ARCore
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Google teases its next generation of AR glasses
More than a decade after Google Glass made a debut at I/O 2013, Google is working on a set of wearable augmented reality glasses.
Android users can now shoot and publish their own Street View images
Google has announced that it’s latest Street View beta comes with a tool called connected photos. That lets anyone capture and publish photos from an Android phone, with no need for a fancy 360-degree camera or backpack, let alone an entire car.
Google wants you to visit long-lasting AR experiences
Google's new tools make long-lasting, shared AR a real possibility on Android and iOS.
Sony AR app shows if a new TV will fit your room
Sony has unveiled an Envision TV AR app that can show how a new TV will fit into your environment.
‘Pokémon Go’ will let you play with your monster pals 'soon'
Pokémon Go developer Niantic is close to putting the finishing touches on a feature that will likely fulfill a longstanding wish for a lot of the game's fans. By 2020, Ninatic says you'll be able to play with and feed your favorite Pokémon in augmented reality thanks to the "Buddy Adventure" feature the studio plans to add to the game.
Google's new depth feature makes its AR experiences more realistic
Google has been experimenting with ARCore for the better part of two years, adding more features to its AR development platform over time. Back at I/O this year, Google introduced Environmental HDR, which brings real world lighting to AR objects and scenes. Today, it's incorporating a Depth API that will introduce occlusion, 3D understanding, and a new level of realism.
Snap selfies with Pikachu in Google Pixel's AR Playground
You don't have to wait until May 10th to see Pikachu come to life in new ways. Ahead of the long-awaited Pokémon movie, Google released Detective Pikachu, Charizard, Jigglypuff and Mr. Mime as Playmojis for the Pixel's Playground mode. As you can with Google's other Playmojis (previously called AR stickers), you can drop these characters into scenes around you and interact with them through the Pixel's cameras.
Childish Gambino and Google team up for a multiplayer AR app
Google and Childish Gambino are teaming up again for another augmented reality experience. Following the arrival of the Coachella headliner as a Playmoji on Pixel cameras earlier this year, the pair have released a multiplayer app called Pharos AR. It allows you and your friends to explore a trippy, neon-tinged world with Gambino as the soundtrack.
Google's AR tools make it easier for apps to apply face filters
Augmented reality experiences are still in their relative infancy, but because Android runs on so many devices, it can't always assume they'll have dedicated hardware to create extra effects. While Apple is already pushing ahead with AR and packed an entire Kinect-like camera into the front of its iPhone X family to support it, Google is enhancing its software to work even without capabilities like the LG G8's depth-sensing hardware.
'Pokémon Go' AR+ mode brings life-size monsters to Android
Pokémon vary in size, from as small as 4 in. to as tall as 47 ft. But for Android users, regardless of size, Pokémon looked kind of the same. Well developer Niantic has released a new update for the Android version of Pokémon Go which incorporates the ARCore. The enhanced AR mode was released in iOS back in December of 2017. Called Pokémon Go AR+ Android users can download ARCore from the Google Play Store and finally see the scale of Pokémon out in the real world. As players walk up to Pokémon, it will scale in size and will notice player movements. Not all devices are supported, but already users on Twitter are taking photos of Pokémon, and the scale seems to be matching up correctly. pic.twitter.com/WUIGX7G0DU — 🎃Travler👻BOO👻Jackson🎃 (@SeasideQuest) October 11, 2018
Magic Leap’s lackluster AR demo proves hardware is still hard
Magic Leap announced last week that its mixed reality glasses -- which have been shrouded in mystery and hype for almost four years -- will be available later this summer. What should've been exciting news unfortunately fell flat. In a developer chat on Twitch that same day, the company showed off a less-than-impressive prerecorded demo of a small rock golem throwing some rubble around. Compared to earlier videos of a crashing whale in the middle of a gym and a floating solar system, this just came off as disappointing. Was this all there was?
