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Google Reveals its Answer to Apple's ARKit With 'ARCore', Bringing AR to 100M Android Devices

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Google today announced a new developer platform for augmented reality apps that won't require dedicated hardware, which it's calling "ARCore." The company originally began making inroads in the AR space a few years ago with Project Tango, which required manufacturers to implement specialized equipment so that smartphones would be compatible with Tango's AR features.

Now, Google is "effectively shuttering" the Tango brand, according to TechCrunch, and focusing on the ARCore software development kit. The new platform will deliver AR abilities to compatible Android smartphones, immediately turning a large swath of the Android device market into advanced AR-enabled machines, similar to what will happen with iOS 11-enabled devices following the debut of Apple's upcoming ARKit.

google-arcore-kit.jpg

To start, ARCore is launching on the Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy S8 (which must be running 7.0 Nougat or above), and a wider adoption of more smartphones will come later down the line for ARCore's public launch. By that date, Google "plans to have 100 million Android devices" out in the wild that support motion-tracking AR capabilities, and as more advanced smartphones launch the company said that ARCore will only grow stronger.
"We've architected ARCore to be able to perceive a wide variety of sensors," Google AR/VR head Clay Bavor told TechCrunch. "We foresee, in the future, many more phones having depth-sensing capabilities and as those come into mainstream phones, that's great, ARCore will work seamlessly with those and benefit from the additional sensing capabilities."
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ARCore works by detecting surfaces near the user in order to display augmented reality content in a stable space. The Android smartphone sensors will detect these horizontal planes, factor in the device's motion tracking, and estimate the light entering a room so objects can be dynamically lit based on their environment.

The company is also focusing on the web, which it describes as "a critical component of the future of AR." It's beginning by releasing a prototype browser for web developers, allowing them to begin experimenting with AR alongside mobile developers. In the future, Google says that these custom browsers will allow developers to make AR-enhanced websites that run on both Android and ARCore, as well as iOS and ARKit.


Apple announced ARKit back in June, introducing a developer platform that functions in much the same way as Google's ARCore. With ARKit, developers can create apps that take advantage of the built-in camera, processors, and motion sensors of an iPhone or iPad, resulting in advanced AR experiences. Demos of these apps have been continuously emerging online in the wake of ARKit's WWDC announcement.

Android developers interested in ARCore can begin experimenting and creating apps for the Pixel and Galaxy S8 smartphones starting today. To see more examples of ARCore in action, Google has created an AR Experiments website.

Article Link: Google Reveals its Answer to Apple's ARKit With 'ARCore', Bringing AR to 100M Android Devices
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/08/29/google-arcore-platform/
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So... google doing google things...

So, what happens to the software developers that invested their time (are therefore their money) in developing products based on Tango?

So, what happens to the device manufacturers (like Lenovo and Asus) that made phones and tablets, with expensive PrimeSense chips for the Tango platform? There's still devices to be sold to the costumers, how they are justifying the more expensive cost, to the common man in a store, now that Google made something that does everything Tango had, but for free?

100 million by the end of the year? Yeah, good luck, first, it requires nougat, second, crappy sensors will ruin this , third, most developers will want to reach more people and will use crappier SDKs that will work with more devices.
 
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canadianreader said:
humm isn't that copying ?? Anyways I like the video and the music is really fun!!
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Apple did not invent AR or anything in ARKit, other than their probably excellent code.
[doublepost=1504026133][/doublepost]
Zirel said:
So, what happens to the device manufacturers (like Lenovo and Asus) that made phones and tablets, with expensive PrimeSense chips for the Tango platform? There's still devices to be sold to the costumers, how they are justifying the more expensive cost, now that Google made something that does everything Tango had, but for free?
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They get screwed, of course.
 
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D.T. said:
Google, Apple, Samsung, <insert_other_overlapping_companies_here> should just merge, since they're all doing the same thing, at the same time ...


Gapplesung, Inc.

"At Gapplesung, we make the products, we may have thought of first."
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The more all these companies try to stick their hand in everything, the more I think the next World War won't be between countries, but among these corporate giants.
 
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Crzyrio said:
Right? Google saw ARKIT and between June and now they were able to develop a fully functional AR Developer framework.
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They adopted their previous platform to be easier to use, like Apple did. Apple may not be the first but, they put effort into the design of their ARKit. Besides Tim Cook started one and a half year ago to say that Apple was focused on AR, in the earnings calls.
 
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D.T. said:
Google, Apple, Samsung, <insert_other_overlapping_companies_here> should just merge, since they're all doing the same thing, at the same time ...
Click to expand...

Google, Apple, Samsung, <insert_other_overlapping_companies_here>, "they’re all just spokes on a wheel. This one’s on top and that one’s on top and on and on it spins, crushing those on the ground." asoiaf nerd
 
Wow, developers are definitely going to adopt ARcore, because android is definitely their favourite platform.
 
Ah! Happy to see this. As an Android device owner, I was a bit bummed that I'd be missing some cool AR implementation that iOS would be getting later this year. Glad to see that there will be an AR platform for developers on Android.
 
Crzyrio said:
Right? Google saw ARKIT and between June and now they were able to develop a fully functional AR Developer framework.
Click to expand...
Did they announce a release date? I've seen them rush to market with half baked projects even based on rumors of what Apple was going to announce and show off videos of how it will work. Then it never shows up or take two years to come out or work right.

There's a reason they didn't show this when they showed their new android update.
 
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canadianreader said:
humm isn't that copying ?? Anyways I like the video and the music is really fun!!
Click to expand...

Google didn't copy AR itself, but the implementation and packaging of AR. What Apple excels at is figuring out the logistics of taking current technology mainstream. We've seen this with Google Wallet faltering for 4 years until Apple came out with Apple Pay.
 
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