what is the difference between arkit and reality kit ?

Generated on 8/3/2024

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The difference between ARKit and RealityKit lies in their primary focus and capabilities:

  1. ARKit:

    • Purpose: ARKit is primarily designed for augmented reality (AR) experiences. It provides the tools and frameworks necessary to integrate AR into your apps.
    • Capabilities: ARKit focuses on tracking the real world and placing virtual objects within it. It handles tasks like motion tracking, environmental understanding, and light estimation to create a seamless blend of virtual and real-world elements.
  2. RealityKit:

    • Purpose: RealityKit is a high-performance 3D rendering and simulation framework. It is used to create immersive spatial experiences and is tightly integrated with ARKit for AR applications.
    • Capabilities: RealityKit offers advanced rendering capabilities, including realistic materials, lighting, and animations. It supports features like blend shapes, inverse kinematics, and animation timelines, which are essential for creating dynamic and responsive 3D content. RealityKit also provides APIs for low-level mesh and texture control, making it suitable for detailed and complex 3D models.

For more detailed information on RealityKit, you can refer to the session Platforms State of the Union (42:00) and Discover RealityKit APIs for iOS, macOS and visionOS (00:00).

Platforms State of the Union

Platforms State of the Union

Discover the newest advancements on Apple platforms.

Build a spatial drawing app with RealityKit

Build a spatial drawing app with RealityKit

Harness the power of RealityKit through the process of building a spatial drawing app. As you create an eye-catching spatial experience that integrates RealityKit with ARKit and SwiftUI, you’ll explore how resources work in RealityKit and how to use features like low-level mesh and texture APIs to achieve fast updates of the users’ brush strokes.

What’s new in USD and MaterialX

What’s new in USD and MaterialX

Explore updates to Universal Scene Description and MaterialX support on Apple platforms. Discover how these technologies provide a foundation for 3D content creation and delivery, and learn how they can help streamline your workflows for creating great spatial experiences. Learn about USD and MaterialX support in RealityKit and Storm, advancements in our system-provided tooling, and more.

Explore object tracking for visionOS

Explore object tracking for visionOS

Find out how you can use object tracking to turn real-world objects into virtual anchors in your visionOS app. Learn how you can build spatial experiences with object tracking from start to finish. Find out how to create a reference object using machine learning in Create ML and attach content relative to your target object in Reality Composer Pro, RealityKit or ARKit APIs.

Discover RealityKit APIs for iOS, macOS and visionOS

Discover RealityKit APIs for iOS, macOS and visionOS

Learn how new cross-platform APIs in RealityKit can help you build immersive apps for iOS, macOS, and visionOS. Check out the new hover effects, lights and shadows, and portal crossing features, and view them in action through real examples.