Author: Maria Stenina

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News

What are Augmented Reality NFTs, and how creators benefit from them?

This year marks the unprecedented rise of the blockchain-powered assets. NFTs are popular among the global creative community as they bring a promise to empower art creators and foster healthy relationships between buyers and sellers.

Many creators tap into augmented reality to make their NFTs even more spectacular. Dive in to explore NFTs and how augmented reality can help digital art creators benefit from this powerful combination.

What is an NFT?

Non-fungible tokens (or NFTs for short) stand for unique digital assets, as unique as the real-world objects they represent. Blockchain technology verifies NFT ownership. Their amount is strictly limited to ensure the digital collectible is one-of-a-kind and thus surge the demand and the price. Unlike most crypto-tokens, NFTs can’t be traded or exchanged for the same token, making them non-fungible.

As the official Ethereum website describes it, non-fungible is an economic term that you could use to describe things like your furniture, certain files, or computer. These items are not interchangeable with other items, because they are unique.

Each token is essentially a code in the blockchain (most likely Ethereum) tied to a particular digital asset and powered by a smart contract.

AR NFT blog

What’s so special about it? Each token has its owner, and the fact of ownership is transparent and easily verified.

Usually, NFTs represent a broad spectrum of digital pieces  – from domain names to GIFs to digital skins for your favorite game character. This year we see the rise of content creators and digital artists turning to NFTs to market their art in a new way.

 Are NFTs just a fad or worth a closer look?

The market of NFT has exploded in 2020, going from 41 million to roughly 338 million US dollars, reports WSJ.

New opportunities drive digital creators from all walks of life into the NFT space. Artists experiment with formats and explore what can be marketed as a digital asset.

As the market matures, it continues to push the boundaries of what creators put out there as NFTs. From the world’s first digital fragrance to digital racehorses or even an original YouTube video that has become a meme for the whole generation (this one was recently auctioned as NFT for $760,999).

What are the pros of NFTs?

It’s not only about potential independent income for creators, who can earn royalties with each sale and resale and benefit from the volatile cryptomarket.

NFTs allow creators to define the scarcity, making digital assets more valuable. The creators decide the quantity, going from the super rare artworks that are specifically minted to be only collectible to multiple replicas of the same creation. Creators can also easily prove the digital piece’s provenance, authorship, resell it without a dealer and earn resale royalties.

For investors, NFTs bring the confidence that the digital artwork they own is authentic, and the ownership can be easily proved. NFT owners can also freely manipulate and resell the assets they own through NFT marketplaces, potentially earning royalties on the resale.

Augmented reality NFTs: the what, the how and the why

Now, let’s move from the origins of NFTs to the augmented reality for NFTs and explore how these two technologies can work together.

Augmented reality enables creators to provide more depth and context to any digital artwork. Overlaid digital content can be accessed by the user anywhere anytime, projected into the real world through any smart device.

Ever been to a gallery where an artwork resonated so much, you wished you can take it home to admire any time? Now you can own a piece and have it not only readily available but enriched with 3D augmentations, sounds, and other virtual components that communicate with the environment around you.

How can I use AR (Augmented Reality) for NFTs?

At this point, you are probably wondering how can you as a creator get started and if there is any value AR can bring to NFTs.

To answer those questions, we asked the XR creator, consultant, and crypto artist Don Allen Stevenson III and the architectural design studio and research collective iheartblob to share their experience.

Can Augmented Reality add value to NFTs art and if yes, in which way?

Don: I would say yes! AR can add value to NFTs for the very reason that NFT spring value to completely virtual objects. If someone can value a piece of digital artwork, they can truly value the utility that can be provided by an augmented reality asset or experience. I think that one of the easiest ways to fund the augmented reality future is through the use of NFTs, as a way of keeping a virtual receipt and provide ownership in the metaverse.

iheartblob: Digital art has been trying to establish itself within the arts community for years. People still think that it doesn’t have’ value’ if you’re not utilizing physical materials (such as a paintbrush or a canvas). The establishment of digital art is important for other mediums beyond traditional animation or still rendering. Placing a monetary value on the digital, alongside the extension of the digital into the physical has opened a unique prospect for art. 

AR gives 3D designers, architects, and visionaries the opportunity to take their project out of the flattened screen back into the real world which adds completely new complexities of scale, understanding, reflectivity, immersion, and juxtaposition.
iheartblob

Do you think AR use can influence the perception of an NFT art piece?

Don: AR can influence the perception of an NFT art piece because it adds another dimension to it. If the artwork can be appreciated in 2D, I feel like it has even more value and can be appreciated in 3D. If you tied the programming nature of augmented reality you can literally add a fourth dimension, filling up more ways to engage mentally with the artwork.

How Augmented Reality can influence the future of NFT art?

The main way that AR influences the future of NFT is by creating an expectation that there should be another dimension at it and FTEs to create the inherent value that they have.
Don Allen Stevenson III

iheartblob: The future of NFT art will be integrated with all things digital. As the artifacts we interact with within it are often seen as having an infinite supply, some people believe they’re free, cheap, and often worth less than their physical counterparts. The ability to mint and verify the existence of real digital item changes the entire perception of virtual space.

We can imagine a world where we independently or collectively own and govern our virtual overlaid cities through NFTs. AR will work to benefit NFTs as they do for AR, validating virtual space and architecture. 

How to get started with Augmented Reality and NFT?

Don: The best way to get started with AR is to start with tools that are free and available. I highly recommend the free program Blender to learn how to create assets that work in AR. If that’s a bit too scary, start off with a platform like SketchFab and download assets, and start learning how to integrate those into the free AR platforms. There is Spark AR, Lens studio, Adobe AERO, and Reality Composer: each has its pros and cons.  

Next, I’d recommend looking up on YouTube how to prepare assets for video games (as it’s the same pipeline for how to prepare assets for augmented reality). For NFTs, it’s best to start with what is low cost and available. My advice is to start off with a meta-mask account to store virtual currency and then making an account in a marketplace like OpenSea or Rariable.

iheartblob: For us, the simplest way to get involved with NFTs is to get familiar with the crypto Proof-of-Stake ecosystem and the NFT marketplace – we can recommend HICETNUNC. This is a great place for beginners – the minting fee is very low because the marketplace uses the cryptocurrency Tezos rather than Ethereum. 

As for AR, there are a number of simple ways to get involved. We would suggest anyone check out our main tools when creating new MR experiences. We use predominantly Unity3D and Wikitude, especially for Image Tracking and Scene Recognition, which we are incredibly excited about. 

How to use Wikitude’s SDK when creating augmented reality experiences for NFTs? 

iheartblob: Our excitement with Wikitude lies in the ability to harness advanced techniques such as visual positioning systems in the form of Wikitude’s scene recognition. It allows architects and designers to work at a 1:1 scale with our cities and architecture. This combined with NFTs gives the ability to mint 1:1 architectural experiences tied to their location, that become singular or collective experiences for the end-user. 


Did this blog post get you inspired to try Augmented Reality for NFTs? Follow Wikitude on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and sign up for our newsletter to receive the latest news about augmented reality first hand!

Categories
AR features

Markerless AR: how and where to use it

Markerless AR explained

Markerless AR functionality allows developers to create digital applications that overlay interactive augmentations on physical surfaces, without the need for a marker.

