NBA’s ARKit Basketball Game Takes the Court

For those readers with hoop dreams, your dreams can finally become reality. With the National Basketball Association’s ARKit basketball game, you can knock down 3’s from the comfort of your couch. The NBA AR App lets you customize your court to support your home team and then use a flicking motion to sink baskets. The app comes complete with a cheering soundtrack, a high scorer board, and the ability to share your skills with your friends.

ARKit games have been flooding the market recently. Now that iOS 11 has hit the market, developers are grabbing their picks and shovels for the augmented reality gold rush. The type of functionality provided by the NBA AR App is a perfect fit for the strengths of ARKit. ARKit provides developers with the ability to map objects and scenes onto flat planes like floors or tables. The pop-a-shot style ARKit basketball game is reminiscent of the old plastic tabletop games played by kids around the world.

While this usage of ARKit may not be pushing the boundaries, it is nice to see that big brands and companies are spending time getting used to the medium. As we gear up for the release of the iPhone X, the market for augmented reality games and apps will broaden. The iPhone X has a camera specifically tooled for use with augmented reality apps. Android has already come to market with the Asus Zenfone AR and the Pixel 2 which use Tango and ARCore respectively to power awesome augmented reality experiences. The amount of investment happening in this space is sure to create an even bigger flood of innovation in the market over the coming years.

While we wait for mind-blowing augmented reality applications to shake the foundations of medicine and industry, we can always enjoy a simple ARKit basketball game like this.