TrueDepth
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Apple may be developing Face ID for Macs
You may be able to unlock future Macs with your face, according to 9to5Mac. The publication has uncovered references to the company’s TrueDepth camera, which makes Apple’s Face ID technology possible, in macOS Big Sur. To be precise, the third beta version of Big Sur contains codes supporting “PearlCamera,” the codename Apple used for TrueDepth and Face ID back when it was still working on the iPhone X.
The next iPhone could have a depth-sensing camera on the back
The latest thing to emerge from the wheels at the rumor mill is the suggestion that the next iPhone will get a rear-facing 3D camera. According to Fast Company's sources, Apple will cram TrueDepth, the same sensors used for in the forward-facing array for FaceID, into the iPhone's primary camera setup. The tech will apparently be bought from Lumentum, the same company that currently makes the FaceID sensors.
Neutrogena app 3D scans your face to create perfect-fit sheet masks
At CES last year, Neutrogena unveiled an iPhone attachment that lets you examine the condition of your skin in excruciating detail -- pores, moisture levels, wrinkles you didn't even know were there, the lot. Now, branching off the Skin 360 tool, the company has unveiled an app that accurately measures your face to ensure a good fit for the sheet masks designed to counteract these skin woes.
Netflix hack day project uses eye tracking to navigate its iOS app
Netflix's hack days frequently produce fanciful results, but its latest might be key to making its streaming service more accessible. The company's engineers have developed an experimental "Eye Nav" feature that lets you navigate the iOS app using the face tracking in newer iPhones (and, potentially, iPads). You use your eyes to control the cursor, staring at an item to select it. And if you need to back out? Just stick out your tongue.
iOS 12 code hints at iPad with Face ID
Apple's iOS 12 has hinted from the outset that an iPad with a notched display was in the works (the status bar conspicuously made room for it). If you were wondering whether or not that meant an iPhone X-style TrueDepth camera and Face ID, though, you can rest assured after today. Developer Steve Troughton-Smith has discovered that AvatarKit, the framework behind Animoji and Memoji, now supports the iPad. Given that you need a TrueDepth camera for these face-tracking personas to work, and the iPad Pro hasn't been updated in over a year... well, you do the math.
Snapchat's iPhone X-exclusive Lenses look more realistic than usual
Snapchat has discovered a way to leverage the power of iPhone X's TrueDepth camera -- and that means you'll have access to exclusive Lenses if you use Apple's all-screen mobile device. Starting today, you'll see TrueDepth-enabled Lenses appear periodically within the Snapchat carousel on iPhone X. They're AR masks that follow your face around like the app's many other Lenses, but due to the way TrueDepth works, they can look more realistic and just all around better.
'Rainbrow' is an iPhone X game you play with your eyebrows
If you were eagerly awaiting the day you'd get to control a smartphone game with your eyebrows, the time is now. At least, if you own Apple's thousand-dollar iPhone X. "Rainbrow" (see what they did there) is the brainchild of Washington University computer science grad Nathan Gitter. The game harnesses the flagship's TrueDepth camera and ARKit augmented reality platform to deliver a headache-inducing arcade trip. Think Frogger, but instead of a frog dodging freeway traffic, you control a smiley across what looks like a Pride flag, dodging other emoji in order to amass points.
Huawei says it can do better than Apple's Face ID
Huawei has a history of trying to beat Apple at its own game (it unveiled a "Force Touch" phone days before the iPhone 6s launch), and that's truer than ever now that the iPhone X is in town. At the end of a presentation for the Honor V10, the company teased a depth-sensing camera system that's clearly meant to take on Apple's TrueDepth face detection technology. It too uses a combination of infrared and a projector to create a 3D map of your face, but it can capture 300,000 points -- that's 10 times as many as the iPhone X captures, thought Huawei's version currently takes 10 seconds to rebuild this more precise 3D model.
Apple’s 2019 iPhone could have a rear-facing 3D sensor
Apple has made no secret of its interest in augmented reality (AR) -- in interviews CEO Tim Cook gives it as much attention as sales growth. Now, it's rumoured that the company's 2019 iPhone release will come with a rear-facing 3D sensor, potentially turning the model into a leading AR device.
Warby Parker recommends glasses using your iPhone X's depth camera
The depth-sensing front camera on the iPhone X isn't just useful for unlocking your phone or making silly emoji clips. Eyewear maker Warby Parker has updated its Glasses app for iOS to include an iPhone X-only recommendation feature. Let the app scan your face and it'll recommend the frames that are most likely to fit your measurements. This isn't the same as modeling the frames on your face (wouldn't the iPhone X be ideal for that?), but it could save you a lot of hemming and hawing as you wonder which styles are a good match.
iPad Pro could be Apple's next device to use Face ID
It's safe to assume that the face recognition system in the iPhone X will eventually reach other devices, but which ones are next in line? KGI's Ming-Chi Kuo might have an idea. The historically accurate analyst expects the next generation of the iPad Pro to adopt the TrueDepth camera and, by extension, Face ID. This would unify the experience across Apple's mobile devices, the analyst says, and would spur developers knowing that they could use face recognition across multiple Apple devices, not just one handset. The new iPads would ship sometime in Apple's fiscal 2018, which ends in September of next year.