We can all agree that computer vision is a key part of the future of augmented reality, mobile or not. That’s why we’ve been working so hard on our Instant Tracking over the last years. If you are not yet familiar with this feature, Instant Tracking creates the perfect digital recreation of real world things anytime, anywhere without the user having to scan any image.

Instant Tracking is also the first feature using Wikitude’s Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) technology. SLAM identifies the user’s precise location within an unknown environment by simultaneously mapping the area during the Instant Tracking AR experience.

This allows developers to easily map environments and display augmented reality content without the need for target images or objects (markers). Wikitude’s SLAM markerless augmented reality tracking is one of the most versatile cross-platform 3D-tracking systems available for mobile.

Our SDK also offers its own SLAM Instant Tracking technology which can be dynamically connected to ARKit and ARCore (Wikitude SMART). SMART is a seamless API which integrates ARKit, ARCore and Wikitude’s SLAM engine in a single cross-platform AR SDK.

This feature helps developers create their projects in either JavaScript, Unity, Xamarin, PhoneGap, and Flutter without the need toto deal with specific ARKit/ARCore code. SMART dynamically identifies the end user’s device and decides if ARKit, ARCore or Wikitude SLAM should be used for each particular case.

Here are some interesting use cases for Wikitude’s markerless augmented reality feature:

Where you need to grab someone’s attention, immediately

Getting someone to look at your product is the first step of a good marketing strategy. For both marketing and retail implementations, augmented reality offers immense opportunity to do that. It’s new, easy to understand, and impossible to ignore.

Do you know the first time most of the living population saw the concept of augmented reality (although they probably didn’t know it then)? This scene with Michael J Fox in Back to the Future II.

Maybe it’s not as slick and refined as today’s visual effects, but back in 1989, it was certainly surprising – and attention-grabbing. That’s part of the way AR still works today – especially for the next couple years as wide-spread adoption still continues to grow. The most important thing to remember? If you truly surprise someone, they’ll be sure to tell everyone they know all about it.

The potential here for both retail outlets (online and in physical world) is clear – customers can interact directly with the product, and come as close they can to touching and feeling it without having it in their actual hands.

Even more opportunity exists in the gaming and entertainment – check how Socios.com gives sport fans an opportunity to collect crypto tokens, earn reward points and unlock experiences with their favorite sport clubs.

When you need to add one small piece of information

AR is at its best when it does just what it says: augment. AR can turn your phone into a diagnostic tool of unparalleled power – perceptive and reactive, hooked into the infinite database of the world wide web.

Adding a few, small, easy to understand bits of information to a real scene can simply help our mind process information so much more quickly – and clearly. Here’s a great example where an automobile roadside assistance service can help a customer diagnose a problem – without actually being anywhere on the roadside.

The opportunities here are endless – factory floor managers, warehouse workers, assembly-line technicians – anyone who needs real-time information, in a real-world setting. It’s a huge technological leap forward for the enterprise – just like when touchscreen mobile devices with third-party apps first appeared.

Where you need to show a physical object in relation to other objects

There’s a reason this idea keeps coming up – it solves a real-world problem, instantly, today.
Architecture, interior design – any creative profession that works in real world spaces can take advantage of augmented reality.

From visualizing artworks or virtually fitting furniture in your living room , the benefit here is clear – we can understand how potential real-world space will look and function so much better when we can actually see the objects we’re thinking of putting there – while we are there.

This last bit is why mobile AR is so important – if we want to make AR a practical technology, we have to be able to use it where we live, work, build and play, and we don’t want to drag a computer (or at least, a computer larger than your smartphone) everywhere we go to do it.

Here’s an example of placing designer clothing in a real-world setting, done by ARe app and powered by Wikitude:

Opening up an endless opportunity to showcase products of any size (from industrial machines to cars and jewellery), markerless AR enables a new level of shopping experience, that can take place directly on the customer’s mobile device at any time. Such options as 360 degrees product viewer, custom features annotations and 24/7 access allows customers to configure and compare products, communicate with merchants and shop in the comfort of their homes.

So be creative in your AR applications – and do something surprising. Developers all over the world are already using Wikitude technology to build AR apps that grab attention and customers – and it’s already making their lives easier.

Markerless AR infographic

Want to dig in deeper? We’ve collected a few of our favorite use cases in the infographic and a list of apps already using the technology on this YouTube playlist. Have a look and see what inspires you to make something inspiring! 

Looking how to get started with Markerless AR?

Interested in creating an AR project of your own?
Talk to one of our specialists and learn how to get started.

Contact The Wikitude Team
Categories
Digital agencies

Starting a career in augmented reality

Kicking off career in AR

Augmented reality is steadily claiming its spot not only in the digital universe but also in the career field. How can you leverage your existing skills to start a new career in AR? Here are seven smart ways to begin with.

You’ve always wanted to make your own augmented reality app. But the time, money, and coding skills required to build one have kept you from realizing your dream. Or what if you’ve been successfully building AR social filters and now consider turning it into a full time job? There are many ways to level up your career and kick off a promising future as an augmented reality expert. 

– Start off as a junior developer, then move into AR

To make the most of your career, you’ll want to start off as a junior developer, then move into augmented reality. 

Some skills you’ll want to develop include: 

  • Programming. The first step on this path is learning how to program in a language that can be used for both AR and mobile app programming. If you’re not sure where to start, take a look at some online resources like Udemy or FreeCodeCamp. 
  • 3D Modeling and Graphic Design. Understanding how 3D models work is essential if you want to create compelling digital objects for users. You should also have an eye for design if you intend on creating user interfaces or other visual elements that are essential parts of any great experience using AR technology. Learning how 3D models work is easy with online courses like those offered by Google’s Udacity program. There are also plenty of free resources available online. 

– Level up from game designer to AR game designer

There are many ways to level up your career as a game designer and kick off a promising future as an AR game designer. 

It’s important to understand the difference between AR and traditional video games. Video games that use AR technology allow players to see their surroundings while playing the game on their device or computer screen. In other words, they interact with virtual objects that appear in real-life settings while still seeing through their physical eyes rather than looking at a screen alone. 

This form of gameplay has been used for years by Nintendo’s Pokemon Go and Microsoft’s HoloLens headset but has only recently gained popularity among gamers worldwide. To kick off the transition, dig into Augmented Reality for Everyone course that FreeCodeCamp provides.

– Consider becoming a 3D modeler

It’s a good starting point for anyone looking to get into augmented reality, 3D printing, CAD, VR and animation. Your skill set will most likely already has a lot of crossover with the gaming industry and engineering fields.

Learn more about creating 3D content for augmented reality

– Get creative with your experience in graphic design

Being a graphic designer can be a great entry point into augmented reality. Graphic designers are skilled in visual communication and often have experience with tools like Photoshop and Illustrator, which are used to create 3D models. This can come in handy when designing AR experiences because these apps and games often use 3D models as visuals. 

Graphic designers can also take their skills in designing 2D layouts and apply them to creating the user interface (UI) for an app or game—for example, designing buttons on the screen or menus that users will interact with using gestures on their smartphones or tablets. Keep this in mind when applying for jobs at companies that create AR applications! 

