During the recent WWDC developer conference, Apple talked about the new RoomPlan API. It allows iPhone or iPad devices equipped with a LiDAR sensor to scan a room, understand its geometry and furniture, and create a 3D model. In the future, developers can use this data at their own discretion. Russ Maschmeyer from Shopify talked and showed how you can use these features in practice.
Russ Maschmeyer demonstrated a prototype augmented reality solution, which he called a “reset button” for a room. With it, you can virtually “remove” all the furniture in the room and see empty space on the iPhone screen in augmented reality. Maschmeyer explains that this technology can be useful for e-commerce sites. It will allow customers to show how new furniture might look in their home. There is no need to move or remove existing furniture.
Lots of interest in this “reset button” for your room we built @Shopify that uses @apple ‘s new #RoomPlan API. Here’s how we built it… ? ?1/12pic.twitter.com/YdNP1vebVW
— Russ Maschmeyer (@StrangeNative) July 13, 2022
As The Verge journalist clarifies, the Shopify solution based on the Apple RoomPlan API is more impressive than the similar virtual design tool from Ikea. While the Ikea app can also “remove” furniture from a room, it can only present the results as a 2D image. The Shopify prototype allows you to keep looking around the (now empty) room in augmented reality. However, the Ikea app does not require an iPhone with LiDAR (any iPhone will do). Also, Shopify’s solution is just an internal tech demo so far, not a full working app for general use.
Source: The Verge
