Augmented reality creation platform Blippar today announced that it has integrated its WebAR software development kit into Unity, the software platform on which half of the world’s games and many of its 3D experiences are built. The promise: an easier, faster, and more accessible augmented reality experience available to the five billion people on the planet.
There is no need for any technology other than a smartphone in their hands.
“At the moment, you have a lot of walled gardens, you have a lot of construction methods that are not interoperable,” Blippar CEO Faisal Galleria told me in an interview on the TechFirst podcast. “We’ve created a plug-in … that allows people [who] Built on Unity to be able to take your AR experience and push it directly into the mobile browser so that no app is required from the end user to be able to use that AR experience. ,
a vr headset
Unsplash. Photo by James Yarema on
The point is obvious.
Is augmented reality only available through something like a $3,000 Hololens, or a rumored $2,000 Apple pair of smart glasses, or a potentially $1,000 Oculus Quest Pro? Or can it be made simple, accessible and practical for billions of people? Blipper is betting on the latter, while not diminishing the ultimate importance of the former.
In the meantime, it’s making it easier to build web-based augmented reality.
Blippar says its WebAR tool makes it easy to create and share complex, immersive AR experiences.
The resulting code runs on mobile devices with nothing but a web browser such as Safari or Chrome, thanks to Apple’s built-in ARKit software and Google-provided ARCore, both of which provide the fundamental technology shipped in modern mobile operating systems. in order to create augmented reality. Celebration.
“We think AR glasses are a great end-state to aim for,” Galleria says. “But just like not every home has a game console today, not every home will have a set of AR glasses in the near future.”
Hear our conversation:
The Unity integration is downloadable via the companies website and enables both the creation of fully immersive and realistic surface and marker tracking web AR experiences and the ability to publish pre-built Unity projects with any interactivity, 3D models. distributes. animations, and effects on the web.
The company says that all creations will not only work on mobile browsers but also on today’s major social platforms including Snapchat, Facebook, WhatsApp and WeChat.
The result, says Galleria, is that “as long as your smartphone is running, has a browser, a camera, a good processor, and a good quality screen, you can start using AR today. “
There’s certainly more in the future, and this web-centric strategy doesn’t mean a lack of compatibility with more immersive augmented reality platforms for full virtual reality systems. Where Blipper says it will be most useful now, however, is in digital marketing, advertising, fashion – trying augmented reality clothing – design and architecture – like having a sofa or chair virtually in your home – and education.
The software is available today.
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