– Work on your design skills to become an industrial designer

If you want to work in augmented reality, there’s no better place to start than with industrial design. As an industrial designer, you’ll be tasked with creating objects that are functional and appealing, but also new ways to use technology that most people haven’t considered before. This requires a great deal of creativity and imagination—but also means that once you’ve got the hang of things as an industrially-trained designer, it will be easier for your ideas to get off the ground. 

If this sounds like something that interests you, consider getting into industrial design. You’ll need some training in engineering first (which is always helpful), but then all it takes is hard work and perseverance on your part. 

As augmented reality continues to grow, there are many different types of jobs that you can do with the technology. Here are some extra ideas to explore:

Business managers are responsible for overseeing an AR company’s overall operations and ensuring it is profitable. They might be tasked with hiring employees or finding new ways to promote the company’s products.


Content developers create software programs or other content for AR applications. This type of work includes writing code, building 3D models for games and apps, creating graphics for game engines like Unity or Unreal Engines, conceptualizing ideas for apps and games through sketches or illustrations, creating user manuals and instruction guides, managing databases used in development projects. 

According to Karl Hughes, there are even more career paths that software developers can take.

Looking to get started? Here are even more resources:

With all of the technology and growth in augmented reality, you can make a career out of it. We hope this article has given you some insight into which skills will help you succeed in the field and how to start building those skills today. Remember that it takes time and effort to build a successful career, but with persistence and passion for what you do (and no matter what age), it is possible!

We’re all about the future of augmented reality, and we want you to be a part of it! 

Contact us to get started
Categories
Digital agencies

4 ways AR transforms the customer journey

The digitalization of the customer journey is an inevitable leap for every brand. AR is here to help!

Digital transformation has been fueled by a series of events in recent years, making brands think on their feet and reactively adapt strategies on all levels. The customer journey has become one of the areas in the limelight.

While the pandemic imposed restrictions on daily lives and affected purchasing habits, the online dwelling time has propelled, giving the marketers a solid reason to take a closer look at emerging technologies such as AR.

Brands worldwide show that digitalization of the customer journey is a necessary step. Luckily, advanced technological solutions are here to help make a leap. Thanks to its versatility, AR solutions gradually become a vital component in accompanying the customer throughout the entire sales funnel and beyond.

Awareness: advertising of tomorrow

Starting from the very top of the funnel, marketers could use AR to boost brand awareness and customer engagement.

Let’s take advertising. AR-powered ads that we know and love rolled out just a couple of years ago. Snapchat pioneered programmatic AR ads in 2017. This pushed other social media giants like Facebook and Instagram to catch up on the trend and present their take on using AR in advertising. According to Digiday, TikTok gets ready to introduce a new AR ad format soon.

What started as a beta-testing for selecting industries, was rapidly scaled and implemented on a broader scope, based on raving feedback of advertisers and end-users. As AR technology becomes progressively light-weight, various platforms can integrate solutions without additional workload.

For customers, “seeing is believing” is synonymous with AR commerce. As brands tell their stories in new ways, customers experience products and services in simulations that feel real. With social distancing coming to stay for a while, trying things out through AR or learning about the product without physically visiting the store becomes vital.

The transit through customer journey stages gets streamlined and leads the prospects directly to the next stage.

See how SparxWorks makes it easy for brands to showcase their products

Interest: a new dimension of customer experience

After the attention is caught, how do the brands spark interest and make a customer spend time exploring more? Immersive AR solutions make it possible. Advertisers who chose to tune in, receive a new toolset, powerful enough to flip the established paradigm of customer-brand interaction.

The AR industry provides technology to seamlessly create new customer and brand experiences on a larger scale.

A bonus for agencies and marketers is the high adaptivity of the AR solutions, meaning they could be customized for each industry’s specifics. Powered by cutting-edge AR products, brands leverage their ROI and supply customers with digital content that can be directly engaged with.

The level of interaction with such content is unprecedented and goes well beyond reading and liking. Given that augmented reality allows adding any digital content to the real-life environment, it sparks genuine emotions that no video or image could beat.

Desire: expanding functionality

Growing in functionality year to year, AR moves from a single-use experience to becoming a connecting tissue for many uprising technologies – such as AI, machine learning, and robotics.

Being less hardware dependent than VR, augmented reality proves to be a go-to solution that offers a lot of ways for deployment while being more user-friendly and highly customizable. Customers already carry AR-powered devices in their pockets (aka smartphones), creating an additional touchpoint to deliver experiences anytime.

Thanks to AR features such as Object Tracking, users can freely move around and actively interact with 3D content. Instant tracking allows the experience to take place literally everywhere – from the screen of the user’s smartphone or laptop to physical objects around, like buildings and city infrastructure. AR solutions open a new dimension of indoor and outdoor advertising.

Action: show and shop

Now, that the customer is attracted and engaged, how can we harness that attention and convert it to engagement and sales? AR comes in handy not only to present the product but also to add branded content of various complexity, showcasing product functionality and innovation.

With 3D instructional overlays, customers can visualize and learn more in real-time: be it a particular campaign or brand’s mission. Imagine allowing customers to try things virtually. Let’s say, verify if a piece of furniture fits in the room.

With AR, you can go a step further and even guide the assembling of the product. The augmented reality experience can spread throughout the entire customer journey, creating a comprehensive roadmap for brands to act on.

Design Ar GIF by Wikitude - Find & Share on GIPHY

Augmented reality solutions have the power to reimagine the customer journey as we know it. From harnessing customers’ attention by creating unique experiences that spark a genuine interest to boosting engagement and driving sales – this technology has it under its belt.

How are you leveraging AR in your customer journey? Let us know in the comments below.

Contact us to get started
Categories
News

6 industries that AR is about to transform

A global pandemic is remarkable in many ways. Locked in our homes, we embraced new ways of connecting with the world and figured that remote work could be as coherent as in the office. Suddenly cut in physical resources, the business verticals had to find alternatives to ensure that processes run as effectively as pre-pandemic. In this blog, we identify six industries that are poised for a complete transformation through augmented reality. 

Remote work and collaboration

AR improves knowledge transfer and helps close the workforce skills gap in many industries. This technology allows over-the-shoulder mentoring for team members and apprentices that can seriously impact remote workers and help workplaces scale their access to information anytime, anywhere.

While the information density and cognitive workload for employees increase, AR helps to grasp loads of information easier and enables new mediums for information exchange. Compared to conventional collaboration methods, augmented reality ensures better workflow by reducing communication efforts across teams and organizations.

Education

This year marked a breakthrough for augmented reality in education, accelerating its transition to a technology that the public can’t seem to get enough of.

With students of all ages across the globe making a sudden shift into distance learning, AR proved to be a reliable partner in bringing to life a wide array of subjects. The ask for digital tools to be easily added to the existing curriculum and keep students engaged perfectly falls into the augmented reality field of expertise.

The use cases span from providing 3D visualizations to otherwise static books and printed materials to creating scalable digital twins of human organs.

Video source: Virtuali-Tee

It will be safe to say that the next decade will mark a wider adoption of AR in education, from school to higher education and corporate formation. 

Companies already leveraging AR for workforce learning notice a significant reduction in training time and improved quality.

Another benefit of AR is the ability to create a sense of physical presence and immersive digital experiences. This gives augmented content for education and training a unique ability to harness people’s attention, even in our age of shortening attention span.

Toys and games

This year showed more toy manufacturers tapping into the AR potential to bridge physical and digital play.

