Since the launch of Apple’s ARKit and Google’s ARCore, a number of developers have sought to experiment with augmented reality (AR) technology. Though AR apps already existed, the new toolkits give them a scope that was not previously possible, such as turning the immensely popular World of Tanks mobile videogame into an AR experience.
Nina of VRFocus caught up with Luke Ledwich, Senior Software Engineer at Wargaming Sydney the developer behind the popular app to talk about how the team approached converting World of Tanks into AR.
Asked about what the team at Wargaming Sydney was working on, Ledwich said: “What we’ve done is take World of Tanks 1.0 on Ultra settings and streamed it to an iPad on a table. This means that people can spectate on a match and also that the game can operate from a PC without being bound to the GPU or other limitations of the iPad.”
Describing how the iPad AR features work, Ledwich explained: “The iPad essential acts like a camera. You can move it anywhere you want on the map, you can get close to the tanks and look at the bolts or the flowers next to it – whatever you want. It’s based on replays, so any World of Tanks replay can be presented in this fashion.”
“This is a little slice of the future,” Ledwich continued, “We’re a little bound by the hardware just now, but as new hardware comes along and is adopted, this is probably how we’ll be viewing AR content – or any content – visually in the future.”
When asked what devices would be compatible with the AR replays, Ledwich said: “The technology is not bound to the iPad, but for this experience we wanted a nice, large tablet format and iPad seemed like the right choice.”
Ledwich enthused: “The real beauty of the AR experience is that you can take any replay, and focus in on any area you want and you can look at it from any angle – that perfect shot you made can be seen in 360 degrees.”
The full interview can be viewed below. VRFocus will continue to bring you news on new AR experiences.