The Smartphone’s Future: It’s All About the Camera<br />Next month, Apple plans to hold a special event to introduce a set of new iPhones,<br />including a premium model that can scan 3-D objects — including your face.<br />But when Apple shows its new iPhones next month, including a premium model with a starting price of $999,<br />the company will introduce infrared facial recognition as a new method for unlocking the device.<br />Mr. Jacobowitz added that emerging camera technologies would be the key to stronger security features<br />and applications for so-called augmented reality, which uses data to digitally manipulate the physical world when people look through a smartphone lens.<br />Depth-sensing cameras make wall detection much easier for future iPhones, said Blair MacIntyre, a research scientist<br />who is working on augmented reality for Mozilla, the organization that makes the Firefox web browser.<br />This fall, Apple will release iOS 11, its next mobile operating system<br />that includes support for applications made with ARKit, a tool kit for app developers to easily create augmented-reality applications.<br />“This is like a real application that real people can use to make real-life decisions,”<br />said Michael Valdsgaard, the head of digital transformation at Ikea.<br />“You’re seeing the contours of the head — it’s not just the front of the face as you’re typically<br />thinking about,” said Sy Choudhury, a senior director of product security for Qualcomm.
