XR Programs — a Starter Pack
(Dipping your toes into the world of AR development, with a little VR overlap by default)
Are you interested in augmented reality development? Good, you’re in the right place!!
The AR/MR (mixed reality)/XR (extended reality) sphere can be intimidating, but as any new ecosystem of mediums grows, so does the crowd of passionate people behind it who want to spread the wealth of knowledge! I want to put together this brief (maybe not so brief) and digestible little article, to help anyone new to this space understand all (some) of the programs flying around that enable XR creation and development!
With that, it's good to keep in mind that each day this article ages this list will become more and more outdated, but most of these players have been in the game for some time and will continue to be important contenders!
We’ll be focusing on augmented reality because it’s what I know best and I think all of the moving parts that can go into AR dev are very nebulous and constantly changing. Much like an oil painter needs their paints and turpentine, AR creators need a myriad of tools as well! Refer to my medium article — What is Social AR — if you want to familiarize yourself with the landscape before diving into the creation process.
So, let's begin our list!! I find it most succinct to quote exactly how these programs choose to describe themselves, and also link to their sites for further exploration! After that, we’ll dive into the purpose of this list :).
(Disclaimer, this is NOT an exhaustive list, that would be impossible, these are just key players that I have personally interfaced with and think are good to be knowledgeable of).
Creation Programs by Category
3D modeling/animation
These programs help you build very integral assets for AR creation, 3D models! Not all AR *has* to contain 3D, but it is a typical type of asset used in the space because of its dimensionality and end goal of simulating reality and enhancing reality by mimicking it!
Blender (free) // An amazing place to start with 3D, open-source and supported by lots of learning/educational materials
Blender is the free and open source 3D creation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline — modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, video editing and 2D animation pipeline. — Blender Website
Maya (very not free) // A powerhouse program that takes time to learn but is worth the effort — Free for students!!
3D computer animation, modeling, simulation, and rendering software — Maya Website
Cinema 4D // More geared towards motion graphics and animation!
3D computer animation, modeling, simulation, and rendering software — Cinema 4D Website
Houdini // Specifically useful for simulations clouds/smoke/etc
Houdini is built from the ground up to be a procedural system that empowers artists to work freely, create multiple iterations and rapidly share workflows with colleagues. — Houdini Website
If you don't want to make your own assets, let me rattle off some Getty-esque 3D marketplaces — Turbosuqid, Sketchfab, CGTrader, MyMiniFactory, and so many more!
Trending AR VR Articles:
1. How VR could bring transhumanism to the masses
2. How Augmented Reality (AR) is Reshaping the Food Service Industry
3. ExpiCulture — Developing an Original World-Traveling VR Experience
Game engines that also invoke the 3D pipeline
AR is more than just a medium for games, but not many people escaped the tidal wave that is Pokémon Go, and AR gaming is a super exciting application of the tech! That being said these programs can be used for so much more, take a look!
Unity // Most people's intro to game dev!
Build 2D, 3D and VR games and apps at speed. From artist tools to live-ops — everything you need to bring your vision to life today. — Unity Website
Unreal // Unity’s higher fidelity sibling
Unreal Engine is the world’s most open and advanced real-time 3D creation tool. Continuously evolving to serve not only its original purpose as a state-of-the-art game engine, today it gives creators across industries the freedom and control to deliver cutting-edge content, interactive experiences, and immersive virtual worlds. — Unreal Website
AR specific SDK and dev platforms
Admittedly I know less about these but they’re just as important players in this space! No *//* comments on these because I honestly don’t have interjections.
Apple’s ARKit
Build unparalleled augmented reality experiences for hundreds of millions of users on iOS and iPadOS, the biggest AR platforms in the world. With powerful frameworks like ARKit and RealityKit, and creative tools like Reality Composer and Reality Converter, it’s never been easier to bring your ideas to life in AR. — ARKit Website
Vuforia Engine
Vuforia is a comprehensive, scalable enterprise AR platform. Our wide-ranging solution suite ensures that we can provide the right AR technology to every customer based on their business needs. — Vuforia Website
Google’s ARCore (note, this is not a development environment)
With ARCore, build new augmented reality experiences that seamlessly blend the digital and physical worlds. Transform the way people play, shop, learn, create, and experience the world together — at Google scale. — ARCore Website
Social Network powered creation platforms
These programs are not meant for 3D modeling or creating software/games. They are tools specifically meant to produce effects that can be used on their respective social platforms! In my opinion, these are the most accessible from end to end and a good place to start exploring AR!
Lens studio (Snapchat) // A very dynamic creation studio with TONS of helpful templates to get you started
Lens Studio is a powerful application designed for artists and developers to build augmented reality experiences for hundreds of millions of Snapchatters. With a huge set of built-in features including custom shaders and advanced tracking technology, the possibilities are endless. — Lens Studio Website
Spark AR (Instagram and Facebook) // An amazing tool backed by an even greater community to support and uplift creators.
Create and share augmented reality experiences that reach the billions of people using the Facebook family of apps and devices. — Spark AR Website
Web-based
There are definitely competitors to 8th wall, but I don’t know enough about them to list them so I apologize that this section is rather short!
8th wall
Powerful tools to create extraordinary WebAR content Use 8th Wall’s powerful platform to develop augmented reality that works on all devices — no app required — 8th Wall Website
As you can see this is a LOT of stuff! And this is just brushing the surface of all of the programs you can use to design develop and deploy an AR experience. That’s what makes AR unique, it's a watering hole of sorts for digital disciplines. Visual design, 2d, and 3d motion and animation, UX UI, video editing, 3d modeling, creative coding, any and all of these skills are important tools for your augmented tool belt. Hence this article!! If you want to dive into this medium as a creator, investor, user, it can be confusing to know where to start or what's out there! I hope this is helpful to at least some of you and makes the start of your AR journey a bit less rocky :).
To finish up, here are a couple of cool applications of AR that traverse industries and give a little taste of what's possible in the XR world!
Fashion/beauty
Balenciaga did a pretty cool end to end virtual experience for their Autumn/Winter 2021 collection
https://www.reydar.com/fashion-gamification-balenciaga/
Healthcare
The power of augmented medical training is super vast and exciting, this article is a good overview of how it's been/being used
https://www.gigxr.com/immersive-technology-in-healthcare-training
I feel like this article is getting a little long so I’ll leave it there, for now, thanks for reading!!
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