The most well-known example of augmented reality: Pokémon Go (James Cao’20/Staff)

During the 2017 WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference), Apple announced that iOS 11 would bring new advances in software, which included support for augmented reality, a technology that allows users to see 2D or 3D objects in the real world through their devices. It is compared with virtual and mixed reality and  often used with headsets and head tracking. 

While virtual reality creates a complete virtual environment, augmented reality creates virtual objects in the real world, with mixed reality being the middle ground.

The support for AR in iOS 11 comes in the form of software called ARKit, which allows developers to make their apps AR-compatible. Made to be used alongside with SceneKit, SpriteKit, and Metal 2, it allows apps to integrate camera and motion features to create a virtual object in the real word and has already created many AR games. 

The App Store now has a dedicated section for AR apps, which is comprised of mainly games. The most well known AR app is Pokémon Go, since it brought catching Pokémon into the real world and was popular last summer since it was the first well-known AR game.

In the future, AR may be used for more practical purposes like shopping online, creating simulations, and creating 3D maps.