- Unlocking the Mystery of the Enigmatic iPhone Pro Circle
- LiDAR: The Depth Sensing Technology Behind the Circle
- Applications and Benefits of LiDAR in iPhone Pro Models
Users of the most recent iPhone Pro models are just beginning to comprehend the functions of an enigmatic black circle on the back of the most recent iPhone models.
A recent Reddit thread with 1,400 upvotes featured a user who circled the enigmatic circle and asked, “What is it for?”
The circle is exclusive to the most recent iPhone Pro and iPad Pro models, and it’s quite useful, enabling some of the device’s coolest applications and features.
The dot, which is integrated into the camera array, is essentially a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) scanner.
Simply put, it is a depth sensor that employs lasers to determine the distance between objects.
Targeting an object with a pulsed laser and measuring how long it takes for the light to return enables the iPhone or iPad to ‘construct’ a 3D model of the environment in front of it.
By’digitally deforesting’ the canopy and finding ruins beneath it, LiDAR has found vanished Amazon cities. Self-driving cars use it to’sense’ distance from other vehicles.
In iPhones, however, it is used to enable advanced photography and augmented reality apps that can ‘ sense’ how far away objects are, as well as apps that can autonomously measure a person’s height.
Apple claims that the LiDAR Scanner measures the distance to nearby objects up to 5 meters away, works both indoors and outdoors and operates at nanosecond speeds.
It enables applications such as Apple’s Measure app to measure lengths, widths, and areas with pinpoint accuracy, as well as to measure the height of individuals using the LiDAR sensor.
Apple states: ‘The LiDAR Scanner improves the Measure app by making it faster and simpler to automatically calculate a person’s height, and by automatically displaying helpful vertical and edge guides that allow users to measure objects more quickly and precisely.
The Measure app now includes Ruler View for more precise measurements and the ability to save a complete inventory of measurements with screenshots for future use.
Additionally, the technology helps the camera in Pro models take better images, particularly in low-light conditions, and allows autofocus to operate more quickly.
Numerous applications utilise the technology: Polycam is a 3D scanner that swiftly creates virtual models of 3D objects and spaces using the LiDAR sensor. It may capture 3D items for recreation or space planning.
The technology also enables augmented reality applications in which virtual objects interact with the real world.
Apple claims that LiDAR enables applications to ‘have virtual content interact authentically with the physical environment,’ such as by bouncing a virtual ball off a real-world wall and having the ball obey the laws of physics.
IKEA position, for instance, employs augmented reality to position IKEA furniture such as sofas, lamps, and bookcases in your home to determine how well they would fit.
