TikTok introduced a new AR effect to bring in the new year this week. However, unlike other AR effects, this one requires the iPhone 12 Pro’s LiDAR scanner.
AR effects are now a common feature of social media videos. Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok all employ AR to offer effects that interact with the user’s environment, face and more. However, a new effect from TikTok takes the AR integration even further, using the LiDAR scanner in the iPhone 12 Pro to scan objects in the environment and alter the effect accordingly.
It features a New Year’s countdown, which explodes into confetti when it reaches zero. The LiDAR scanner is used to gather information of the environment so that the confetti can then realistically fall onto objects just like real life. Here’s a video from TikTok demonstrating what it looks like:
To ring in 2021 we released our first AR effect on the new iPhone 12 Pro, using LiDAR technology which allows us to create effects that interact with your environment – visually bridging the digital and physical worlds. We're excited to develop more innovative effects in 2021! pic.twitter.com/6yFD2FfHta
— TikTokComms (@TikTokComms) January 6, 2021
As you can see in the video, the confetti falls onto the lounge realistically, scattering over the cushions, the arm rests, and the chaise just like it would in real life. Some of the confetti falls lower onto the floor, and it all stays correctly in place when the camera is moved.
The LiDAR scanner is essentially able to measure the depth between points in the environment and the camera lens, allowing for the confetti effect to be pulled off realistically. Because of this, it’s only available to users with an iPhone 12 Pro — no earlier models or other iPhone 12 models come equipped with the LiDAR scanner.
Have you tried out this TikTok effect or used your iPhone 12 Pro’s LiDAR scanner for something else? Let us know in the comments below.