Google's free class teaches you how to create AR experiences
If you've ever wanted to create augmented reality experiences but had no idea where to start, Google might have your back. It's releasing a free Introduction to Augmented Reality and ARCore class on Coursera that teaches you how to develop AR content, even if you have no knowledge of the format. Walk through the 15-hour program and you should know how to use both ARCore as well as resources like Google's own Poly object library.
Google's Measure app comes to all ARCore-compatible Android phones
Google Measure, the digital substitute app for anyone who doesn't own a physical tape measure, has just received a much needed update. In contrast to the earlier version -- which was limited to Google's augmented reality (AR) platform Tango -- the new and improved Measure works with any smartphone supporting ARCore (running Android 7.0 and up).
Google demo shows how AR can thrive on the web
Google has been hyping up augmented reality on the web, and it's easy to understand why -- it promises an immersive experience without requiring a special app. But what does that look like in practice? The company now has an easy way to find out. It recently released Chacmool, a previously seen tech demo for Chrome Canary that uses the WebXR format to bring an educational AR experience to your browser. You'll need an ARCore-compatible Android phone running Oreo in addition to Canary, but you're good to go after that. You can walk around a Mesoamerican sculpture reading annotations as if you were visiting a museum exhibit without the usual cordons and glass cases.
Google's mobile augmented reality platform arrives in China
Google's ARCore is helpful for making augmented reality widely available to Android users, but there's a glaring problem: it requires the Play Store to get updates. That's no good in countries like China, where Google's services are either unavailable or blocked. Thankfully, Google has a workaround. It's now making ARCore available in China through the Xiaomi App Store. You'll need Xiaomi's Mi Mix 2S to take advantage of the AR features, but this beats having to sit on the sidelines while the rest of the world uses immersive apps.
Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus now support ARCore
ARCore is Google's answer to Apple's ARKit -- an easy tool for developers to make augmented reality Android apps. It's a great idea, and an awesome way to make AR more accessible to all levels of developers. The catch was that it was only compatible with a limited number of phones. Now, it appears that the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus support ARCore.
USA Today’s first AR app brings a rocket launch to your table
After a series of VR apps like The Wall and USS Eisenhower VR, USA Today Network is now exploring storytelling on another new (ish) platform: AR. 321 Launch is the network's first AR app, and it's designed to deliver what it says is the "industry's first, multi-layered interactive experience for space news and content." It's a collaboration between USA Today and one of the company's local news brands Florida Today, which makes sense since the Kennedy Space Center is in that state. The app releases today, and you can try it out if you're using an iPhone 6S or later with at least iOS 11, or a handset running Android 7.0 or newer. If you're a space buff or enthusiast, you'll probably enjoy it.
The New York Times brings Bowie exhibit to your phone with AR
Now that Google has released its first take on an Android augmented reality framework, ARCore 1.0, quite a few AR apps are taking advantage of it. The New York Times, who has already released an AR experience around Olympic athletes for iOS, is now launching a new AR feature that focuses on David Bowie's "visual legacy." This is also one of the few AR experiences that supports both ARKit and ARCore, making it available on both iOS and Android.
eBay uses augmented reality to help you pick packaging
It can be a pain to sell your gear on eBay for many reasons, not the least of which is packaging. How do you know a box will be large enough without having it on hand? eBay can help: it just launched a previously teased, ARCore-based augmented reality feature for Android that helps you choose a shipping box for US deliveries. Point your phone at your item and you can overlay USPS box sizes to determine which one will fit your outgoing goods. This could save you time testing boxes, and might save you some cash if you can get away with buying a smaller box (or better yet, using one you already have).
Ikea's Place app is now out for the latest Android phones
Ikea's Place app is heading to Android. The augmented reality application gives you access to 3,200 items from Ikea's inventory and allows to see what they'd look like in your home by placing their 3D versions over your phone's live view. Think Pokémon Go, but instead of flinging Poké balls, you position couches in the living room. Place used to be an Apple exclusive, because it was powered by Cupertino's augmented reality platform for mobile devices called ARKit. Google's version of the app runs on ARCore, its answer to ARKit that gives Android devices the power to run apps that can superimpose objects over live images even without special sensors or software.
