Category: google i/o

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Google I/O 2019 Developer Conference Set For May

Google I/O 2019 Developer Conference Set For May

We’re coming up to developer conference season once again, and Google’s now dated I/O’s 2019 return.

The event will take place at the Shoreline Amphitheatre on May 7th – 9th. CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed the news via a tweet late last week. That just leaves us to speculate what will be announced at the show.

I/O will no doubt be a curious event for VR and AR. Google didn’t even mention the former at last year’s show despite launching its Lenovo Mirage Solo Daydream headset around it. AR continues to be an area of interest for the company as it grows its ARCore platform, though. Expect to see plenty of AR workshops and panels at the very least.

As for VR, it is possible we get some Daydream updates. We’re mostly interested to see if the six degrees of freedom (6DOF) controllers being sent out to developers get turned into an official product. We’re also wondering if there might be any new Daydream hardware or apps to talk about. Otherwise, you can expect the usual Android updates and more from the show.

I/O won’t be the only major developer conference in May. Facebook’s F8 event gets underway on April 30th and wraps up on May 1st. We’re expecting a fair bit more on the VR side from that one, including launch information for Oculus Quest.

UploadVR will, of course, be covering the show in full. Check back for the latest updates.

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Google I/O 2018: Cloud Anchors und AR Maps

Google startete gestern die Google I/O Konferenz 2018 und nutzte die Bühne, um neue Augmented Reality Funktionen und Anwendungen für Android und iOS vorzustellen. Zukünftig sollen euch AR Maps bei der Navigation unterstützen und mit Cloud Anchors sollen AR Apps ermöglicht werden, welche von mehreren Nutzern gleichzeitig genutzt und betrachtet werden können.

AR Maps

Mit den AR Maps zeigte Aparna Chennapragada, VP of Product for AR/VR bei Google, wie wir demnächst auch zu Fuß komfortabel von Google durch die Städte navigiert werden. Eine Kombination aus der Kamera des Smartphones, ARCore, Street View und Maps sorgt dafür, dass euch der richtige Weg direkt als Hologramm in der echten Welt angezeigt werden kann. Hierbei könnt ihr entweder auf schnöde Pfeile setzen, oder euch von einem kleinen Fuchs den Weg weisen lassen. Doch damit nicht genug: Demnächst müsst ihr nicht mehr nach den Bewertungen für ein Restaurant in der Nähe suchen, sondern die Bewertungen hängen direkt als Schild an der entsprechenden Location.  Da reine GPS-Daten für ein solches Unterfangen nicht ausreichen, setzt Google auf ein VPS (visual positioning system) um die Position und Ausrichtung genauer bestimmen zu können. Hierbei werden markante Punkte der echten Welt zur akkuraten Bestimmung genutzt. Dieses System soll auch in Innenräumen verwendet werden können.

Cloud Anchors

Mit Cloud Anchors stellte Google gestern eine neue Funktion für den ARCore vor, welche es ermöglicht, AR-Inhalte mit mehreren Personen zu nutzen. Doch hierbei wird nicht nur ein Spiel oder dessen Inhalte geteilt, sondern auch die genaue Position. Google zeigte auf der Konferenz, wie beispielsweise Just a Line zu einem Multiplayer-Hit werden könnte:

Neben den Cloud Anchors wird der ARCore auch bald eine bessere Erkennung von Flächen erhalten, damit noch mehr Wände und Oberflächen als Spielfelder erkannt werden können.  Außerdem sollen Objekte auch als symbolische Marker dienen können, um Beispielsweise die Verpackung eures Spiels zu erweitern:

(Quelle: Road to VR)

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Google Announces Major Update For ARCore

The Google I/O conference has been showcasing new technologies and advancements for existing products. One of the new developments has been a major update for ARCore, Google’s augmented reality (AR) toolkit.

ARCore is the successor to Google’s Project Tango, and the 1.0 version was launched at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in early 2018. With the new update, Google are introducing several new and improved features, such as social AR.

ARCore

ARCore brings enhanced and extended AR capabilities to over 100 million Android devices. Since its launch, developers have been able to push AR-capable apps with ARCore capabilities to the Play Store, which are compatible with 13 different models that supported the toolkit at launch, including Google’s own Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2 and Pixel 2XL smartphones.

The toolkit allows for more complete environmental capabilities, which allows developers to place AR objects on surfaces such as furniture, posters, books, posters and more. With a newly introduced ability called Vertical Plane Detection, AR objects can be placed on more surfaces, such as textured walls, opening up new options for apps.

The new updates allow for collaborative AR experiences, such as playing multiplayer games or painting a AR community mural using a capability called Cloud Anchors. This capability will be available across both Android and iOS devices.

For developers, some faster AR development is being made possible with a technology called Sceneform, which lets Java developers build immersive 3D apps for AR without having to learn complex APIs such as OpenGL. This can be used to ass AR features to existing apps or build new AR apps from scratch.

ARCore update

The ARCore technology is considered more consumer-friendly that its predecessor Project Tango, since Tango required expensive additional equipment such as a depth-sensing IR camera and motion-tracking sensors to be built into the phone. As a result a large number of apps on Google Play Store have already begun to take advantage of the ARCore toolset, with more to follow in the near future.

For further news of announcements from Google I/O, keep checking back with VRFocus.

 

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Google Unveil AR Visual Navigation

The Google I/O keynote contained a number of interesting new and improved technologies, such as new features for the Google Assistant. One of the reveals during the first day keynote involved a new augmented reality (AR) navigation tool for Google Maps.

During the first day keynote, Aparna Chennapragada spoke about some new features for Google Maps, where she discussed how the requirements that users have for Google Maps has changed, and much more is needed.

Google Maps AR / Google Lens

To help provide for these changing needs, the Google Maps team have worked to integrate Google Maps with the smartphone camera. To illustrate how this would work, Chennapragada talked about an example taken from real life; Imagine exiting from a train or subway station and being on your way to an appointment. Google Maps say to go South on High Street, but how do you know which way is South, and if it is an unfamiliar location, how do you know which one is High Street? This is where the Camera and AR integration comes in.

Instead of a top-down map, users will be able to see the street in front of them through the camera, with an AR overlay arrow pointing the direction and distance. The map view is just below, so users can double check that the two match up properly. The Google Maps team have even been experimenting with an animated guide character that you can follow, such as the animated fox shown briefly in the demo.

In addition, the Maps and Camera integration can be used to show users what shops, landmarks, hotels and restaurants are nearby, by tagging the information from Maps to the correct building, making it easier for users to find a location they are searching for.

In order to make this possible, GPS alone lacks the precision needed, so Google have been working on implementing a new system, referred to as VPS, or the Visual Positioning System. This can estimate a more precise position and orientation. VPS uses the visual features of the environment to provide a precise location.

Google Lens / Google Maps AR Fox

Further news from the Google I/O events will continue to be reported on here on VRFocus.

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How To Watch Google’s I/O 2018 Keynote Live

How To Watch Google’s I/O 2018 Keynote Live

If Microsoft’s Build conference left you underwhelmed on the VR front yesterday then perhaps today’s Google I/O Conference will help make up for it.

The search engine giant’s annual developer showcase is taking place at its usual destination at the Shoreline Amphitheater and we’re hoping for some Daydream-related updates from the event. Google launched its first standalone VR headset, the Mirage Solo, in partnership with Lenovo last week so it would be a good time to hear what’s new from the ecosystem.

The keynote talk kicks off at 10am PDT/1pm EDT/6pm BST today and is immediately followed by a developer keynote, so hopefully, there’s plenty to see. We’ve got the livestream embedded below.

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