ARKit 3.5 – How to export OBJ from new iPad Pro with LiDAR?

Question

How can I export the ARMeshGeometry generated by the new SceneReconstruction API on the latest iPad Pro to an .obj file?

Here's SceneReconstruction documentation.

Answer 1

Starting with Apple's Visualising Scene Scemantics sample app, you can retrieve the ARMeshGeometry object from the first anchor in the frame.

The easiest approach to exporting the data is to first convert it to an MDLMesh:

extension ARMeshGeometry {
    func toMDLMesh(device: MTLDevice) -> MDLMesh {
        let allocator = MTKMeshBufferAllocator(device: device);

        let data = Data.init(bytes: vertices.buffer.contents(), count: vertices.stride * vertices.count);
        let vertexBuffer = allocator.newBuffer(with: data, type: .vertex);

        let indexData = Data.init(bytes: faces.buffer.contents(), count: faces.bytesPerIndex * faces.count * faces.indexCountPerPrimitive);
        let indexBuffer = allocator.newBuffer(with: indexData, type: .index);

        let submesh = MDLSubmesh(indexBuffer: indexBuffer,
                                 indexCount: faces.count * faces.indexCountPerPrimitive,
                                 indexType: .uInt32,
                                 geometryType: .triangles,
                                 material: nil);

        let vertexDescriptor = MDLVertexDescriptor();
        vertexDescriptor.attributes[0] = MDLVertexAttribute(name: MDLVertexAttributePosition,
                                                            format: .float3,
                                                            offset: 0,
                                                            bufferIndex: 0);
        vertexDescriptor.layouts[0] = MDLVertexBufferLayout(stride: vertices.stride);

        return MDLMesh(vertexBuffer: vertexBuffer,
                       vertexCount: vertices.count,
                       descriptor: vertexDescriptor,
                       submeshes: [submesh]);
    }
}

Once you have the MDLMesh, exporting to an OBJ file is a breeze:

    @IBAction func exportMesh(_ button: UIButton) {
        let meshAnchors = arView.session.currentFrame?.anchors.compactMap({ $0 as? ARMeshAnchor });

        DispatchQueue.global().async {

            let directory = FileManager.default.urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask)[0];
            let filename = directory.appendingPathComponent("MyFirstMesh.obj");

            guard let device = MTLCreateSystemDefaultDevice() else {
                print("metal device could not be created");
                return;
            };

            let asset = MDLAsset();

            for anchor in meshAnchors! {
                let mdlMesh = anchor.geometry.toMDLMesh(device: device);
                asset.add(mdlMesh);
            }

            do {
                try asset.export(to: filename);
            } catch {
                print("failed to write to file");
            }
        }
    }