From PC World: For the past year or so, Google’s augmented-reality aspirations have been extremely modest, with its Tango AR platform running on just two phones (and one of them just came out a couple weeks ago.) But now Google is releasing ARCore, which will bring the power of Tango to millions more Android phones.
Like Apple’s ARKit, ARCore works without any additional hardware. The launch of the developer preview will be limited to Pixel and Galaxy S8 phones running Nougat and above, but Google is aiming to get ARCore on 100 million devices from Samsung, Huawei, LG, Asus, and others by the time the preview ends later this year.
ARCore may be bad news for Asus and its new Zenfone AR, which will now be less special, but it’s great news for everyone else. AR is a far more interesting platform than VR, if for no other reason than you don’t need any additional hardware to use it. But AR is also a more viable platform for everyday use. While the full immersion of a VR headset may have a higher wow factor than AR, the practicality of augmented reality—measuring, shopping, traveling, and performing other actions atop the real world—are greater. By putting real AR in the hands of millions of users (not just Pokemon Go), Google will put the platform on fast forward, and it won’t be long before it’s more than just a parlor trick.
Like Tango, the ARKCore SDK works with Java/OpenGL, Unity and Unreal, and focuses on three core areas: motion tracking, environmental understanding, and light estimation. In practice, that means objects will scan your surroundings to figure out the best surfaces for placement, study the light to approximate shadows, and adjust position as you move.
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