I hope that ARKit can be a lesson in what works well and what doesn't, and spur the open source community to create something like it, but cross platform. As more phones get dual cameras, what we can do with software like this will only get better.

Look at OpenCV for example.

ARKit doesn't seem to require dual cameras because it runs on iPads too. I do wonder if it uses the depth sensing second camera in the iPhone 7 Plus, or if that data isn't fast/precise enough to be useful.

Apple added a new depth api that gives real time information from the dual cameras. I’d be surprised if ARKit doesn’t use it to enhance the experience on the 7 Plus.

That said, it isn’t required. I have run the demo on my own iPad...the tracking is seriously impressive even with just the one camera.

I believe they mentioned using the dual camera specifically during the keynote.

ARKit does not require dual cameras. I'm running it now on a single camera iPhone.

So I hear, but parent wondered if they used the depth data so I figured I'd mention it. Not saying it doesn't work with a single camera :)

Where do y'all have access to the ARKit demo?

You need to that anyway with ARKit, it only runs on A9 and A10.

Good catch, A9 isn't a few years back.

My argument probably isn't as valid but I still think the guarantee of 2 iPhone generations is safer than the fragmentation of Android devices that would be "released in the past 2 years".

By the time ARKit is shipping, the A9 will be 2 years old, and there will be 3 generations of iOS devices supported (A9-A11).

Agree that ARKit is likely to be more successful than an Android equivalent - it's not just version fragmentation but also hardware capability fragmentation.

Not only is the install rate for the latest Android dramatically smaller than the latest iOS, but camera capabilities (and GPU horsepower to drive the AR itself) are all over the place, with no guarantee that the camera module in the phone will provide even a satisfactory experience, or that the GPU will be sufficiently capable.

Camera APIs on Android are also a complete jibbering mess, which adds to the difficulty of anything that seeks to work across all (or even most) devices.

One distinct iOS advantage isn't just that adoption of new versions is rapid, but also that hardware capability variance is low, so devs can be confident that their products work well, as opposed to barely working.