Chinese mobile internet company Cheetah Mobile is getting involved with the world of augmented reality (AR), joining several other firms who have taken advantage of the improved capabilities of Apple’s ARKit to develop AR apps.
The newly-launched ARCam app allows users to create a unique photo by inserting 3D images, such as weather-based icons like the angry lightning cloud or sleepy moon, as well as the more recognisable emojis such as the happy, sad or angry emojis. Users can also add a time and date stamp and location tag, to help preserve memories of time and place for the future, and help other people find those images.
“ARCam is a new, streamlined app that allows people to have more fun with their phone camera than ever before, by creating images that pop with augmented reality,” explains Jill Shih, Vice President of Product & User Experience at Cheetah Mobile. “The application allows users to insert popular emojis, location tags and digital time stamps into photographs and short videos which can be saved and shared on Instagram, Facebook, Messenger and sent via text and email.”
Cheetah Mobile hope that by creating a clean, simple way for users who have not previously engaged with AR to try out the technology, it will encourage them to try it out and let their imagination run wild.
Cheetah Mobile are also running a promotion where ARCam users can share images created using the app on Instagram using the hashtag #ARCam and each day the promotion is running one person will win a $50 (USD) gift card, as well as having their post featured on the official ARCAm Instagram page.
VRFocus will continue to report on new development in AR technology.
Earlier this month developer Happy Giant studios announced it was working on a new version of Star Wars-inspired digital strategy board game HoloGrid: Monster Battle was being rebuilt with ARKit. Apple have now given approval and the title is available on the Apple App Store.
HoloGrid: Monster Battle was inspired by the ‘Holo chess’ scene in Star Wars: A New Hope and was created in collaboration with the visual effects expert who helped to create that scene, Phil Tippett. Tippett created the various monsters that are used in the title, using his experience in visual effects to bring them to life.
Integrating the new depth-sensing and motion-tracking capabilities available in ARKit, the new version of HoloGrid: Monster Battle is a free-to-play all-digital title featuring new spells, game arenas and monsters. New monsters and spells can be unlocked by opening Treasure Chests, which can be earned by winning matches. Players can also earn currency by winning battles, which lets them level up their monsters and spells. The new ARKit features means that players can scale up the arena to make if life-sized, or scale it down and walk around to get a better view.
“The ARKit version of HoloGrid is a completely different type of gaming experience,” said Mike Levine, HappyGiant’s CEO and Founder. “You can now play the game like before, on a flat table top surface. But we also allow to play it in a huge, “Harry Potter” chess-style, which really takes the game to another dimension. Being able to walk into and around a life-size board game with giant animated monsters is something we think people will enjoy!”
VRFocus will bring you further news on HoloGrid: Monster Battle as it becomes available.
The power and potential of augmented reality (AR) has become much more apparent both to users and businesses since the launch of Apple’s ARKit. A new AR app titled Surreal aims to provide a platform for users to decorate and transform their surroundings using AR.
Surreal aims to provide a platform for animated 3D virtual objects created by talented artists from around the world that can then be purchased and placed in the user’s environment, visible user’s a smartphone camera. For example, the users can place a playful kitten in their bedroom, or a lion in the backyard, hang an AR Mona Lisa or Van Gogh’s Starry Night on the wall.
Users can also record a video of the AR scenes they create to share over social media. The launch of the Surreal app was timed to coincide with the introduction of iOS 11, with its enhanced AR capabilities. Surreal are also working on the app with an eye towards AR glasses, a product which has seen something of a comeback recently.
“Augmented reality empowers people to own their surroundings in a way that was never before possible,” said Surreal Co-founder Dana Loberg. “With Surreal, users will be able to do things like frame the Mona Lisa on their living room wall or decorate their closet with the designer bag they’ve always wanted. If you look at how Gen Z interacts with each other, it’s clear that they’re very comfortable using the camera to enrich their surroundings,” Loberg continued, “Very soon, the possibilities for AR communication will only come into sharper focus.”
The Surreal app is available as a free download from the Apple App Store.
VRFocus will bring you further information on Surreal as it becomes available.
If you're looking for a challenging game with intriguing graphics, try The Witness. The first-person game, single player game has over 500 puzzles along with stunning graphics to keep you playing for hours.
