Earlier Apple released ARKit 3.5 for its developers. This update has support for Pad Pro’s new LiDAR Scanner, less than a week after the company unveiled the new iPad Pro 11 and 12.9-inch models.
The LiDAR scanner is a great addition to the new models. According to Apple, the LiDAR Scanner will allow for a “new generation of AR apps” that use Scene Geometry for enhanced scene understanding and object occlusion.
The LiDAR Scanner measures the distance to surrounding objects up to five meters away, works both indoors and outdoors, and operates at the photon level at nanosecond speeds.
Depth frameworks in iPadOS combine depth points measured by the LiDAR Scanner. Then the data from the two cameras and data from motion sensors with computer vision algorithms creates a detailed and complete scene.
The latest Apple A12Z Bionic Chip executes every action within nanoseconds and with precision. It is the fastest chip on the new iPad Pro models.
Every existing ARKit app automatically gets instant AR placement. It also gets improved Motion Capture and People Occlusion. Now the developers can use the latest update to ARKit with a new Scene Geometry API, to unleash scenarios never before possible before.
Currently, the new LiDAR Scanner is only available with the new iPad Pro models.