Augmented play is well-received by both parents and children of different age categories. This acceptance means we’ll see established toy brands and startups using augmented elements to boost engagement and increase dwell time.

With target audiences now mainly consisting of digital natives, Gen-Zs, and millennials, the demand for tech elements and AR in the toy industry will only grow.  

Discover: How the toy industry adopts augmented reality

Augmented Reality Demo: Object Tracking

Advanced features such as Object and Image Tracking can revamp the classic game formats as we know them. Remember that battered Monopoly game that your family has been playing on and off for more than a decade? Now, imagine adding a digital layer to it to add a compelling twist that brings generations together.

Toy makers can achieve twice as much retention for the same price by investing in added augmented features.

Explore: Toy and game brands’ roadmap to AR

The technology leverages game experiences for the card and board games and helps seamlessly surpass players’ expectations. Added narrative and gameplay experiences help alleviate the parental fear of increased screen time, turning augmented toys into a new means of socializing and exploring the world. 

Read success stories of toy companies using the Wikitude SDK:

Logistics and warehousing

The ubiquity of AR usage can help transport and logistic companies operate efficiently, regardless of restrictions pandemics or other external factors might impose. Equipped with AR functionality, warehouse employees scan the orders and see digital prompts that offer the best route to the precise storage location.

Digital instruction overlay comes as a bonus to the classic navigation feature, making the technology invaluable in boosting productivity and quality control.

With the advancement of smart glasses technology, we could expect their wide use in the logistics and warehousing industry. The expanded functionality of integrated AR solutions will allow combining the value of handheld devices, QR scanners, barcode reading, and printed documentation with real-time interactions.

Architecture and construction

Catalyzed by COVID-19, digital twins and immersive augmented experiences have opened the gateway for organizations to connect the teams and field workers remotely and enhance collaboration.

AR enables remote collaboration with stable two-way video and audio annotations that any team member can access on-site and in the office. Such technological advancements leave traditional ways of cooperation far behind and accelerate the adoption rate by construction companies and the open public.

Imagine a construction company using an app to add a detailed view of the future building for the local community to inform and provide a communication and feedback channel.

The same channel could be used in-house for cross-team collaboration in real-time.

See more : iheartblob XR collective uses technology to augment printed content

Scene Tracking is a breakthrough AR feature that the construction and architecture sector will rely on increasingly. Spanning from spatial computing, this AR feature is used to track pre-determined environments and large-scale objects. Scene Tracking uses reference points and features in the chosen scene or area, making augmented reality content reachable on a wide variety of phones, tablets, and AR smartglasses.

Get the full picture: Scene Recognition and Tracking how-to

Retail and e-commerce

Restrictions of physical gatherings, canceled events, and closed showrooms seem like a major hurdle for the buyers to enjoy the shopping sprees. But not anymore – augmented reality is rapidly winning the hearts (and smartphones) of a global audience, allowing you to test and try any item virtually in the comfort of your home.

Zoom in : Auta Super iShowroom offers an enhanced shopping experience thanks to the high-quality 3D visualization

What other industries do you believe AR will transform this year? Let us know via social media using the hashtag #wikitude


Interested in creating an AR project of your own? Talk to our specialists.

Contact The Wikitude Team

Categories
News

Augmenting the future: interview with Martin Herdina

Martin Herdina talks about Wikitude joining the Qualcomm family, growing together with the developer community, and why the future of augmented reality is headworn.

Running a start-up needs strong vision, grit, and persistence. Running an augmented reality start-up? Double that up and mix in a profound belief in an extraordinary team that can accomplish anything.



It started with a vision

Thirteen years ago, we set out on a mission to pioneer the augmented reality industry. As a team of engineers, researchers, product and business people from all walks of life, we came together under the Wikitude’s roof to pursue our curiosity and see what happens if we take another step towards our vision.

Our belief has always been that AR will drastically shape the future of how we consume information, and we worked hard to make that vision a reality.

Our belief has always been that augmented reality will shape the future of how we consume information, and we worked hard to make that vision a reality.


A fair share of wins (some smaller, some larger) in the market showed us that we are on the right path (even though things have been tough sometimes). Wikitude spearheaded the industry when we launched the world’s first mobile AR app. We’ve created tools that have become the go-to technology for developers worldwide.

Using our AR SDK, Wikitude customers and developers applied augmented reality across industry verticals, creating billions of apps and use cases. Through community’s tireless efforts, our vision of augmented reality has been taking shape!



The ultimate dream

But the final frontier was still ahead – not only making augmented reality accessible for everyone but turning it into the most natural experience that hardware can allow. Since 2013, when Wikitude started supporting wearable devices, we’ve been dreaming of headworn AR.

While smartphones serve as an important step, smart glasses would completely remove the friction of looking down on the small screen.


And this is where Qualcomm steps in. The company plays a special role in the XR ecosystem, having continuously shown interest in the XR segment, investing in the next generation of chips and reference hardware. We’ve been working together since 2019, integrating our AR SDK into Snapdragon® XR Platform, showing a glimpse of how the next generation of spatial computing will look like.

Now, when augmented reality hardware and technology have advanced to the point where both started to gain commercial traction, we are excited to join forces and accelerate the enablement of custom experiences powering the next generation of AR glasses. It’s a very exciting journey ahead, where together we’ll set the stage for a thriving AR ecosystem and mass-market adoption.

The future of AR is headworn

For years, we’ve been tailoring our SDK to support a number of headworn devices to enable flawless tracking and help users discover the potential headworn AR experiences can bring.

Why headworn? We believe it provides a basis to experience the true immersiveness that augmented reality is all about. Something that no smartphone can ever bring. Using AR headsets, users can see the augmented world around the same way they experience the real world. See-through displays allow a wide field of view while you have your hands free and can freely move around, collaborate, work and play with immersive experiences.

Using AR headsets, users can see augmented world around the same way they experience the real word.


The absence of friction headworn AR can provide will pave the way to the metaverse, where we will eventually interact and socialize, just like we do in the real world (plus the endless opportunities the digital universe can bring).

Driving adoption
While the expectations for AR hardware grow and the industry slowly gets to the point of meeting customer expectations, we believe that the world won’t switch to all-in-one AR devices in the nearest future. Instead, we are leaning in on the approach Qualcomm Technologies takes in connecting a lightweight viewer device to the smartphone that provides ultra-low-power technology with advanced rendering.

Powered by 5G, this is a pragmatic step toward enabling headworn AR tomorrow, making the innovation accessible for everyone who can’t wait to experience headworn AR.


What’s next?
Having become a part of the Qualcomm family, Wikitude will continue doing what we do best–working on our cutting-edge AR SDK and growing a thriving developer community. Our expertise in well-designed AR experiences, robust tools and strong knowledge of our developer audience and Qualcomm Technologies XR innovation will help strengthen the XR sector and accelerate the enablement of custom AR experiences as the toolkit of choice for headworn AR glasses.

United in the horizontal-platform approach, we share the vision of running a platform for headworn AR that will open up endless opportunities. And Wikitude developers will be the first to make a difference and start creating and experimenting with the new tools.

Introducing Snapdragon Spaces




Today we are unveiling a new beginning: Snapdragon Spaces™ XR Developer Platform. This developer-first platform is tailored to remove friction for developers and unlock the full potential of wearable immersive AR.

