Apple, Pixar and Adobe back a standardized AR file format
Looks like all the big names in content creation are gettin in on this.
Apple announced at the WWDC 2018 keynote in San Jose on Monday that sharing AR files across will be much easier under iOS12 thanks to a new file format the company has developed in conjunction with Pixar. The Universal Scene Description file, or USDZ for short, will offer the ability to display 3D rendered AR objects within a single "zero compression, unencrypted zip archive" file, optimized for sharing.
As Apple's Craig Federighi explained on stage, the new file format is basically an "AR Quicklook" with a WYSIWYG editor designed to support mobile AR experiences across the iOS 12 landscape. With it, developers will be able to design objects in say, Photoshop or Dimension, and easily export those objects into an AR environment.
To that end, USDZ is primarily being marketed to content creators, rather than end users directly. For example, Adobe's Executive VP and CTO Abhay Parasnis joined Federighi on stage to announce that his company will be bringing native support for USDZ to its Creative Cloud suite. Autodesk and Sketchfab will offer similar support in their products.
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