AR Foundation
An innovative cross-platform framework for augmented reality experiences, AR Foundation is built by Unity and serves Android and iOS devices alike. The software is balanced on a solid framework of Unity 2019.4.3f1, enabling a smooth execution of AR projects.
AR Foundation Top Features
- Compatibility: Offers seamless performance across ARCore supported Android devices and requires Xcode 11.0 or later for iOS.
- Versatile Features: Provides various attributes like Cloud Anchors, Camera configuration filters, Recording, and Playback.
- ARCore & ARKit Integration: Works smoothly with Google’s ARCore Extensions, ARCore XR Plugin for Android, and ARKit XR Plugin for iOS.
- AR Session: Crucial for motion tracking, environmental understanding, and lighting estimation.
| Additional Features | Description |
|---|---|
| AR Objects | Includes game objects like AR Session, AR Session Origin for enhanced AR experiences. |
| AR Development | AR Foundation components and Unity API offer a boost in developing AR projects. |
| Vuforia Engine Support | It further optimizes performance and latency by facilitating vertical planes or environment probes in the Vuforia scene. |
AR Foundation Limitations
- Limited to Unity Editor versions and AR Foundation 5.0 or later.
- Requires ARKit and/or ARCore supported device detected at runtime.
- Requires beginner-level knowledge of Unity development, C# programming, 3D graphics, mobile application development, and AR usage.
AR Foundation Use Cases
Use case 1: AR Games Development
With AR Foundation, game developers can easily create engaging AR-based games. It provides a comprehensive environment for developing games with Unity features, allowing developers to deliver immersive experiences to users.
Use Case 2: AR-based Apps
AR Foundation proves to be a robust tool for developers aiming at creating AR applications. It supports various application types from virtual photo galleries to educational image tracking apps and facial accessory apps, giving developers ample space to create diversified AR projects.
Use Case 3: Real-time AR experiences
AR Foundation is a perfect fit for developers aiming to offer real-time AR experiences. With features like Plane detection, Raycasting Camera, Image tracking, and so on, it offers developers the right set of tools to create interactive and engaging AR experiences.
Unity
Founded in 2005, Unity serves as a robust game development engine, enabling the creation of immersive 3D and 2D games. Adaptable, it spans multiple operating systems and platforms, including Android, iOS, facilitating a wide variety of applications from augmented reality to complex 3D simulations.
Unity Top Features
- Powerful cross-platform game creation capabilities
- Advanced suite of tools and features enhancing game development
- Compatibility with various operating systems including Android and iOS
- Richly integrated asset store featuring pre-designed textures and features
- Support for a multitude of coding languages: BOO script, Javascript, and C#
- Active developer community for problem-solving, and feedback
| Feature | Benefit |
|---|---|
| Advanced game development tools | High-quality game creation and rendering |
| Diverse pre-designed asset store | Stimulation of creative game designs |
| Potent community support | Assistance in problem-solving and iterative system improvement |
Unity Downsides
- Unpredictable and sudden pricing transitions risking developers’ financial viability.
- To counter repeated downloads by a single user, imposes a fee per game install which has caused apprehension among developers.
- Open mistrust due to abrupt retroactive fees announcement.
Unity Pricing
Unity’s payment structure requires developers to bear a fee each time a game using Unity software is installed, effective on January 1, 2024. However, the company ensures game developers will not be charged an install fee until their game surpasses $200,000 in revenue and 200,000 installations.
Unity Use Cases
Use case 1
Unity enriches the developer landscape, from solo innovators to professional studios, facilitating creation of engaging games with augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) features.
Use case 2
Unity’s diverse asset store serves as an expansive toolbox for developers, granting them access to countless textures and features for innovative game design.
Use case 3
With its wide-ranging compatibility, Unity accommodates developers working on multiple platforms and operating systems, enhancing productivity and consistency.
HoloLens
An empirical product of Microsoft‘s pioneering strides in digital augmentation, the HoloLens is an embodiment of a potent blend of utility and innovation, progressively augmenting realms from healthcare to education since its introduction with the HoloLens in 2015. Now in its second evolution, it transcends the boundaries of the ordinary with its enterprise-ready applications, enhancing user accuracy, and expediting output with its ergonomic, untethered, and independently holographic features.
HoloLens Top Features
- Holographic assists combined with voice control functionalities featuring Cortana for an immersive AR experience.
- Integration with Microsoft Azure Cloud services, facilitating seamless data coordination.
- Biometric recognition and eye-tracking capabilities enhancing usability.