Backed by Wikitude’s 9th generation AR technology and Qualcomm Technologies leadership in the XR ecosystem, Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform paves the way to a new frontier of spatial computing and empowers developers to create experiences for AR glasses that transform spaces around us.

Learn more about Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform to stay in the know

Snapdragon and Snapdragon Spaces are products of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.

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Digital agencies

6 Innovative Augmented Reality Product Packaging Use Cases

AR product packaging

This article covers six successful augmented reality product packaging campaigns created with the Wikitude AR Software Development Kit.

Augmented reality technology is gradually expanding its outreach by establishing its presence throughout various segments of the market. The product packaging sector, in particular, has been getting a lot of AR traction.

Discover: Harness the power of augmented reality solutions for packaging

After covering the marketing advantages of augmented reality in packaging, we will now explore six Wikitude AR-powered use cases that brought innovation and excitement to the product packaging industry.

Jack Daniel’s AR Experience

The Jack Daniel’s AR Experience, from the Brown-Forman spirits and wine company, takes consumers on a virtual journey of the Jack Daniel Distillery through a series of pop-up book-style dioramas.

The Jack Daniel Distillery’s AR app offers a virtual tour of the distillery, allowing users to take a closer look at the whiskey-making process, and learn stories about the man himself—Mr. Jack Daniel.

AR app: Jack Daniel’s AR Experience [ Google Play – App Store ]

Thirty days after the official global Jack Daniel’s AR Experience app launch, 30.000+ iOS and Android users watched over 110,000 ‘Jack Stories’ AR experiences with an average of 5:42 minutes of total session time per user.

Herbal Essences AR Experience

Herbal Essences AR

The haircare brand Herbal Essences wanted to drive more attention and encourage more consumers to make better choices when the products they use reach their end-of-use cycle.

The AR experience digitally displays an interactive beachscape around the bottle while displaying an informative video that speaks of the product and the plastic waste problem.

AR app: Herbal Essences AR Experience [ App Store ]

As the AR experience progresses, users see plastic waste washing up on the augmented shore and are invited to swipe the screen to help clean the oceans.

Mojokaii AR animated booster

Mojokaii AR

Mojokaii premium gaming boosters were created specifically for the gaming community. Tapping into the target audience’s affinity to immersive experiences, the Mojokaii AR companion app gamifies tasting and engages customers to collect all product varieties.

Augmented reality effects were created by an international team of VFX artists. By pointing to the packaging label, gamers dive into an immersive digital narrative, unique for each product variation.



The video on the labels and the visual effects around the product is shown in real-time, allowing customers to look at them from different angles. The Mojokaii app uses Wikitude’s curved marker-based tracking that recognizes label designs and shows unique stories and effects for each product.

Francesco Rinaldi® AR App

Francesco Rinaldi is a pasta sauce company that has been on the market for over 45 years. The company wanted to link tradition with innovation by bringing its brand icon, Mrs. Rinaldi, to life. The AR app enables Mrs. Rinaldi to share her stories of what makes her pasta sauce different from other brands.

After downloading and opening the app, users can use their smartphone camera to scan any of the Francesco Rinaldi pasta sauce jar labels. Depending on the pasta sauce line, Mrs. Rinaldi will magically come to life and deliver a specific message for that particular product. 

Each AR scan has a “Tap for More” button which invites the customer to the Extended Experience. Every click leads users to different landing pages containing more information about the company, packaging design, list of recipes and more.

AR app: Francesco Rinaldi® AR App

The AR experience has increased customer loyalty, brand and product differentiation, customer interaction, and brand recognition.

Ribena “Doodle your World” AR app

Ribena has been in the beverage industry for over 75 years. To bring life and user interaction to their ‘doodle bombing’ inspired campaign, they created the “Doodle your World” app to provide a fun augmented reality experience.

 The concept behind the AR app took its creative inspiration from the pop-culture art movement known as ‘doodle bombing’ and combined it with augmented reality technology. 

App users are encouraged to create their own doodle-bomb videos using the colourful Ribena character animations to share with friends via message and social media platforms – Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. 

The app experience goes on to reward users by unlocking more character animations from the content they create and share, and by purchasing and scanning any one of the limited edition AR ready “Doodle your world” Ribena drink bottles currently in circulation. 

Users can see Ribenary characters come to life on their screens anywhere they are. With the app, Ribena fans can also stream augmented reality videos in real-time, capture these special moments and share the fun with friends and family.

Fruit Bliss Interactive

Fruit Bliss creates wholesome snacks with simple ingredients. The company wanted to have a closer, more personal relationship with its customers and expand communication beyond the physical borders of their product packaging.

Customers use their smart device camera to scan select packages that will then trigger the AR experience.


AR app: Fruit Bliss Interactive [ Google Play ]

The solution was described as an “upgraded email newsletter”. It allows users to unlock augmented content in the form of news, info, social media links, newsletter invites, special offers, and more.



Technology and device capabilities have come a long way since the origins of AR. Today, developers equipped with the right tools have the ability to create various high-performing AR experiences that bring true value, and entertainment to the end-user.

The Wikitude AR SDK has a wide variety of augmented reality features that support can support your product packaging AR campaigns.

For Unity Experts, and due to popular demand, Wikitude is introducing AR capabilities for cylinder targets.

Wikitude Cylinder Tracking for Unity

Cylinder Tracking is the ideal AR feature for augmenting cylindrical-shaped drink cans, wine bottles, longnecks, aluminum tin cans, cosmetic bottles, and other tubular-shaped product containers.

Wikitude Cylinder Tracking technology covers a wide variety of cylindrical targets and label shapes. Unity developers can create campaigns that overlay cylinder targets with interactive digital augmentations such as videos, images, 3D models, audio, buttons, and more.

Interested in giving Wikitude Cylinder Tracking a try?

Try Cylinder Tracking

Want to enhance your product package with AR technology features? Access our store to choose your license or contact our team to discuss your specific AR requirements.

Categories
Dev to Dev

How to apply UX design principles in augmented reality

UX design principles in AR

If you are a UX/UI designer who builds user experiences in digital environments, chances are you will be working with augmented reality sooner than you think. As AR applications rapidly break into the mainstream, making the user feel in control of a product becomes even more critical in user experience design.

This article breaks down the role that user experience design principles play in augmented reality application development, with a specific focus on UI design.

The article is based on a presentation by our senior software engineer, Gökhan Özdemir, for the “UX for AR” webinar. Watch the full recording here.

What is UX design for augmented reality? 

User Experience Design, or UX, is the process of designing a product that considers the needs of the users and makes the user flow as seamless and intuitive as possible. Good UX always starts with putting the user at the center of the design process. It also relies on the principles of human psychology and empathy.

Now, what about UX for AR?  In augmented reality apps, success means offering a great user experience through a seamless blend of hardware and software. 

Augmented reality experiences are overlaid on the real environment, so the user experience is spatial and highly contextual. It makes designing UX for AR more challenging as designers need to think through spatial experiences. Getting it wrong can mean users have a less than stellar experience – and no one wants that. 

Getting started

User design can be tricky. Designing for a new technology that is only getting traction? Even trickier! Let’s explore the role of user experience (UX) design in AR applications — how to think through your user experience as a designer and navigate the technical decisions when creating an AR app. 

