iPhone X Makes Developer’s Face Invisible, Not An Advertised Feature

Apple advertised its newest flagship phone, the iPhone X by highlighting its many features. However, a developer recently showed one capability of the device that the company failed to mention. Apparently, the iPhone X can make a person’s face invisible by manipulating its Face ID sensors. Now, the technology already had some huge potential for whacky results, but this is just bonkers.

The developer, in question, is Kazuya Noshiro and he was able to pull the rather disconcerting feat by using the Unity game engine. Noshiro shared a video via Tweet, which shows how everything except his eyes and mouth could no longer be seen after messing with the iPhone X.

Dubbing the new discovery “optical camouflage,” the developer admitted that he couldn’t see any practical use for it. Aside from being a rather complicated filter, turning one’s face invisible could be something of an internet sensation if it catches in.

In any case, Noshiro declined to provide details as to how he was able to pull off the trick, Engadget reports. Despite the prodding of his followers, the developer would not reveal anything except to admit that it involved fixing the camera to prerecord the background. Of course, without the necessary expertise in this kind of technology, even that tidbit wouldn’t make it easy to replicate his success.

On the other hand, it does show how adding sensors to smartphones can lead to some interesting and unexpected results. With features like Face ID getting traction, more and more smartphone companies are expected to start using the same kind of technology on their devices.

The fact that Apple has provided the ARkit to developers can also make similarly weird or innovative features more common in the future. Regardless of how useless the discoveries may seem, someone is bound to find a use for them.