Apple may have only began its roll out of iOS 11 a few days ago but there’s been plenty of augmented reality (AR) apps arrive in that time. One of the latest comes from Brazilian developer Sinergia Studios with a mech filled experience called Army of Robots.
Built using ARKit, Army of Robots is a first-person shooter with the iPhone’s screen acting as the view from the cockpit. Users can play anywhere, all they have to is choose several suitable locations for the robot enemies to appear and then destruction awaits.
The enemy robots seem to appear randomly among the locations users have selected, so they have to keep on their toes to destroy them all. Just to mix things up and add further difficulty to the challenge the robots can vary in size, from small desktop walkers to massive enemies that can reach head height.
Army of Robots retails for $1.99 USD on the App Store and it’ll support iPhone SE / 6s / 6s Plus / 7/ 7 Plus and iPad Pro (all 3 versions) and 9.7″ 2017 models, with iOS 11 installed.
Last month Unity Technologies announced that it was working closely with Google to integrate its newly released augmented reality (AR) toolkit, ARCore, into the Unity engine. Now it has been announced that Unity will also support Google’s rivals Apple, with support for ARKit and iOS 11.
Unity have been working to include that the new features from ARKit and iOS 11 would be supported by Unity. The Unity engine is one of the most popular in the world, providing the driving force behind the majority of mobile virtual reality (VR) applications currently available.
With the release of iOS 11, the AR tools available in ARKit are now available to millions of iPad and iPhone users, and many developers are keen to take advantage of the opportunities this provides.
“At Unity, we believe the world is a better place with more creators in it, and the launch of iOS 11 and ARKit means even more people will have the ability to create and enjoy engaging, accessible AR experiences,” said Ralph Hauwert, Director of Development for Platforms at Unity. “Supporting the latest and greatest tech ensures we can give our creators the confidence and tools to build and scale, while easily publishing across nearly any platform.”
Yesterday saw the release of Apple’s iOS 11 operating system for its mobile devices, bringing with it compatibility for augmented reality (AR) and ARKit. Today, Climax Studios – the team behind Lola and the Giantand the Bandit Six series – has announced its first AR app made with ARKit, a puzzle adventure called ARise.
Built as a result of a game jam the company ran to inspire creative and innovative concepts for AR videogames, in ARise players lead a pint-sized adventurer up the stony flanks of a vast petrified monster, using perspective to cross chasms and scale sheer cliff faces.
The goal is to reach the top and awaken the monster. To do this players must utilise the core strengths of AR – being able to move around and look at a scene from any angle – to guide the trepid adventurer past the obstacles that lay in wait.
“By using perspective, exploration, angles and almost no controls, we hope we have created a fresh game play experience that will develop over time,” said Simon Gardner, CEO of Climax Studios. “With ARKit we were able to leverage the power of the iPhone and iPad’s built-in camera, processors and motion sensors, to easily build ARise, which is a highly detailed and compelling virtual game that sits on top of the real world.”
The first three levels of ARise are available to download today from the App Store for $2.99 USD / £2.99 GBP / €3.49 EUR. In the coming months Climax Studios will be releasing further content for ARise, all for free.
Check out the gameplay trailer below to see what ARise is all about. For further updates, keep reading VRFocus.
Apple is rolling out iOS 11 today, its mobile operating system that’s compatible with “hundreds of millions of devices” including iPhones going back to the iPhone 5s, and a variety of recent iPads. If your device is able to update (check here), that means you may be getting a number of features like an optimized App Store and a sleeker user interface, but it also means you can start to delve into the world of augmented reality too.
While there doesn’t seem to be an easy way to find apps that have updated to include ARKit support, we rounded up a few that you can download today, and a few more that are sure to drop in the coming weeks.
Downloadable Today
Warhammer 40,000: Freeblade
When a young Imperial Knight sees their noble house destroyed by the twisted forces of Chaos, they join forces with the Dark Angels Space Marines chapter as a Freeblade. Experience an epic story in over 170 single player missions as you command your Freeblade on a journey of honour, redemption and vengeance. Test your skills and patrol the world of Tarnis to slay endless invaders.
Witness your Knight in the REAL WORLD with this new augmented reality photo mode for ARKit compatible devices!
