At the beginning of summer at the WWDC17 conference, Apple introduced an SDK for working with ARKit augmented reality. This event spurred the development of the technology, simultaneously awakening the interest of ordinary users and lowering the barrier to entry for potential developers.
Google decided to keep up with its colleagues and showed a preliminary version of its own platform for augmented reality. It was named ARCore and is currently available on Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy 8 smartphones. ARCore did not appear out of nowhere: since 2013, Google has been developing the Tango augmented reality software and hardware platform. However, Google's first AG attempt turned out to be somewhat specific and never became popular. ARCore is partly based on previous Google work, but this product is purely software. According to The Verge journalists, who have already been able to try out the platform in demo mode, ARCore is one of the best implementations of augmented reality on smartphones today.
ARCore will be compatible with Java/OpenGL, as well as Unity and Unreal engines. Three technologies increase the accuracy of the platform. The first is position and movement tracking using the camera and smartphone sensors to correctly place virtual objects. The second is determining the features of the placement of real surrounding objects in order to adequately “fit” virtual objects into them (for example, placing a virtual cup not on the floor, but on the table). The third is the analysis of ambient lighting and its sources. It promotes correct shadows and highlights on virtual objects so that they look even more realistic. Manufacturers assure that by the official launch of the platform, which is scheduled for the end of 2017 - beginning of 2018, about 100 million devices will support the technology. For comparison, Apple ARKit is already supported by 195 million you-know-what devices. If all goes according to plan, Google's initiative will significantly expand the number of AR applications on Android smartphones and tablets. Would you be interested in trying to create a simple program with ARCore yourself? =)
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