You will learn how to create a compelling user experience for your AR application that considers the physical space and natural human interaction. 

Five pillars of UX design for augmented reality

Users prefer to interact with elements of an interface discreetly, not to be reminded of what the interface contains. This is different from the traditional user experience (UX) associated with conventional websites and mail applications. The UX for augmented reality (also known as 3D user interface) concept emphasizes interaction and visual interest above all else. Users are interested in entering the virtual space and are not distracted by surroundings that are not real.

Our five common UX design pillars for AR will help you define the considerations you’ll need to make when designing your UI and experiences for virtual objects.

Kick-off your design process by considering these criteria:

  • Environment
  • Movement
  • Onboarding
  • Interaction
  • UI (User Interface)

While it’s crucial to consider the first two pillars (environment and movement) designing for AR, the last three (onboarding, interaction, and UI) are equally crucial for both 3D and traditional 2D screen space UI.  

Environment

As augmented reality experiences are spatial and always interconnected with the real world, the environment plays a key role in the design process. The environment can be broken down into four most common categories of space, defined by the distance from the user.

Image source: Wikipedia

Examples of AR in the intimate space include face filters (like Snapchat or Instagram), hand tracking, or hand augmentations if you use a head-mounted AR display. 

Moving to personal space, augmented reality experiences might feature real objects, people, or the area around you. Featured in the video below, you can see a learning-focused AR experience that uses educational models to animate the chemistry concepts through an interactive digital layer.

AR experience in personal space

Another example of using augmented reality in personal space is popular table-top and card games and augmented packaging. Think augmented pizza boxes or collectible cards with augmented characters that interact with each other.

Discover more: Wizzzi uses AR to gamify loyalty program for retailers

Next up is the social space. If you pan the camera further away, you will target the area that can be occupied by other people, unlike in a personal space where you have more privacy. This space segment is widely used for multiplayer AR games or augmenting objects on a scale, from the furniture to monuments and buildings.

In many cases, AR experiences in public space are anchored to specific locations with enough area to place an augmentation or sites that should be tracked in AR. The mumok AR experience in Vienna is a perfect example of the AR in public space where the entire building is tracked, using the Wikitude Scene Tracking feature.

mumok AR

Movement

The success of any new product or service directly depends on how well it integrates with today’s users’ minds — both physically and psychologically. Movement makes the next UX design pillar. When you design the experience, you want to use the area around the user most of the time.

As smartphones and head-worn devices give a limited view into the environment, the designer’s primary task is to guide the user. By including the navigation elements on the screen, you will be steering the user’s gaze, helping them get around and move along the experience. 

While you are visually guiding the user, it’s essential to keep in mind not to dictate to go in specific directions. This might lead to unwanted hiccups in the experience or even cause accidents. 

Onboarding

The next pillar we are going to explore is the user onboarding. Creating user-friendly and engaging augmented reality experiences can be a challenge. It’s not enough to just put some markers around your location or overlay some information on top of an image. You need to understand what the user is looking at and how they are using it. When creating the AR experiences, keep in mind that the most important thing for your users is not accuracy but usability. 

Another factor to consider is that different devices have various technical limitations in supporting AR features. Markerless AR, for instance, would require the user to move the device around, so that computer vision algorithms could detect different feature points across multiple poses to calculate surfaces.

The scanning process takes no time for newer devices with an in-built LiDAR sensor (like iPad Pro). But for other devices, your users might appreciate a comprehensive onboarding UI. The pop-up menu or instructions should guide the user on the following steps to successfully launch and run an AR experience.

To launch a tracking algorithm, you might want to use a sketched silhouette of the desired object to provide a clue on the shape and pose to prompt the user to align the view with the real object. Read more about the Alignment Initializer feature in our documentation.

Alignment initialization

Taking the onboarding offline, sometimes the physical methods like signage are used to communicate about the AR app, provide a QR code for quick download and mark the exact standpoint for an optimal experience. 

Interaction

Once the AR experience is launched, we are transitioning to another UX design staple – interaction. During this phase, your user will benefit from the intuitive and responsive interaction. When designing for touch, you are most likely be using these most common gestures and prompts: 

  • Tap to select
  • Drag starting from the center of the object to translate
  • Drag starting from edge of the object to rotate
  • Pinch to scale

Responsive interaction means taking into account the distance from the desired objects to the camera, which will define how easy or difficult it is for the user to interact with it. To facilitate the interaction with farther placed objects, consider increasing the sphere’s bounding box to make it less dependent on the distance to the camera.

Minimizing input via finger might also be a good idea, especially when designing for tablet users. As most of the tablets are held with two hands, some UI or interaction elements placed in the middle of the screen will be very hard to interact with. Instead, use gaze input like triggering intro, interactions, or buttons in the augmented space by looking at them long enough. You might know this from VR where you don’t have any controllers and experiences are mostly driven by gaze. 

Consider using accessibility features, especially if you are designing for a broader audience. This way, you let the user rotate or reset the position of an augmentation instead of walking around it.

UI (User Interface)

The final principle we want to highlight is UI, which consists of augmented and traditional screen space. Depending on the use case, you will be using them interchangeably. While UI in the augmented space boosts immersion as the user perceives it as part of the experience, screen space UI is sometimes easier to read and interact. 

Designing with humans in mind

AR can improve people’s lives simply by allowing them to experience something that wasn’t possible before. Applying UX principles to AR can help designers create experiences that are clear, integrate easily into daily life, and create powerful emotional responses.

The guidelines we’ve shared aren’t magic bullets, but they do place fundamental guidance around where designers should be focusing their attention when crafting an experience for a user of any age.

What is your take on using UX principles when designing AR experiences? Let us know via social media (Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn) and tag @wikitude to join the conversation.

Categories
Dev to Dev

Augmented Reality Glossary: from A to Z

Augmented reality technology becomes a driving force behind tectonic changes in business methods by and large. We created a comprehensive AR glossary with the most common terms and definitions to help you understand the lingo better.

Augmented Reality Glossary

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

Augmented Reality (AR)

Technology that uses software to superimpose various forms of digital content – such as videos, photos, links, 3D models, and others – in the real environment, predefined images or object targets. The realistic augmentation is achieved by making use of the device camera and its sensors.

AR Bridge

A feature that allows developers to integrate native AR SDKs such as ARKit and ARCore with advanced image and object tracking functionality from the Wikitude SDK. When enabled, the camera configured as AR Camera will be driven by AR Bridge, while the Drawables will be driven by the Wikitude SDK. The Wikitude SDK provides a built-in connection to these native SDKs through the Internal AR Bridge implementation. This is a ready-made solution that just needs to be enabled. As an alternative, a Plugin implementation can be chosen, which allows the developer to integrate with other positional tracking SDKs.

AR Overlay

An overlay principle is indispensable for the augmented reality technology.  Overlay happens when the formats such as images, videos, or 3D are superimposed over an Image or Object Target.

ARKit and ARCore

These are, respectively, Apple’s and Google’s AR development platforms. Fully integrable with the Wikitude SDK, ARKit and ARCore can be extended with features that are not natively available in those AR frameworks or come with different quality standards (compared to the implementation in the Wikitude SDK).

