Are you a developer looking to take the plunge into augmented reality? It is now possible! The PTC group has released a new SDK for developing AR applications on Unity: Vuforia. Apple has also released its own SDK for developing augmented reality applications on iOS 11 devices: ARKit.
Vuforia: augmented reality within reach of businesses
PTC has thought big: an SDK that lets companies create and publish their own augmented reality applications on Unity.
First of all, Vuforia scans an environment and recognises various elements such as objects, detailed images (advertisements, magazines, and so on), user-defined images, boxes, cylinders (a bottle, for instance) and text.
Once your area has been scanned, the SDK offers a comfortable interface for customising your application, which can pull in data from CAD software such as PTC Creo (ideal for turning that data into animations). The interface can also retrieve data from IoT devices through ThingWorx.
Note for the English version: the French heading for this section reads “la réalité virtuelle” (virtual reality) whereas the whole article is about augmented reality. The heading has been corrected here and should be fixed in the French version.
ARKit: designing AR apps for iOS devices is now possible!
With the release of iOS 11 in late August 2017, Apple in turn unveiled its augmented reality SDK. The principle is very simple: as with Vuforia, you scan an environment, then build your application using an interface and your iOS device’s native components (camera, sensors, and so on).
Some major companies have decided to join in! Using ARKit, IKEA developed an app that lets you try out catalogue furniture directly in your own home. The most unusual application remains the one from AMC (the American television channel that produces the series The Walking Dead): a game based on the series in which the goal is to kill the walkers coming towards you, using the characters from the show — all in augmented reality!
Note for the English version: this article dates from 2017 and needs updating. ARKit has been through many major versions since (and now sits alongside RealityKit and visionOS), Vuforia’s product line and licensing have changed, and IKEA’s AR app has been replaced by a newer offering.
