Ar

Some of the hottest and upgrade-inducing features of this year’s new iPhones might come from the cameras, especially the 3D depth cameras. Apple already put a 3D depth camera on the front of the iPhone starting with the iPhone X, but so far its applications have been relatively limited (facial recognition phone unlock, Anamoji, and selfie portrait mode). Apple will likely try to get more uses out of the front-facing depth camera, but it’s the rear-facing depth camera that’s likely to show up on an iPhone this year that could be a game-changer. Apple has been working on a rear- or “world-facing” 3D depth camera for at least since the iPhone X development cycle in 2017, and now Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman and Debby Wu cite sources saying Apple will ship the component in an iPhone this year. My own conversations with supplier sources left me with that strong impression, too. (Apple’s chief smartphone rival, Samsung, announced a phone this … [Read more...] about The iPhone’s next 3D camera signals phase two in the AR race

Richard Nieva, provided by Published 2:00 pm PST, Monday, February 11, 2019 Google Maps is testing an AR feature. Google Maps is testing an AR feature. Photo: Richard Nieva/CNET Photo: Richard Nieva/CNET Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Image 1 of 1 Google Maps is testing an AR feature. Google Maps is testing an AR feature. Photo: Richard Nieva/CNET Google begins testing AR walking navigation for Maps 1  /  1 Back to Gallery This article, Google begins testing AR walking navigation for Maps, originally appeared on CNET.com. Augmented reality is coming to Google Maps. The search giant said Monday it's testing an update to the app's walking navigation feature, so you could use your phone's … [Read more...] about Google begins testing AR walking navigation for Maps

Sometimes it’s hard to associate locations in a 2D Google Map on your phone with what you see around you in the real world. That’s why Google’s Maps team is testing a new mode that uses augmented reality to add real world directions and place labels to your view of the world through the camera of your phone. I got a chance to use an early version of the new Maps feature—which Google teased at its I/O conference last year—in San Francisco on Monday morning. When you’re getting directions in Google Maps you can hold up your phone to the real world and see a series of arrows positioned over the route you’re supposed to take. You also see labels on streets you’re approaching. Then you can glance at the 2D map at the bottom of the screen and pretty easily associate the real-world street with the line on the map. And you can see where the little blue dot (that’s you) is moving in relation to your surroundings. If you want to go … [Read more...] about Google Maps is testing an AR camera feature for easier navigation