Automatic Initialization

Automatic initialization is the default mode of the Wikitude SDK for both image and object targets. It is the most natural behavior for users, and as they point the camera towards the target, position and orientation will be detected automatically. The tracking of the target will start seamlessly. 

 

Alignment Initialization

The alignment initializer is a visual element in the UI that signals the user from which viewpoint (perspective) the object can be recognized and tracking can be started. This feature can be used for objects that are hard to recognize automatically (usually objects with unclear or unreliable texture). An unreliable texture could be an object that has different colors or areas that keep changing (e.g. mud, stickers). 

Assisted Reality 

Assisted Reality is a non-immersive visualization of various content (e.g. text, diagrams, images, simple videos).  Being considered experience within the augmented reality range, the assisted reality is often delivered through wearable hardware and serves to enhance personal awareness in given situations or scenes.

Assisted Tracking

Assisted tracking is a term describing a technology where the performance of Image, Cylinder, and Object targets benefit from the fact that a native AR framework is run in parallel. This results in increased stability of the mentioned trackers even when they move independently. Assisted tracking is enabled by default when using AR Bridge or AR Foundation.

B

C

Computer-Aided Design (CAD)

CAD or computer-aided design and drafting (CADD), is a technology for design and technical documentation. In AR, CAD is a common asset format used as an input method for augmented reality experiences. The format digitalizes /automatizes designs and technical specifications for built or manufactured products. 

Combine Trackers

The feature that allows developers to combine different trackers such as Positional Tracking from ARKit/ARCore, Image Tracking, and Object Tracking in a single AR experience.

Computer Vision (CV)

Computer vision is the ability of machines to recognize, process and understand digital images and objects, as well as scenes of the world around us. CV is one of the bases of augmented reality and the core of Wiktiude’s AR SDK. 

Cloud Recognition

Cloud Recognition is a cloud-based service that hosts predefined images online and allows recognition of many targets through a smartphone or smart glasses. This service allows fast, scalable, and reliable online recognition for ever-changing, dynamic, and large-scale projects.

Cylinder Tracker

Cylinder Tracker (or cylinder targets) is a special form of an Image Target. With it, images that are wrapped around a cylindrical shape can be recognized and tracked. This can range from labels on a wine bottle to prints on a can or any other graphical content. Cylinder Recognition and Tracking extend the capabilities of the Wikitude SDK to recognize cylinder objects. The feature is based on the Image Tracking module, but instead of recognizing plane images, it is able to recognize cylinder objects like cans through its images.

D

Drawable

An instance of an augmentation prefab that is instantiated in the scene when a target is detected.

E

Extended Tracking

Extended Tracking allows digital augmentations, attached to objects, scenes, or images, to persist in the user’s field of view even when the initial target is no longer in the frame. That is particularly useful when showing large augmentations that exceed the target. 

F

Field of view

The field of view is an area that can be observed either physically by a person or through a device lens. Depending on the lens focus, the field of view can be adapted and can vary in size. 

G

Geo AR

Location-based augmented reality allows developers to attach interactive and useful digital content to geo-based markers. This means that unlike the typical marker-based AR features – like Image Tracking and Object Tracking, Geo AR does not need a physical target to trigger the AR experience. Wikitude has been developing augmented reality technology since 2008 and pioneered in launching the world’s first location-based AR app for mobile. 

H

Holograms 

A hologram is a digital content formed by light that is projected on a transparent display or into open space. This type of content can be static or interactive, is usually three-dimensional and commonly used for smart glasses/mixed reality devices such as HoloLens. 

HoloLens 

HoloLens is a Microsoft’s head-mounted display, also referred to as mixed reality smart glasses. A popular device for industrial use cases and compatible with the Wikitude SDK.

I

Instant  Targets

Instant Targets is a feature within AR Instant Tracking which allows end-users to save and load their AR sessions. It means the important digital notes, directions, visual augmentations, and the whole AR experience itself can be accessed and experienced by multiple users across devices and operating systems (iOS, Android, and UWP) at different points in time. This makes sharing and revisiting the AR experience easy and meaningful. Instant Targets also allows users to load, edit, and re-save the AR experience on the fly.  The versatility of the feature use makes it very practical for remote assistance and maintenance use cases. 

Image Target

Image Target is a known planar image which will trigger an AR experience when recognized through the camera view from a smartphone or smart glasses. Targets are preloaded to the Wikitude system and are associated with a target collection for recognition.

Image Recognition and Tracking

This feature enables the Wikitude SDK to recognize and track known images (single or multiple) to trigger augmented reality experiences. Recognition works best for images with characteristics described on Wikitude’s best practice Image Target guideline. Suitable images can be found on product packaging, books, magazines, outdoors, paintings, and other 2D targets.  

Instant Tracking 

Instant Tracking technology (also known as ‘dead reckoning’) makes it possible for AR applications to overlay interactive digital content onto physical surfaces without requiring the use of a predefined marker to kick off the AR experience. Instant Tracking does not need to recognize a predefined target to start the tracking procedure thereafter. Instead, it initializes by tracking the physical environment itself. This markerless augmented reality is possible thanks to SLAM – Simultaneous Localization and Mapping technology. 

J

K

L

M

Machine Learning

Machine learning is a subset of artificial intelligence, that provides computer algorithms with the ability to learn and constantly improve the learning outcome based on the knowledge collected.

Markup 

Markup is the method of creating a composed scene by using the augmentations, triggers, or other information.

N

O

Object Target 

Objects can be used as targets to trigger the AR experience upon recognition via the camera view. The target is a pre-recorded map of the object. Object Targets can be created using two different ways: images or 3D models as input methods. The source material in both cases is converted into a Wikitude Object Target Collection, which is stored as a .wto file.

Object Recognition and Tracking

This feature enables the Wikitude SDK to recognize and track arbitrary objects for augmented reality experiences. Object Recognition and Tracking let users detect objects and entire scenes that were predefined. Recognition works best for objects that have only a limited number of changing/dynamic parts. Suitable objects for recognition and tracking include toys, monuments, industrial objects, tools, and household supplies.

Optical character recognition (OCR) 

OCR, or optical character reader, is the electronic conversion of images of handwritten or printed texts into machine-encoded text.

P

Positional Tracker (from Native AR frameworks)

The Wikitude SDK can use native AR frameworks (like ARKit or AR Core) in parallel to other trackers. This can be either through an existing connection to Unity’s AR Foundation or through Wikitude’s own AR Bridge. Positional tracking is the process of tracking the position and orientation of the device continuously by the device itself. This is sometimes referred to as World Tracking (Apple), Motion Tracking (Google), Head Tracking (VR headsets), or Instant Tracking (Wikitude Professional Edition).

Q

R

Range Extension

The Wikitude SDK Image Recognition engine can make use of HD camera frames to detect images from further away. Further away in this context means distances 3x further away, compared to not enabling this mode (e.g. A4-sized target can reach recognition distances in the area of 2.4 meters/ 8 feet). This feature is called Image Recognition Range Extension and can be activated through a setting in the Image Tracker class. 

Real-world Scale

The Wikitude SDK can be configured to work with a real-world scale, which has the benefit that augmentations can be authored with a consistent scale that will be preserved when used on different targets.

