Ever since the release of Apple’s ARKit platform, ARKit developers have been creating some amazing ARKit apps. Just in the last month we have seen everything from a variety of ARKit inter-dimensional portals, to ARKit measuring tools and an ARKit Pac-man recreation. With ARKit as part of iOS 11 and projected to be released with the iPhone 8, we’ll likely see even more creative demos over the coming months. The iOS ecosystem is ripe for ARKit disruption as ARKit developers will be looking at a projected 505 Million ARKit supported devices by the end of 2017.

With the explosion on ARKit apps, we wanted to highlight a few of the better examples of ARKit being deployed by ARKit developers. You can find most of these ARKit examples on YouTube or on the Facebook Augmented Reality community. At Zugara, we have also been experimenting with ARKit and will be releasing some demos publicly soon.

Listed below, in no specific order, are some of the better ARKit apps we’ve seen created by ARKit developers over the last month. Think of this as a living list of ARKit apps as we’ll continue to add any new and exciting ARKit examples as we see them.

ARKit Portals

There have been a variety of different ARKit “Portals” released by ARKit developers but the 3 best we’ve seen to date are the original ARKit inter-dimensional portal by @Nedd, ARKit A-Ha Music video and ARKit portal on the floor. ARKit inter-dimensional portal and ARKit A-Ha Music Video are embedded below and you can find the ARKit portal on the floor video here.

ARKit Games

2 of the more impressive examples of using ARKit for games utilize different methods. The first is the ARKit game by Alpha.io which utilizes the iPhone’s accelerometer and gyroscope for interaction with Augmented Reality objects positioned with ARKit. The second method is more location-based where your environment turns into an interactive game with this ARKit Pac-man recreation.

Update 9/26/17 – Added this ARKit example of a real world RPG game.

Update 9/26/17 – Added this ARKit example that shows how to solve Sodoku puzzles.

Update 2/13/18 – Added this ARKit example that for pet AR dragon simulation.

ARKit 3D Object Placement & Interaction

ARKit has also been used in more straightforward ways (similar to SLAM) where 3D Augmented Reality objects are positioned and stabilized in the real-world environment. This method is similar to what was typically used with markers and image recognition to place and view Augmented Reality info. A few of the better examples of using SLAM-like functionality with ARKit include iPhone object product placement, an ARKit virtual tour of Van Gogh’s bedroom, and ARKit used to place and view a dancing robot.

Update 8/11/17 – Added this ARKit example showing very realistic 3D models for food ordering.

Update 9/26/17 – Added this amazing ARKit example showing customization and driving of a virtual Tesla car.

Update 2/13/18 – Added another amazing ARKit example showing interaction with W Motors car.

Update 2/13/18 – Added Amazon’s Augmented Reality experience showing product placement and interaction.

ARKit Other

There are also a few ARKit apps that don’t fit into a specific category but show the flexibility of the ARKit platform. These include using ARKit as a virtual measuring tape to using ARKit for tracking of virtual characters in a real world film.

Update 8/11/17 – Added amazing ARKit video showing how to paint with fingers.

Update 9/26/17 – Added another ARKit measuring tool called MeasureKit.

As we mentioned earlier, a new ARKit app is released by an ARKit developer almost every day. We’ll continue to update this post with latest ARKit examples and you can also view latest ARKit news and apps at the Facebook Augmented Reality page.

Note: If you’re interested in ARCore we also have a post outlining ARCore Developers and Top ARCore Apps.