Introduction

Getting Started

LOTA turns your iPhone's LiDAR sensor into a professional spatial capture tool. Stream depth, color, and point cloud data over the network in real time — no extra hardware required.

Requirements

• iPhone 12 Pro or later (any model with a LiDAR sensor)
• iOS 17.0 or later
• Wi-Fi network (for streaming features)

Install LOTA

Download LOTA from the App Store. Open the app and grant camera and local network permissions when prompted.

Choose a capture mode

Tap the mode selector at the bottom of the screen to switch between Color, Monochrome, Depth, or Point Cloud. Each mode activates instantly — no restart required.

Start streaming or recording

Tap the stream button to broadcast over the network, or tap record to save a capture locally. Both can run simultaneously.

Capture

Capture Modes

LOTA provides four distinct capture modes. Switch between them in real time — every mode leverages the LiDAR sensor and full camera array.

Color

Live RGB camera feed at 60 FPS with real-time LiDAR depth fusion. What you see on screen is exactly what gets streamed or recorded.

Monochrome

High-contrast grayscale feed optimized for low-light environments and precision spatial scanning.

Depth

LiDAR depth visualization with 9 selectable colormaps including thermal, incandescent, and deep sea. Tap the colormap picker to cycle through them in real time.

Point Cloud

Real-time 3D point cloud rendered with true RGB colors. Configure the frame window and point density up to 12,500 points per frame. Pinch to zoom and drag to orbit the cloud.

Switching modes

Use the mode selector at the bottom of the screen, or say switch to Depth with Voice Control enabled. Switching is instant and does not interrupt an active stream.

Network

Streaming

Send LiDAR depth, color, point cloud, and camera tracking data over the network in real time. Four protocols, all independently configurable, all running simultaneously.

NDI

Industry-standard video-over-IP. LOTA appears as an NDI source on your network and is auto-discovered by TouchDesigner, OBS, vMix, Resolume, and any other NDI-compatible receiver. No IP configuration needed.

TCP / UDP

Streams H.264-encoded video for Color and Monochrome modes, and raw Float32 depth maps for Depth and Point Cloud modes. Set the destination host and port in Settings → Streaming.

OSC

Streams real-time camera position, rotation, and euler angles at 30 Hzover UDP. Point any OSC-capable tool (TouchDesigner, Max/MSP, Ableton) at LOTA's IP and port to receive tracking data.

PLY (live)

Sends live point cloud frames as CSV data over a TCP/IP connection. Designed for TouchDesigner's TCP/IP DAT — connect, and point cloud data starts flowing frame by frame.

How to start streaming

Open Settings → Streaming

Enable the protocols you need and set the destination IP and port for TCP, UDP, and OSC. NDI requires no configuration.

Connect to the same Wi-Fi network

LOTA and your receiving machine must be on the same local network. A 5 GHz network is recommended for lowest latency.

Tap Stream

All enabled protocols start simultaneously. The status bar shows a live indicator for each active protocol.

Integration

TouchDesigner

LOTA is built with TouchDesigner workflows in mind. Stream live depth, color, and point cloud data directly into your TD project with no capture cards or expensive rigs.

LOTAPoints.tox — Drop-in Component

A ready-made TouchDesigner component that receives live PLY point cloud data from LOTA. Drop it into any project and it works out of the box — defaults to port 9848. No scripting or manual DAT wiring required.

Download .tox

LOTABinaryPLYReciever.tox — Binary Point Cloud Receiver

High-performance binary point cloud receiver for TouchDesigner. Uses numpy bulk parsing, Script TOP textures, and GPU instancing to handle 49K+ points at 60fps. Enable Binary Format in Settings → Point Cloud Stream to use this receiver.

Download .tox

NDI input (easiest)

Drop an NDI InTOP into your project. LOTA appears in the source list automatically. Select it, and you're receiving live video.

Point cloud via TCP/IP DAT

Add a TCP/IP DAT to your network.
Set the mode to Connect, enter LOTA's IP and the PLY port from Settings.
LOTA sends point cloud frames as CSV rows — parse them with a DAT to SOP or a Script SOP to get live 3D geometry.

Camera tracking via OSC

Add an OSC InCHOP. Set the port to match LOTA's OSC port. You'll receive camera position (x, y, z), rotation (quaternion), and euler angles at 30 Hz — perfect for driving a virtual camera or triggering effects based on device movement.

3D Export

Export & 3D Pipelines

Capture posed camera frames with ARKit intrinsics, extrinsics, and LiDAR point clouds. Export data ready for training, viewing, or post-production.

COLMAP-compatible export

Exports cameras.bin, images.bin, and points3D.bin in COLMAP binary format. Compatible with OpenSplat, Nerfstudio, and gsplat for training Gaussian Splats and NeRFs directly from your iPhone captures.

PLY point cloud export

Standalone PLY files with unlimited point accumulation across your entire session. Open in Blender, CloudCompare, MeshLab, or any tool that reads PLY.

iCloud sync

Choose an export folder in Settings and captures sync automatically to iCloud. Access your captures from any device.

Export workflow

Record a capture session

Tap record while in any capture mode. Move slowly around the subject for best coverage — LOTA tracks camera pose automatically via ARKit.

Open the export panel

Stop recording and open the export panel. Choose between COLMAP dataset or standalone PLY.

Export and share

Exported files are saved to your chosen folder (or the Files app). If iCloud sync is enabled, they appear on your Mac automatically.

Inclusive Design

Accessibility

LOTA is designed to meet Apple's App Store accessibility standards. Every feature works for every user.

VoiceOver

Every control is labeled and announced. Mode switches, streaming state, and recording status are all spoken aloud.

Voice Control

Say stream, record, or switch to Depth and LOTA responds. Every button is discoverable by voice.

Dynamic Type

Text scales up to 200%+. The UI reflows to a single-column layout at extreme sizes so nothing gets cut off.

Dark Interface

Designed dark from the start. Every screen, menu, and control uses a true dark color scheme for comfortable use in any environment.

Differentiate Without Color

Status indicators swap to distinct symbols when this setting is enabled. Shapes, icons, and text labels replace color as the sole differentiator.

Increase Contrast

Swaps blur materials for solid backgrounds and boosts status colors for guaranteed readability over any camera feed.

Reduce Motion

All transitions respect the system Reduce Motion setting. Visual feedback stays, decorative animation goes.

Support

Frequently Asked Questions

Which iPhones support LOTA?

Any iPhone with a LiDAR sensor — iPhone 12 Pro, 13 Pro, 14 Pro, 15 Pro, 16 Pro, and their Max variants. iPad Pro models with LiDAR are also supported.

Do the receiving machine and iPhone need to be on the same network?

Yes. For TCP, UDP, OSC, and PLY streaming, both devices must be on the same local network. NDI also uses the local network but handles discovery automatically. A 5 GHz Wi-Fi connection is recommended.

Can I stream and record at the same time?

Yes. Streaming and recording are independent — you can run both simultaneously without any performance impact.

What software can receive LOTA streams?

Any NDI-compatible software (TouchDesigner, OBS, vMix, Resolume), any tool that reads TCP/UDP sockets, and any OSC-capable application (Max/MSP, Ableton, Unreal Engine).

How do I use the COLMAP export with Gaussian Splat training?

Export a COLMAP dataset from LOTA, transfer it to your training machine, and point OpenSplat, Nerfstudio, or gsplat at the exported folder. The binary files are in the exact format these tools expect.

Is there a latency cost to streaming?

NDI and TCP/UDP streams typically add 1–3 frames of latency depending on your network. OSC tracking data arrives at 30 Hz with sub-frame latency. A wired connection or 5 GHz Wi-Fi keeps things as fast as possible.