Recognition

Recognition describes the process of finding an image or object in the camera viewfinder. For augmented reality purposes, it is not enough to only identify the object or the bounding box of the object. The position and orientation of the object need to be detected accurately as well. This capability distinguishes AR recognition significantly from other recognition or classification services. Recognition acts as the starting point for tracking the object in real-time – this is also referred to as initialization. The Wikitude SDK has two recognition methods: Automatic Initialization and Alignment initialization. 

Remote Assistance

Remote Assistance in the context of augmented reality is the offering of a platform or application with features such as live video streaming of images and videos. The digital content is overlaid on the user’s view of the real-world environment, making it essential for frontline and field workers in various industries.  

S

Scene Recognition

The object recognition engine of the Wikitude SDK is used to recognize and track larger structures that go beyond table-sized objects. The name Scene Recognition reflects this in particular. The feature is ideal for augmented reality experiences using rooms, building facades, as well as squares and courtyards as targets.

Software Development Kit (SDK)

Group of development tools used to build an application for a specific platform.

Spatial Computing

This term is defined as human interaction with a machine in which the machine retains and manipulates referents to real objects and spaces.

SLAM

SLAM is an abbreviation for Simultaneous Localization and Mapping technology. SLAM is a technology that Computer Vision uses to receive visual data from our physical world (usually in the form of tracked points). Devices then use this visual input to understand and appropriately interact with the environment. 

SMART  

SMART is a seamless API within Instant Tracking that integrates ARKit, ARCore, and Wikitude’s SLAM engine in a single cross-platform AR SDK. By using it, developers do not have to deal with specific ARKit / ARCore code and can create their projects in either JavaScript, Unity, Xamarin, and Cordova. SMART works by dynamically identifying the end user’s device and deciding which should be used for each particular case.  

T

Target

A target image and associated extracted data are used by the tracker to recognize an image.

Target collection

An archive storing a collection of targets that can be recognized by the tracker. A target collection can come from two different resource types: as plain (a regular ZIP file containing images in plain JPG or PNG) or preprocessed (regular images that are converted into a WTC file (Wikitude Target collection) for faster processing and optimized storing offline).

Tracking 

The AR experience should “understand and follow” where a specific object is placed in the real-world to anchor content to it. This process is commonly referred to as tracking. Tracking in ideal cases happens in real-time (minimum every 33ms) so that the object is followed very accurately. There are many trackers available today, ranging from trackers that follow a face, hands, fingers, images, or generic object. All of them are based on a reference that is later understood by the software.

U

Unity3d

Unity is a cross-platform game engine developed by Unity Technologies.

V

W

Wikitude SDK

The Wikitude SDK script handles the initialization and destruction of the SDK and its native components. It additionally needs to be configured with the correct license key for your application. You can either buy a commercial license from our web page or download a free trial license key and play around with our SDK.

X

XR (Extended reality)

Extended Reality is an umbrella term that covers all computer-generated environments, either superimposed onto the physical world or creating immersive experiences for the user. XR includes AR, VR, MR, and any other emerging technologies of the same type.

Y

Z

Zebra 

Barcode scanning software can be combined with the Wikitude SDK via Plugins API allowing developers to integrate barcode identification to AR apps.  

3D model based generation 

3D models of objects are a great source for information, that can be used as a reference for recognizing and tracking an object for augmented reality experiences. The huge variety of 3D models in today’s market ranging from precise CAD/CAM data for manufacturing to runtime assets defined in FBX glTF or others brought us to the conclusion to launch this feature in closed BETA. For more details please contact Wikitude directly.

Would you like us to include other terms and concepts in Augmented Reality Glossary? Let us know.

Contact us

Categories
Toys & Games

Why digital natives choose augmented reality and your toy brand should too

Digital natives AR Wikitude Blog post hero image

A full year of the COVID crisis has proved that the toy industry is one of the most resilient. While sales skyrocket and the customer base extends to include adults seeking refuge in play, toy brands have to stay ahead of the game. Augmented reality helps to future-proof toys for the digital natives’ generation.

Nowadays, the driving force behind toy sales bonanza is preschool to teenage kids. This digital natives cohort was born into the era of technology and social networks.

The new generation’s digital affinity and other traits impact their shopping choices. To meet the next generation of consumers, toy brands should watch those traits.

Inside the digital natives’ minds

Digital natives switch between the digital and physical worlds. The new kids are more tech-savvy and aware of the latest trends than their parents. According to Ofcom, half of the 10 year-olds now own their smartphone. By the time kids get ready for secondary school, the smartphone ownership doubles. This milestone marks kids’ digital independence. 

Modern kids feel the influence from friends, family, and external sources (e.g. social media). Sure, peer sharing still stays a go-to way to learn about new toys and trends. But digital natives kids also binge-watch YouTube influencers unpacking videos. Often it happens months before those toys land on the shop shelves.

By the time family toy shopping happens, the kids (as young as toddlers) will know precisely what they want to get.

Explore more: Toy and game brands’ roadmap to augmented reality

Embracing digital

After smartphones and tablets, new kids expect toys to include digital components. Companion apps bridge hands-on play with their favorite digital universe. Thus, the play experience can go beyond the living room and be shared with friends.

What does it mean for toy brands? They need to adapt to young audiences’ shifting interests. One tactic is to add a digital layer to product functionality. Brands can use new channels to collect insights about play behavior to understand their audience better.

CEOs of the household

New kids’ savviness doesn’t stop at using technology. Surprisingly, Generation Alpha kids have an increasing influence over the household buying decisions. According to the Insights People, kids are becoming the CEOs of the household. 

Well-informed about emerging trends, digital natives influence their parents’ consumer habits. Since the COVID crisis has boosted family time, toy brands worldwide have noticed a sales spike.

This trend is likely to persist even after the pandemic, along with children having more say in the household shopping. 

AR embodies the new type of play

Many toy brands strategically invest resources to future-proof the products with digital solutions. The efforts don’t stop at improving the e-commerce experience or producing high-quality content.

Recently LEGO reported the operating profit rising by 19% to £1.5bn in 2020. The growth is mostly due to the investment in bridging physical and digital play. “Children are digital natives – they don’t care whether they play physically or digitally,” says Niels B Christiansen, Lego’s chief executive.

Like Pokémon Go, LEGO has strategically invested in an AR toy line and now reaps the benefits from the increased interest of digital natives.

How AR solutions bridge tech-minded generations and toy brands?

Generation Alpha kids grow along with smart devices and technology. As a result, these kids will likely have higher expectations of toys. Augmented reality acts as an imaginative layer for kids. Moreover, this technology unlocks fantasy and gives physical toys superpowers that go beyond the hands-on play.

Various toy categories can benefit from the augmented reality layer. It not only extends IRL (in real life) fun and catches youngsters’ interest. Augmented reality helps to win the age groups that are about to switch to the digital and forgo classic toys for the lack of interactivity. 

Augmented reality is a new way to:

  • – broadcast immersive digital content

  • – enable social sharing and multiplayer experience

  • – unlock new collecting possibilities


    • Lastly, toy marketers and product developers can use AR to get insights into the dwell time and play behavior. What’s more, augmented reality solutions for toys are easy to customize. It’s also easy to use AR without disrupting the whole production cycle.


    Toy brands are using augmented reality solutions to make their products ready for the digital natives. Interested to learn more?

    Talk to our experts & start today

    Read more about Wikitude’s augmented reality solutions for toy companies: