At the recent Google I/O developer conference, the company made a number of big announcements. One of the most interesting announcements out of the lot came in the form of an ARCore update, which brings a ton of new functionalities to Google’s augmented reality platform for developers.
The update brings a variety of new features to the augmented reality app development platform, including:
AR all around you– Previously, ARCore apps only allowed users to place augmented reality objects on horizontal surfaces, like a table or on the floor. However, the ARCore update also introduces support for Vertical Plane Detection which will allow users to place augmented reality objects on vertical surfaces like walls. Additionally, a capability called Augmented Images will also allow users to bring still images to life by just pointing their smartphone’s camera at them.
Faster AR development– The ARCore update also brings support for Sceneform, which allows Java developers to build immersive 3D apps, without requiring them to learn complicated APIs like OpenGL. The feature will not only allow developers to create new AR apps from scratch but will also allow them to add AR components to existing apps.