Sync health data from thousands of apps via Health app, including: Dexcom, One Touch, Accu-Chek, Agamatrix, iHealth, Dario, Garmin, Fitbit, Nike+, UP by Jawbone, Misfit, Pebble, Human, Strava, My Fitness Pal, Lose it!, Lark, Weight Watchers, Withings. Also includes scheduled medicine reminders and glucose pump data.
Visualize your Daily Moments and Glucose in Range graphs in AR. To check it out: tap on your stats, then tap on the cube icon in the upper right.
Transform your anatomical learning with Complete Anatomy. Explore the most detailed 3D anatomy model ever created, with incredible levels of anatomical accuracy and high fidelity textures. Discover a rich Library of reference content created by subject matter experts. Share your work and collaborate with your classmates and teachers.
Bring the full 3D anatomical model into the real world through augmented reality. Tap the AR Mode button to open the camera, select a flat surface to place the model, and view it from any side and any angle. Your anatomy atlas has never been this real. (Available for iPad Pro users on iOS 11 only)
Coming from Directive Games, The Machines was demoed on-stage at the iPhone X unveiling. The competitive multiplayer RTS lets you duke it out with your friends in the same room in augmented reality. Using two Apple iPhone 8s, the developers played a quick match to show off the little tabletop game.
Sky Guide
The AR update to Sky Guide, also teased during the iPhone X event, will allow you to overlay constellations on top of the sky, apparently whether its day or night, so you can finally learn something beyond the Little Dipper and Orion’s Belt.
MLB.com At Bat
image courtesy Apple
Also shown at the iPhone X event last week was a new AR mode for MLB.com At Bat, which overlays player data on top of real-time games.
IKEA Place
IKEA Place is said to give you a catalog of 2,000 AR items, including all of the company’s sofas, armchairs, footstools, coffee tables and cabinets.
LEGO
image courtesy TIME
Although not specified yet, LEGO is also working with ARKit to produce an AR-capable version of its software.
We’ll have our eye on more apps to come, but remember, while the greater iOS 11 ecosystem has access to AR today, some of the larger unreleased apps might come in sync with the iPhone 8 launch later this week, and then later in November for the iPhone X.
Since the release of Apple’s ARKIt, many companies have been keen to take advantage of its enhanced augmented reality (AR) capabilities. Tippett Studio have announced they are also using the ARKit to make a new version of HoloGrid: Monster Battle.
HoloGrid: Monster Battle is inspired by the holo-chess scene in the original Star Wars movie, and was developed in partnership with Phil Tippett, the visual effects expert responsible for creating that very scene. Featuring monsters designed by Tippett and a gameplay style combining videogame and board game elements, HoloGrid: Monster battle has previously seen versions on Samsung Gear VR, Google Tango platforms and Microsoft HoloLens.
The developers say that the iOS11 ARKIt version of HoloGrid: Monster Battle isn’t simply a port of the existing videogame, but rather a completely new version that has been re-built from the ground up using the ARKit toolset.
As the development team said on the Kickstarter update page: “This means you can keep playing your current version with the cards without any issues. This new app has new Spells, new Arenas and very soon, new Monsters! It’s going to be FREE, so we highly encourage you to check it out! There is a whole new leveling up mechanic, and new competitive arena based match making! As you can see from the screenshot, there is now a “scale” feature and you can play the game “Harry Potter Chess” style, or smaller, on any table top or flat surface. It uses AR Kit, so there are no longer cards needed. This is “markerless” AR.”
The developers have submitted the new version of the title for Apple and are currently awaiting approval, so a release date is yet to be confirmed.
VRFocus will bring you further new on HoloGrid: Monster Battle and ARKit as it becomes available.
At Apple’s special event, Apple revealed some exciting apps and videogames that Apple users would be able to download with the coming of iOS11. When Apple launched their ARKit, developers flocked at the opportunity to use augmented reality (AR) to the future Apple devices.
Alti Mar from Directive Games demonstrated competitive multiplayer AR game The Machines live on stage whilst Apple showcased other AR apps like Warhammer 40K: Freeblade, Major League Baseball’s At Bat app where you can learn about your players on the field or find star constellations in the sky with Sky Guide.
Watch the video below to see how you can chase pigeons in Pigeon Panic, see the capabilities of remote support from experts through Remote AR app, interact with AR objects using your hands instead of tapping the phone in Manomotion or play God in God simulation gameARrived.
