The lidar plays a trivial role in that. Most of it is just algorithmic photogrammetry. If you turned the laser off you'd probably still get similar results.
And it's a gimmick because it's a tiny niche of people who do that, and I wish I didn't have to pay extra for a phone for a lidar. Would take a fingerprint scanner any day. Or a headphone jack.
> Most of it is just algorithmic photogrammetry. If you turned the laser off you'd probably still get similar results.
This is simply untrue. Most 3D scanning apps on iOS make no use of photogrammetry or they do it as an alternate mode for smaller objects. I don't know of one 3D scanning app that combines the LIDAR with photogrammetry. They use one or the other depending on the scale of the object you're scanning.
> And it's a gimmick because it's a tiny niche of people who do that,
It's not the reason Apple added it. They added it for AR and photography. Arguably the former is a gimmick but the latter is future proofing and might end up being a game-changer.
And it's a gimmick because it's a tiny niche of people who do that, and I wish I didn't have to pay extra for a phone for a lidar. Would take a fingerprint scanner any day. Or a headphone jack.