News: Apple's ARKit 3 Casts Next-Level Illusions via Meisai AR App

Now that iOS 13 is in the wild, developers are starting to show off the magical augmented reality powers ARKit 3 can deliver.

One shining example comes via the new Meisai AR Filter app, developed by Japan's Kitasenju Design, which is capable of producing visual illusions that would make Doctor Strange retire from sorcery.

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The app leverages the People Occlusion and Motion Capture features from ARKit 3 to cover users' hands with real-time (and sometimes psychedelic) digital patterns and animations.

Conversely, the app can segment the background and replace it with the virtual backdrops, giving the user a makeshift green screen set up.

Meisai can also display digital clones of a users' appendages, creating a trippy scene for viewers.

The free app is available now on the App Store, but only ARKit 3-compatible iPhones and iPads can run the app.

Meisai is more than just a funky good time. It also serves as a demonstration of just how far ahead of other mobile AR platforms -- such as Snapchat, Google's ARCore, and Facebook's Spark AR -- Apple's ARKit is when paired with the latest iPhone and iPad hardware.

Are these kinds of AR features enough to get anyone with an iPhone X or older to upgrade to newer-generation hardware? That depends on whether other developers get on board.