to tweak and modify the AR imagery.
