Google has released a preview of a new software development kit (SDK) called ARCore. ARCore brings augmented reality capabilities to existing and future Android phones.
Google says it has been working on this for the past nine years.
Google says in a blog post that “it has been developing the fundamental technologies that power mobile augmented relaity 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. Google is targeting 100 million devices at the end of the preview. The company is working with manufacturers like Samsung, Huawei, LG, ASUS and others to make this possible with a consistent bar for quality and high performance.
ARCore works with Java/OpenGL, Unity and Unreal and focuses on three things:
- Motion tracking: Using the phone’s camera to observe feature points in the room and IMU sensor data, ARCore determines both the position and orientation (pose) of the phone as it moves. Virtual objects remain accurately placed.
- Environmental understanding: It’s common for AR objects to be placed on a floor or a table. ARCore can detect horizontal surfaces using the same feature points it uses for motion tracking.
- Light estimation: ARCore observes the ambient light in the environment and makes it possible for developers to light virtual objects in ways that match their surroundings, making their appearance even more realistic.
