Augmented reality (AR) has always been one of the most promising technologies. It has the potential to change the way we interact with the world around us, and give us new means of information dissemination and communication. However, for AR to be truly used by everyone everywhere, there are still many things that need to happen first. One of them is platforms for app developers.
Table of Contents
What Is Augmented Reality and How Does It Work?
Augmented reality lets you view a computer-generated image in the context of your real-world surroundings. This composite view is meant to augment the environment surrounding you with additional information and data. Augmented reality apps are used in many ways, such as entertainment, medicine, construction and maintenance, product design, and more.
Augmented Reality Tools for App Developers
In order to create an AR mobile application, you need the right tools. There are different types of tools in the market. Some of them are,
Augmented Reality Frameworks – These frameworks provide developers with code libraries, APIs, and other resources that can be integrated into an app. They allow you to build a full-fledged AR experience by implementing complex algorithms in your app. This saves you time because all you have to do is write code that uses these pre-built components instead of creating them yourself from scratch.
Software Development Kits (SDKs) – These kits are similar to frameworks in that they provide tools for creating apps but only include basic components like data storage or mapping functions so that developers don’t have to build everything themselves from scratch; however, SDKs tend to have fewer features than full-fledged frameworks do because their focus is on providing only core functionalities needed for building applications rather than being able to handle any type of task like some other software products might offer when it comes down.
ARKit
ARKit is a framework for creating augmented reality apps. It’s used by Apple to power the AR capabilities of the iPhone and iPad, but it can be used on any device running iOS 11 or later.
ARKit is based on the open-source WebKit browser engine, which is used in over 70% of all browsers worldwide. This means that developers don’t need to create their own rendering system from scratch if they want to build an app that uses AR technology—they just need to write code that uses this framework instead!
ARCore from Google
ARCore is a platform for building augmented reality apps. It lets you run AR apps on Android phones and tablets, and some other mobile devices. ARCore was developed by Google and first released in 2017. It is built on the Tango technology which was acquired by Google in 2014. It supports both static and dynamic objects, meaning that it can render 3D models of real-world objects, as well as superimpose images over real-time video from your phone’s camera.
Vuforia
Vuforia is a software development kit (SDK) that enables AR apps to detect and recognize images, text, and 3D objects. It’s used to create augmented reality experiences for smartphones and tablets. Vuforia is available on iOS, Android, Unity, and Xamarin.
ARToolKit
ARToolKit is an open-source cross-platform tracking library for augmented reality applications. It supports Vuforia, ARToolKit, and OpenCV. ARToolKit uses a camera to track coded targets, which can then be used to augment the video with virtual objects that interact with the real world in physics-based ways. For example, you can put a virtual basketball on your desk and it will stay there unless you move it.
Kudan
Kudan is a framework for building AR applications for Android and iOS. It is a cross-platform, open-source toolkit for augmented reality. Kudan provides a set of tools that can be used to build AR applications with it.
As an open-source library, Kudan offers you many benefits such as the ability to customize, tweak and extend its functionality according to your needs; however, it also means you will need some basic knowledge of programming languages such as Java or Objective C if you want maximum flexibility.
Maxst
Maxst is an augmented reality framework for mobile apps. It supports 3D models, 2D images, and text on nearly any Android device. Maxst uses Vuforia and ARToolKit to support markerless tracking, making it easy to create AR experiences without having to buy additional hardware or write custom code. Maxst is open source and free for personal use; for commercial applications, you’ll need a license from the author.
Wikitude SDK
Wikitude SDK is a cross-platform framework that offers a wide range of features including object recognition, environmental understanding and AR content creation. The SDK has an easy-to-use interface with a low learning curve and is available for both iOS and Android platforms. It’s free to use on these devices as well as other browsers that support WebGL capabilities such as Firefox, Safari, or Chrome (with the exception of Internet Explorer).
XZIMG Augmented Reality
XZIMG is a mobile augmented reality platform that offers a wide range of features, including 3D object recognition, image tracking, and multi-user support. XZIMG is used in a number of industries, including retail and e-commerce. The platform can be implemented by developers who are familiar with Unity or Unreal Engine.
Augmented reality is a promising technology, no doubt. But to make it an integral part of our life and business, tech giants and app developers need to work hard together. We are looking forward to seeing more impressive AR applications in the future.
Takeaway:
When it comes to augmented reality frameworks, the most popular are ARKit and ARCore. As Augmented Reality becomes more integrated into our daily lives, there will be many new frameworks created as well.
To conclude
The future of augmented reality is bright, but there are still some challenges that need to be overcome. For example, Apple’s ARKit is only available on iOS devices whereas Google’s ARCore works on Android devices as well as Pixel phones. This means that developers who want to create apps for both platforms will have a tougher time than those who focus on just one operating system.
Additionally, AR has only been around since 2011 when Steve Mann invented the first-ever paper-based prototype for this technology. It took almost two decades before smartphones became capable of running these programs because they required powerful processors along with high-resolution displays and cameras.
Read more: Benefits of Single-Page Application Development
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