Apple AR: Real World Objects Disappear Thanks to Textures and ARKit

When we think of augmented reality, we usually think of it as adding things to our reality. A new demo has shown that using Apple's ARKit, we can not only add to reality but subtract from reality as well.

The demo was posted by Laan Labs who just yesterday created a demo that had an iPhone levitating. This demo shows a few different real life objects, including a statue of a bird and an iPhone, placed on different surfaces. Suddenly, seconds later the object disappears.

This is done using live textures that are placed over the object. Laan Labs ripped the spot that they were going to have the object set, and then placed the spot over the object to make it disappear. The textures are live, meaning that when the user walks around the surface, the object doesn't reappear, the texture simply reshapes to remain where it is.

The live texture overlaying isn't perfect by any means yet, you can still kind of tell where the overlay is, but technology like this could be part of a new wave of AR. Digital Media Innovator Jay Samit talked about using AR to subtract from reality in an interview with Next Reality News. He said that the future of AR is walking into a supermarket and having your AR technology programmed to subtract all the things you don't want from the aisles, making it easier to find what you're looking for. You can check out the full interview with Jay Samit here.

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Cover image via laanlabs/YouTube