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Apple’s software improvements could make AR as universal as iOS

Apple would clearly like its new mobile operating system to take augmented reality mainstream.

The news: Apple unveiled iOS 12 at its Worldwide Developers Conference today, and some of the most buzzworthy features have to do with bringing new AR experiences to the iPhone and iPad.

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For example: A new AR app called Measure lets users gauge the size of objects in the real world—like the suitcase that Apple exec Craig Federighi measured on stage using the app. A new AR development kit introduces a multiplayer mode for AR games, improved face tracking, and 3-D object detection. A demo from Lego showed how the new tools can add digital overlays to scans of physical Lego structures. Apple also announced that it has worked with Pixar to create a new AR file format, called USDZ, which makes it much easier to share across the iOS ecosystem.

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AR for everyone? Look no further than Pokémon Go to see that AR has compelling consumer market potential. Apple’s betting its new AR tools will open the floodgates even further.

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