In Augmented Reality News
September 22, 2022 – Niantic, a provider of augmented reality (AR) technologies and developer of Pokémon GO, has today announced the launch of Lightship VPS for Web, bringing its visual positioning system (VPS) to the 8th Wall platform.
This browser-based technology is the first of its kind. It connects the real and digital worlds by linking WebAR content to specific locations. Virtual objects can interact with their surroundings. This will allow users to discover new ways to experience augmented reality.
Lightship VPS Web transforms ordinary locations into memorable destinations. The technology essentially helps to unlock a physical location’s digital twin, which can then be augmented to create a range of AR experiences. This can drive traffic to a particular location (e.g. a statue in the park or a shopfront in a town) and engage users in new ways which result in real-world value.
Niantic has a lot of experience dealing with this sort of real-world engagement thanks to its hugely successful AR mobile game Pokémon GO, which managed to help businesses all over the world grow as a result of the placement of in-game points of interest, such as PokéStops and Gyms, which would draw users to different real world locations (such as coffee shops and shopping malls).
With the launch of VPS for Web and using the 8th Wall platform, developers, agencies, and brands can now create WebAR experiences that can only be engaged with at one location, strengthening the need to be at a certain place, or AR experiences that can be used at any number of VPS-activated locations on Niantic’s AR map, increasing the reach for this content. Niantic says they can create multi-location experiences, such as AR scavenger hunts or geo AR games.
“At Niantic, we believe that the real-world metaverse should get people exploring and connecting in the world around them,” said John Hanke, CEO of Niantic. “Bringing Lightship VPS to the Web will allow developers to build immersive WebAR experiences that are anchored to real-world locations all around us. It’s exciting to see early demos from partners all over the world, and we know this is just the beginning. We can’t wait to see what location-based AR experiences our developer community will create with this new tool.”
Developers want to create AR experiences that are grounded in real-world settings. To do so, they have to first understand exactly where their users are and what they’re looking at. Lightship VPS uses Niantic’s AR map of the world to anchor AR content with centimeter-level precision at locations worldwide. Developers can now create VPS-enabled AR experiences directly within their mobile browser by connecting the system to the 8th Wall platform.
Lightship VPS Web allows location-based AR experiences. It also grants WebAR developers access to the 3D mesh for a specific location to use in an AR scene. According to the company, this capability will allow developers to create WebAR experiences using occlusion or physics. It will also increase interactivity between physical objects.
“Today marks a major milestone for the web and augmented reality,” said Tom Emrich, Director of Product Management, 8th Wall at Niantic. “Lightship VPS unlocks extraordinary value for developers by offering them a new tool to create WebAR experiences that recognize not only where their users are in the world but also gives them access to relevant information to better integrate the virtual content with the place it is being experienced. This is another first for the browser, unlocked by Niantic’s 8th Wall platform, and makes WebAR feel more real, more personal and even more connected to the real world than ever before.”
Developers can add VPS-activated locations to Niantic’s AR map, or immediately make use of over 100,000 VPS-activated locations available at launch, to build their own location-based WebAR experiences. VPS-activated sites are not just streetscapes. Instead, they include publically accessible places like parks, trails, local businesses, etc.
Built together, as a community, Niantic’s AR map is powered by scans of real-world locations from developers, surveyors, and players. The company claims that the community has provided millions of photos, scans, and locations. This data is essential to enable Lightship VPS to localize.
All 8th Wall developers can now access Lightship VPS web. Click here to see some of the first Lightship VPS Web experiences that 8th Wall developers created for VPS-activated sites in Tokyo, Paris and London. Here.
Image/video credit: Niantic/Youtube
Sam Sprigg
Auganix is founded by Sam, who also serves as the Managing Editor. His background includes research and report writing. He has been covering XR industry news over the past five year.
