Can iPhone X IR camera do anything else?

[FloatingBones]

The Flir One Camera (with Lightning plug) can do all sorts of wonderful science and help make an efficient house. Flir makes an Android phone with a built-in IR camera: the Cat S60. Hybrid capture of images from both the normal and IR camera in the iPhone X would be very cool.

Can the IR camera in the iPhone X be used for anything other than Face ID? Would any restriction be with the focal length of the current IR camera, or would it simply be a question of developing the software? TIA.

 

[cuttheredwire]

Besides Animoji and depth perception, I don't think there is much yet. Depth perception is pretty useful. It allows the Portrait Modes. There is a separate depth image in the new container file that makes up the picture. Apps can be coded to use or manipulate that.

Speaking of apps, SnapChat uses it for better AR. Other apps will be able to as well.

I think it's worth mentioning that Apple made some interesting acquisitions in this area:

Apple Has Acquired Faceshift, Maker Of Motion Capture Tech Used In Star Wars | TechCrunch

Apple has snapped up*Faceshift, a startup based*in*Zurich that has*developed technology to create animated avatars and other figures that*capture a person’s*facial expressions in real time.

List of mergers and acquisitions by Apple - Wikipedia

November 2015 - Faceshift - Motion capture