TikTok Launches AR Effect That Uses iPhone 12 Pro’s LiDAR Scanner

BY Rajesh Pandey

Published 7 Jan 2021

TikTok has introduced an AR filter that takes advantage of the LiDAR scanner found on the iPhone 12 Pro series. The AR filter is based around the New Year celebrations. Snapchat was the first major social media network to release an AR filter that took advantage of the iPhone 12 Pro’s LiDAR scanner.

The AR effect celebrates the New Year with confetti explosions that take advantage of the LiDAR scanner to determine the objects in the real world and interact with them. So, the confetti will actually fall on the surface of the furniture in the room in which you try the AR effect and any other person present in the frame.

Below is a demo of the AR effect as shown by TikTok itself.

The AR effect from TikTok is not particularly over the top like Snapchat does with its AR filters but still shows off the capabilities of the LiDAR scanner on the iPhone 12 Pro series in a nice and subtle way.

TikTok is rolling out this new AR effect worldwide except for a few countries. It also notes that it plans to “develop more innovative effects in 2021” so we could see the company releasing more AR filters that take advantage of the iPhone 12 Pro’s LiDAR scanner down the line.

We Want to Hear From You

What do you think about this new AR effect from TikTok? Do you think it shows the usefulness of the LiDAR scanner on the iPhone 12 Pro? Or there’s a lot more that can be done here? Drop a comment and let us know!