Prior to MWC 2018 Google announced that ARCore had left beta/developer preview stage and was now 1.0 stable. Today at Google IO they have announced new updates to ARCore which will help to continue the evolution of AR on Android — now incorporated into hundreds of apps on the Play Store.
We have shown several examples of ARCore at work here at Ausdroid (1,2,3,4) and now with today’s update Google aims to make it easier to build more collaborative AR apps.
Google are introducing a capability called Cloud Anchors that will enable new types of collaborative AR experiences on both Android and iOS. It will allow apps to be made to help redecorate your home, play games with friends and painting a community mural.
A new inclusion is Vertical Plane Detection which will allow you to place objects on more surfaces such as textured walls — previously it had to be a flat surface such as the floor or a table. Then using a capability called Augmented Images you will be able to animate images just by pointing the phone at them.
While there may already be a few hundred ARCore apps on the Play Store in a bid to speed up the growth of AR apps Google are introducing SceneForm which will allow developers to build their apps without having to learn the complicated APIs like OpenGL. This function can be used to not just bring new AR features to an already existing app but also to create a brand new app from scratch.
All of these capabilities are available today for developers and if you want to check out what is available now in ARCore apps head on over to the Play Store and start downloading now (assuming you have a compatible device).
Still no support for the S9+ 🙁