Apple’s ARKit is a framework that’s part of iOS 11 that lets developers create augmented reality (AR) experiences for the iPhone and iPad. One of the first developers we knew of that created AR apps was this week’s sponsor, It’s About Time Products, and we’re happy to tell you about the free AR Tape Measure 2.0 app.
With a compatible iPhone or iPad and iOS 11, AR Tape Measure 2.0 turns your device into a highly accurate tape measure. Simply point your device’s camera at the floor and move it back and forth so that it can recognize the surface. When it’s ready, you can use any of four measuring modes: distance (tape measure), area, angle, and distance from phone.
How accurate is AR Tape Measure 2.0? In our testing I measured — what else? — a tape measure set on the floor. As instructed, the floor was “scanned” until a grid appeared, and then I tapped the dot in the middle of the app screen to mark the end of the tape measure. Next, I moved the dot to the 2 foot mark on the tape measure and tapped again. Voilà! It measure 2 feet, 0.085 inches, definitely within the margin of error for my taps.
The area function works similarly. Just mark the points around the area to be measured with taps, and you’re presented with the area. By the way, AR Tape Measure switches easily between imperial and metric units.
Need to know if those two walls really come together at a 90° angle? Draw two lines (with three dots) along the bottom of the walls and AR Tape Measure tells you the angle.
In any mode, it’s easy to tap on either a still or video camera to keep track of your measurements. Whether you’re trying to figure out how many square feet of flooring you need to buy or trying to figure out the distance between you and that rattlesnake on the ground, AR Tape Measure 2.0 makes it simple to make measurements without having a tape measure handy.
Our thanks to It’s About Time Products for its sponsorship of Apple World Today this week.
