Virtual Pets, Zombies, and Realistic Food Shown in New ARKit Demos

Virtual Pets, Zombies, and Realistic Food Shown in New ARKit Demos
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Anticipation is mounting as the public launch of iOS 11 draws nearer by the day. Of course, Apple’s next-generation software for iPhone and iPad has been circulating the beta tester circuits for months now, allowing testers and, more importantly, developers, to get acquainted with and create wonderful things for iOS 11 users. And by all accounts, the software is poised to usher in a substantial update for iPhone (and particularly iPad) users, offering tons of new capabilities and features for compatible iOS devices.

One of those amazing advancements will be the emergence and growth of Augmented Reality (AR)-based applications within the iOS ecosystem; several of which we’ve had the pleasure of witnessing for ourselves over the last few months. Well, the official iOS 11 isn’t even out yet, and again we have another round of ARKit creations to feast our eyes on.

For those who need a quick refresher: ARKit is Apple’s latest developer kit announced back at WWDC 2017 in June, and will allow devs to create a wide range of AR-based apps for iPhones and iPads. As we’ve seen before, these apps can have a wide range of implications and will work with everything from games to utilities to shopping, navigation, and so much more.

In the first of four demo videos, we meet Kabaq: a company who wants to revolutionize the future of ordering food through its ARKit app. In the demo, Kabaq demonstrates its ‘virtual food on a plate’ mechanism, which appears to be geared towards changing the way we might order food from a restaurant, for example. The video shows customers in a restaurant literally being able to arrange various foods on their plate and get a 360 degree view of what the menu offerings look like. It’s an interesting application, and could possibly have implications for the future of casual or up-scale dining.

In the second demo video, a team of developers is shown promoting their work on the upcoming ARZombi app, which will essentially offer players an ultra-realistic (yet unequivocally AR-based) experience fighting off zombies.. And whether you’re into that kind of stuff or not, the game looks like heaps of fun, you guys. Could you imagine your actual living room ‘invaded’ by virtual zombies? We’ll hedge our bets and say you’d rather not, but just in case you were curious — enjoy!

The third video shows a unique virtual pet game that’s currently trending as a campaign on Kickstarter. This app is perhaps the most interesting of what we’ve found today; and if it ever gets off the ground running, the concept could potentially pave the way to a “Tamagotchi-style” category of ARKit apps. In traditional Tamagotchi-style games, players are able to bring a virtual pet or creature into their ‘physical’ worlds and interact with them on various levels. So the concept sounds interesting, and would undoubtedly prove to be a hit among kids if it ever comes to fruition.

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