Augmented reality is one of the technologies that has been in vogue for the past few months. After the success of the Pokémon Go game, apps like Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook now offer AR filters that allow users to dress up.
Additionally, Apple recently introduced ARKit, a tool for developers to create augmented reality content for iOS. This development kit offers some pretty incredible possibilities and is a huge success for the most creative developers. ARKit will undoubtedly be one of the main points highlighted at the next Apple keynote, which is expected to take place on September 12.
In order not to be seeded by its main competitor, Google today announced its own augmented reality tool for Android. ARCore is a development kit that allows anyone to do it. augmented reality content creation for Android smartphones already available in the market.
A preview version of this new technology is available today for the Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy S8. Other smartphones running Android Nougat or higher will be compatible soon. At the end of the preview, Google 100 million smartphones You can take advantage of this revolutionary new tool.
The Mountain View company is in partnership with LG, Asus, Huawei and Samsung around this project and therefore smartphones from these manufacturers will be the first to benefit from it. Google has created a new official page to showcase the possibilities ARCore has to offer, available at this address.
Google ARCore: Google’s answer to Apple’s ARKit
As a reminder, augmented reality makes it possible to superimpose virtual elements on top of reality filmed with a smartphone’s camera. This technology can be used to create games. For example, with ARKit, a game that allows control an army of monsters newly created.
It can also be used to create useful apps. For example, ARKit is now to try on clothes or change the menu in restaurants.
According to Google, it was created with ARCore Experience gained in Tango project. Launched in 2015, Tango makes it possible to create 3D maps of the world around them by pointing a smartphone’s camera at an object. Lenovo PHAB2 Pro was the first smartphone compatible with Tango.
Unfortunately, Tango had a few weaknesses and the lack of compatible smartphones did not support its development. With Google ARCore, Google wants to fix bugs and focus on three elements: motion tracking, understanding the environment, and estimating brightness.
Thus, the smartphone camera will be able to detect horizontal surfaces in a room to place realistically illuminated augmented reality elements there. It remains only for developers to use their imaginations to invent useful or entertaining augmented reality experiences. Augmented reality looks like the future of smartphones more than ever before.
