Source: TheDrum
To step up to Facebook and Apple’s augmented reality (AR) kit, Google has introduced its own software development kit (SDK) called ARCore which brings AR features to android users.
Facebook already used this year’s F8 keynote address to showcase its AR initiative, lauded as “the first mainstream augmented reality platform.” It is now all set to expand its inventory with augmented reality glasses.
This is not the first time that Google has ventured into AR. In 2014, Google partnered with Lenovo to announce Project Tango phone which made hyper accurate AR possible by viewing the world in three dimensions.
Google’s ARCore works with Java/OpenGL and focuses on motion tracking, environmental understanding and light estimation. Google has also built blocks and tilt brush to make it easy for anyone to quickly create great 3D content for use in AR apps.
In a blog post, Dave Burke, vice president, Android Engineering, Google said: “We’ve been developing the fundamental technologies that power mobile AR over the last three years with Tango, and ARCore is built on that work. But, it works without any additional hardware, which means it can scale across the Android ecosystem.”
“ARCore will run on millions of devices, starting today with the Pixel and Samsung’s S8, running 7.0 Nougat and above. We’re targeting 100 million devices at the end of the preview. We’re working with manufacturers like Samsung, Huawei, LG, ASUS and others to make this possible with a consistent bar for quality and high performance.”
Google will also be releasing prototype browsers for web developers to help them create AR-enhanced websites and run them on both Android/ARCore and iOS/ARKit.
