The Future of Immersive Geospatial AR Experience.
@Mohrad23|Feb 17, 2023 (2y ago)29 views
It has been thrilling to witness the advancements in AR technologies, which are proving to be more powerful than VR. This might be the next big thing to keep an eye on.
Recently, I had a unique opportunity to participate in an Augmented Reality (AR) hackathon hosted by Google. This innovative event allowed me to work with Google’s Geospatial API before its public release. As a developer, this experience was invaluable, enabling me to collaborate with a team of like-minded individuals and explore a technology that was previously inaccessible to the wider community.
VPS, The New GPS
This new technology is built upon some of the most commonly used Google services such Google Maps, Earth and street view images. The main feature of this API is VPS which stands for Visual Positioning System that gathers geo data by scanning your surroundings in an open environment. With this functionality, you no longer need to solely rely on GPS.
What is exciting for AR developers is that you can now use this API to create and attach immersive AR experiences to specific locations and share them with thousands of people. Even more powerful is that users don't need to be physically present at the location. They can contribute to local experiences remotely, opening up new possibilities for social connections.
In this article, I will explain the features and possibilities of Google’s Geospatial API by taking you through the project I created for the hackathon. This project also gave me the opportunity to collaborate with another AR startup called Planet XR, which shares a common interest in the vision and values of this project.
Planet Tweet
Planet Tweet is an application built upon the Geospatial API and ARCore. The main functionality and focus of this project are to display geotagged tweets within a 1 km to 25 km radius of the user. As users walk around the city, they can scan their surroundings and see tweets sent or attached to specific locations.
One of the use cases for such an application is for local businesses. Instead of heavily investing in billboards and advertisements, they can leverage AR experiences like this to showcase their work and promote their services.
#tbt when twitter api was actually affordable
Future Opportunities in AR
I believe that Augmented Reality (AR) has far more potential than Virtual Reality (VR). In AR, you still interact with the real world and real people, with technology enhancing that experience. In contrast, VR creates an entirely new world with its own set of rules for interaction.
Moreover, the wearable tech currently available for AR looks much more fashionable and productive. In the near future, we hope to see more of these devices in the hands of customers, opening up new possibilities for interaction with the real world.
By the way, the remote repo for this project can be found here. I would highly encourage you to use and test it and let me know what you think about it. Have fun with it :)