Educational Apps Using ARKit 2 in iOS 12

Apple’s ARKit 2 in iOS 12 introduced transformative augmented reality capabilities—most notably shared multi-user experiences, persistent AR sessions, and enhanced 3D object detection. These technical advancements allowed educational developers to move beyond single-user demonstrations and build collaborative, highly interactive learning tools. From multi-student anatomical dissections to persistent historical exhibits anchored directly inside classrooms, ARKit 2 fundamentally expanded how students and educators interact with complex educational concepts.

Shared Learning Experiences in STEM

The shared experience feature in ARKit 2 allows multiple iOS devices to view and interact with the same AR environment simultaneously from different vantage points.

  • Complete Anatomy and Froggipedia: Medical and biology applications leveraged multi-user capabilities to enable collaborative virtual dissections. Rather than working in isolation, a teacher and a small group of students can gather around a physical table to examine the same 3D biological specimen, tag anatomical structures, and watch physiological systems operate in real time.
  • JigSpace: This presentation tool utilized shared sessions to let students break down complex machines and scientific phenomena into step-by-step 3D visual representations, allowing collaborative disassembly of engines or molecular structures.
  • GeoGebra Augmented Reality: Mathematics students gained the ability to collaboratively plot 3D functions and geometric figures in real space, walking around equations together to analyze spatial relationships.

Persistent AR for Ongoing Classroom Projects

ARKit 2 introduced persistent world mapping, which allows an application to save an AR session and resume it later in the exact same physical location.

  • Classroom Lab Preservation: Science apps can save experimental setups, such as virtual physics simulations or ecosystem models, allowing students to return to their work day after day without recalibrating or resetting their models.
  • Student Exhibits: Arts and humanities applications enable classes to anchor virtual exhibits or student-created digital art pieces to specific walls or desks throughout a school, effectively creating an ongoing, interactive digital museum.

Real-World 3D Object Detection in History and Culture

Enhanced object tracking in ARKit 2 enabled devices to recognize real-world three-dimensional objects and project contextual digital data directly onto or around them.

  • BBC Civilisations AR: By combining image and 3D object tracking, history apps allow students to point their device at physical museum artifacts, scale models, or printed materials to reveal internal layers, restorations of damaged structures, and audio-guided historical contexts.
  • Boulevard AR: Fine arts applications utilize advanced surface and reflection tracking to display high-resolution artwork and sculptures in true-to-scale dimensions, dynamically matching the lighting conditions of the classroom to replicate the atmosphere of a gallery.

Astronomy and Space Exploration

  • Sky Guide and Night Sky: Astronomy platforms implemented ARKit 2's collaborative features to create shared planetariums. Teachers can guide an entire classroom through constellations, planetary orbits, and spacecraft trajectories overlaid directly onto the classroom ceiling, with every student seeing synchronized highlights as the instructor points out specific celestial bodies.