Creating an iPhone X In-Camera Portal

Apple’s augmented reality iOS development tool, the ARKit, gives users the ability to blend reality and in-app experiences. Recently, Swedish artist Peder Norrby created a portal into the iPhone itself! Although it is an in-camera illusion, it still is an incredible demonstration of augmented reality.

Norrby took to his Twitter profile last week to show off his latest work, done in the iPhone X without external devices:

A mesmerizing illusion, the “portable hole” was created using the Apple ARKit and iPhone X. The app developed with that software is already published on AppStore; you can download it by searching for “The Parallax View.” Even better, it’s free of charge.

On his blog, Norrby explains how he managed to create this illusion: “The iPhone X introduces 3D head tracking (face tracking) using its TrueDepth camera. This allows for inferring the 3D positions of the users eyes. Using the position of an eye and the device screen rectangle a non-symmetric camera frustum can be defined. The frustum defines an off-axis projection that when used for rendering on the device allows for objects appearing in front of, and behind the screen of the device.” The entire post can be seen here.

On Twitter, Norrby gave users a tip on how to be more fully immersed in the illusion:

Other developers have previously used the ARKit to design a game that is played with your eyebrows, another take on a realistic inter-dimensional portal, and an interactive experience with BB-8 from Star Wars.