- Immersive spatial audio technology delivering a pioneering audio-visual spectacle.
| Feature | Benefit |
|---|---|
| Untethered design | Freedom of movement and operation |
| Biometric recognition | User-friendly interface enhancing accuracy |
| Integrated with Microsoft Azure | Strengthened data coordination and computing |
| Core spatial sound capability | Enhanced user experience |
HoloLens Limitations
- High-cost factors with the standard version pricing at $3500, and the Industrial version pegged at $4950.
- Still emerging use cases across certain sectors may limit extensive deployment.
HoloLens Pricing
Offered at a premium price, HoloLens standard version is pegged at $3500, while the industrial version is available at $4950, aptly reflecting its superior functionalities and ubiquitous applications.
HoloLens Use Cases
Use case 1: Healthcare
Medical start-up ApoQlar leverages the HoloLens’ hologram visualizations to simplistically explain surgical procedures to patients, transforming the conventional patriarchal dynamics of healthcare. MEDIVIS, another foray into medical tech, utilizes holograms for more precise surgery planning.
Use case 2: Manufacturing
The HoloLens’ application has been instrumental in deep-space vehicle construction by Lockheed Martin. The technology fosters precision and accuracy in design. Its integration into hard hat systems for safer hands-on work furthers its significance across industries.
Use case 3: Education
A leader in transforming academic paradigms, HoloLens finds profound utility in medical and science pedagogy, enhancing the comprehensibility of physiological, anatomical, and pathological concepts with its holographic augmentation.
ARKit
Welcome to ARKit, Apple’s augmented reality framework. Bundled with iOS SDK since 2017, ARKit utilizes Visual Inertial Odometry technology to introduce virtual objects to user’s real-world environment. It’s efficient in environments with good lighting and a flat surface, deploying camera, processors, and motion sensors of iOS devices.
ARKit Top Features
- 4k Video capture for AR experiences aids video editing and film production
- Powerful, live Motion capture algorithms for capturing human movements
- Scene Geometry for labeling and mapping spaces
- People Occlusion enabling AR content to pass behind and in front of people realistically
- Support for HDR video, high-resolution image capture, and direct control of camera settings
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Location Anchors | Expanded to new cities, aiding AR navigation |
| Simultaneous Front & Back Camera Use | Facilitating facial expression interactions with AR content |
| Image and Object Recognition | Detects up to 100 images at a time, improving physical object recognition in 3D |
ARKit Limitations
- Requires effective lighting and a flat surface for visual odometry
- Applications need constant input from sensors like cameras, accelerometers, and gyroscopes
ARKit Use Cases
Use case 1
ARKit excels remarkably in video editing, film production, and social media applications thanks to its 4k video capture for AR experiences. High-resolution image capture during AR sessions aids in delivering optimal image quality.
Use case 2
With enhanced motion capture, ARKit is essential in AR experiences aimed at tracking bodily movements. Visual Inertial Odometry technology accurately tracks iOS device movements relative to the room, enabling robust physical interactions in 3D games.
Use case 3
ARKit’s potential lies in indoor navigation. Deploying Location Anchors, GPS, and Bluetooth beacons, ARKit can transform how we navigate shopping malls, airports and large conventions centers with unprecedented precision and convenience.
ARCore
Breathe life into your AR dreams with ARCore, Google’s phenomenal toolkit for crafting captivating augmented reality experiences. It’s not just about bringing the digital into the real world, it’s more – it’s about embracing a shared AR space, where Android and iOS coexist!
ARCore Best Features
- Motion Tracking: Effortlessly track the position of your mobile device as it moves, establishing a rich understanding of the real-world.
- Environmental Understanding: Unveil the unseen with APIs that bridge the gap between your device and its surroundings. Command the unseen.
- Light Estimation: Add verisimilitude to your AR experiences by estimating the environment’s light conditions. Astonish your users by matching the virtual with the physical.
- Scalability: Supported extensively across the Android ecosystem, this is an AR tool that leaves no device behind.
| Streetscape Geometry API: | An immersive 3D mesh experience right at your location, enveloping you in an up-to 100m radius of spatial acuity. |
| Geospatial Depth: | Shatter limitations with improved depth measurements using building and terrain data, reaching up to an incredible 65m! |
| Scene Semantics API: | Ensure every pixel speaks volumes with AI-powered labeling of your outdoor scene. Render the ordinary, extraordinary! |
ARCore Downsides
- ARCore’s reliance on Google Maps for its live view capabilities has been cited as a pain point by users, as some report compatibility issues that need to be ironed out.
