HMTL 20/9/2018

Joel Gethin Lewis

Web-based AR and Glitch.com

What I'm going to talk about today:

  1. Introduce myself.
  2. Why web-based AR.
  3. The current web-based AR ecosystem.
  4. AR (and other things) on Glitch.com.

1. Introduce myself.

2. Why web based AR? (vs native apps on custom hardware).

  • Future proof - compatible with every major platform, open source and non proprietary, no lock in.
  • Widest possible audience - every recent smart phone and tablet, accessible.
  • Cost effective - development uses open source tools, has the biggest community of developers and doesn't require purchase of new hardware.
  • Measurable - using existing web based analytical tools.

The current web based AR ecosystem.

  • A-Frame. Supported by Mozilla. Mainly VR.
  • AR.js. Developed by Jerome Etienne and others. Not really AR, more marker tracking.
  • three.ar.js. Developed by Google, built atop three.js (Ricardo Cabello aka Mr. Doob and others) ARKit (Apple) and ARCore (Google). Demos.
  • three.xr.js. Developed by Mozilla, built atop three.js, ARKit (Apple) and ARCore (Google). Demos.
  • aframe-xr. Developed by Mozilla, built atop three.xr.js and A-Frame. Demos.
  • aframe-ar. Developed by chenzlabs, built atop three.ar.js and A-Frame. Demos.
  • I ended up using A-Frame-XR, your mileage may vary. You'll need XRViewer (custom browser from Mozilla) to view demos on your device.

AR (and other things) on Glitch.com.

Thanks!