Developing good immersive content for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications isn’t always the easiest of processes, it takes time building virtual objects and worlds that look amazing. To help with this Google has just launched Poly, an ever expanding library of 3D objects that developers can browse and download from.
Poly is designed purely as a place for everyone to quickly find 3D objects and scenes for use in their apps. While the content can be used for any app, Poly was built from the ground up with AR and VR development in mind.
It fully integrates with Tilt Brush and Blocks, making it easier for content creators to upload and showcase their work to a wider audience. At present Poly is completely free to use, there’s no monetisation in place, so anyone making 3D objects or scenes is doing it for the love of getting their work seen rather than making any cash from it.
The library also features a remix option for anyone that finds a model but needs to make slight adjustments to it for their own requirements. Users import a remixable object into Tilt Brush or Blocks make the necessary changes and then Poly will automatically credit and link to the original creation when the remix is published.
Other features also include direct uploads from desktops of OBJ files, and the option to view 3D objects in a mobile or desktop browser. If you find an interesting design you’ll be able to create a GIF to share online or view it in VR using headsets like Cardboard or Daydream View.
Poly is ideally suited to those developers working with Google’s own ARCore or Apple’s ARKit as most of the designs are currently in low-polygon style so they won’t be too demanding when it comes to computational resources.
The launch of the library also puts it in direct competition with the current market leader Sketchfab, which has been been rolling out both AR and VR support over the past year and mobile support.
VRFocus will continue its coverage of Google, reporting back with the latest announcements.