- There have been instances of unauthorized installing of Google Apps reported by users, an issue that presents a potential challenge to its acceptability.
ARCore Use Cases
Use case 1: AR Game Development
Leverage ARCore to develop immersive gaming experiences! Thanks to motion tracking and environmental understanding, you can facilitate smoother, more engaging gameplay that truly blends the real and virtual worlds.
Use case 2: Home Decor Platforms
Decor platforms can harness ARCore’s light estimation and depth capabilities to provide a realistic view of how a piece of furniture or decor item will look in a user’s space.
Use case 3: Retail AR Shopping Apps
Utilize ARCore to develop retail shopping apps. The shared AR experiences across devices will enable realistic product previews within a user’s environment, helping them make informed purchase decisions.
Vuforia
Conceived by Qualcomm and nurtured under PTC Inc. since 2015, Vuforia flourishes as an Augmented Reality (AR) Software Development Kit (SDK). Fashioned with computer vision technology, this masterstroke allows the creation of AR applications by recognizing objects.
Vuforia Top Features
- Extensive Recognition Features: Supports 2D/3D target types, markerless Image Targets, 3D Model Targets, and addressable Fiducial Markers (VuMarks).
- Platforms Compatibility: APIs available for popular platforms such as Unity game engine in C++, Java, Objective-C++, and .NET languages. Accommodates iOS, Android, and UWP.
- Cloud Add-ons: Vuforia Engine provides Cloud add-ons enhancing the cloud recognition limits. (Not accessible in China)
- AR Digital Twin: Focus on the fusion of physical and digital spaces, enabling real-time detections and data overlays on real-world objects.
| Features | Description |
|---|---|
| VuMarks | A sophisticated take on QR codes, allowing custom design and multi-format support. |
| Cloud Recognition Database | Aims at remote storage of target images processing. |
| Integration with AR Glasses | Compatible with AR glasses including HoloLens 1, Microsoft HoloLens 2, Magic Leap, RealWear HMT-1, and Vuzix M400. |
Vuforia Limitations
- Virtual Buttons: Feature deprecated; future versions will exclude this function.
- Cloud add-on overage: Involves standard rates per Cloud recognition.
Vuforia Pricing
Vuforia extends different plans including a free Develop plan for learning and non-commercial use, Basic and Basic with a Cloud License, culminating in the Pro plan. Basic and Premium plans can be upgraded with Cloud and Cloud Plus add-ons for increased Cloud Recognition limits. For additional details, one needs to contact the company directly.
Vuforia Use Cases
Use case 1
Fitting for 3D product demonstrations, Vuforia elucidates visual understanding by providing unique insights into product design and function.
Use case 2
Architects and designers can leverage Vuforia’s prowess in creating interactive campaigns, elevating audience engagement and experience.
Use case 3
Education institutions might harness the power of Vuforia to enliven learning materials, transforming traditional teaching paradigms through AR applications.
Sceneform
A product of Google, Sceneform is an adept 3D framework, primarily engineered for easing the process of building Augmented Reality applications for mobile users.
Sceneform Top Features
- Distinction in facilitating AR Required and AR Optional apps through skillful APIs.
- Expertise in creating dynamic 3D models catering to shapes like squares, cubes, and cylinders.
- Powerful AR Manipulation features enabling object scaling, moving 3D models, and object rotation.
- Provision of Augmented Faces feature assisting in face detection, overlaying, and positioning of 3D models.
- Capability for recording and saving user’s AR experience in video format.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Procedural Geometry | Allows developers to harness drawing experiences in 3D for enhanced user interactivity. |
| ARCore Dependency | Leverages ARCore to track image processing making video playback more robust and reliable. |
| Manage AR sessions | Eases complications of managing AR sessions through runtime dynamic 3D models. |
Sceneform Limitations
- Compatibility issues exist across different devices.
- Restrictions in creating 3D models.
- Does not support vertical surface detection.
- Cannot operate more than one camera simultaneously.
- Lack of active maintenance by Google, raising concerns about future updates or support.
Sceneform Pricing
Sceneform is a free SDK, making it a cost-effective choice for developers and firms looking to explore AR capabilities.
Sceneform Use Cases
Use case 1: Java Developers
Java developers seeking to create applications with AR functionalities find Sceneform an efficient tool for the execution of their projects.
Use case 2: Enterprises
Firms looking to incorporate AR capabilities into their mobile applications can leverage Sceneform’s flexible feature set.
Use case 3: Innovators
Individuals desiring to experiment with AR features for their unique projects can utilize the 3D modelling opportunities offered by Sceneform.
