- Reality app to promote For All Mankind on Apple TV Plus.
- A new augmented reality app, For All Mankind: Time Capsule.
- AR-focused LIDAR cameras on the latest iPad Pro and iPhone 12 Pro devices.
- App Store prompts users to subscribe to Apple TV Plus to watch For All Mankind.
Apple has released a new “For All Mankind: Time Capsule” app on the App Store. It enables augmented reality (AR) experiences for the Apple TV+ series “For All Mankind”. The AR app uses Apple’s ARKit framework to create these experiences and even has some exclusive content for the latest iPad Pro and iPhone 12 Pro series.
For customers of the iPhone 12 Pro series and the new iPad Pro. The app has some exclusive content that will utilize the new LIDAR sensor. Viewers will be able to use an old slide projector that displays photos of Danny and some family photos of the Stevens, who are two characters in the show.
The “For All Mankind: Time Capsule” app is available for download to users on the App Store in the US.
“For All Mankind: Time Capsule”
For All Mankind: Time Capsule” is a new augmented reality app created by Apple. It will promote the upcoming second season of “For All Mankind,” which premieres on February 19 on Apple TV+. Even for those of you who aren’t fans of the show which tells the story of an alternate history in which the Soviet Union beat the United States to the moon leading to an extended space race in the ’70s and beyond the app is still noteworthy as another sign of Apple’s interest in AR, even beyond the reports that it’s working on AR glasses.
“Time Capsule” takes place during the decade-long gap between seasons one and two. It traces the relationship between Danny Stevens and his parents, the astronauts Gordo and Tracy Stevens. Users who download the free iOS app will be able to interact with a variety of objects such as a mixtape and an Apple II computer that illustrate the family relationship.
Apple to keep the AR industry
Apple debuted a new iPad Pro, the hallmark feature of which was a lidar time-of-flight sensor baked into the camera. It makes augmented reality experiences more realistic and immersive. For most potential users, the inclusion is something of an oddity. Consumer AR apps are few and far between, and Apple has also been slow to bring AR functionality into its own stock apps.
For the AR industry, the hardware inclusion amounts to an industry gift. It is signaling once again that Apple is still committed to making an augmented reality future happen. The company’s ARKit development platform has brought out some interesting use cases, but app developers have scored few resounding victories. The reasons why increasingly seem to have little to do with individual technical features of the development platform or camera hardware.
Apple can keep improving both, but without some concerted integrations of AR functionality into the core of iOS or iPadOS, it’s unclear whether these little developer-focused feature bumps will make a dent. Consumers just don’t see anything they want yet.
