May 19th, 2001 marks the date for the first openings of Apple’s retail stores. To commemorate the event, writer at 9-5 Mac, Michael Steeber, has painstakingly recreated the store from Tysons Corner, Virginia. Using any recent iPhone or iPad, viewers can open the 3d model of the store and overlay it in real life. Viewers can also go to the location itself, overlaying the AR model, and step back in time.
AR (augmented reality) can be employed for all sorts of applications. In this case, AR helps users both invoke and interact with the past. The experience allows users to step into these virtual stores, and engage with the brand and products more than they would with a simple photo or video from the past.
While this AR experience was not officially made by Apple, it’s a testament to Apple’s focus on providing the necessary resources for developers to create such experiences. The experience uses Apple’s built-in AR viewer and developer toolkit ARKit. These tools allow users to simply load up the file into their web browser and place the model into real life rather than having to view it through a downloaded dedicated app. The whole experience is integrated into the browser, enabling easy embedding of experiences with little user friction.
For more information on how Steeber created this model, visit his Twitter. Steeber has been posting behind the scenes looks at the lengths made to create a scenario that is as accurate as possible. Users can click this link to load up the Tyson’s Corner experience. Or to load the close-up model of the Genius Bar inside the store click this link.
