Apple Joins Race for Augmented Reality Tech Supremacy: Apps such as ‘Pokemon GO’ & ‘Lego Batman’ to be Optimized to Support ARKit

The race for augmented reality tech supremacy just got more intense as Apple entered the fray by announcing the development of a new tool called ARKit. The ARKit is reportedly going to make AR-based games and apps, such as "Pokemon GO" and "Lego Batman" more realistic.

According to The Verge, Apple's ARKit will provide an enhanced AR capability on iOS devices by using scale estimation and ambient lighting estimation and utilizing faster and more stable motion tracking to make objects appear like they are really there, improving upon what current augmented reality tech offers. However, Apple hasn't divulged just how they are going to make games such as the "Pokemon GO," "Lego Batman" or apps, such as Snapchat, look better or realistic.

That being said, Apple's Craig Federighi implies that ARKit will be available to all iOS devices, making ARKit the "largest AR platform in the world." In essence, Apple is hoping that its tech would thin the gap between them and Google. Google already has a working augmented reality platform in the form of Tango. However, unlike Apple's ARKit, Tango is only available to certain Android devices.

According to Polygon, Apple's ARKit would roll out having support for development tools Unity and Unreal Engine. It is interesting to note that Wingnut AR, the studio co-founded by "The Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson is made in Unreal Engine. So how would Apple ARKit's affect AR games such as the "Pokemon GO?" Consider this video clip of Wingnut AR's first offering.

Fans of the massively popular augmented reality game "Pokemon GO" would be in for a treat when Apple's ARKit finally roll-out. However, Pokemon trainers have to wait for a while longer to experience the enhanced and more realistic version of "Pokemon GO" since current Apple hardware doesn't support ARKit yet.

Apple's ARKit was previewed at the Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference. The company hasn't divulged when ARKit would roll out but Apple teased that a demo would be released as a game "later this year."