In Augmented Reality News
October 28, 2024 – Niantic, a provider of augmented reality (AR) technologies and the creator of the AR mobile game Pokémon GO, has recently announced that Niantic VPS for Web is now fully integrated into Niantic Studio, giving developers a new way to build, test, and deploy location-based WebAR experiences.
According to Niantic, this update combines the power of the Niantic Visual Positioning System (VPS) with Niantic Studio’s editor, enabling developers to create WebAR content that seamlessly interacts with the digital world.
Niantic said in its announcement: “Niantic VPS for Web, combined with the robust tools in Niantic Studio, is setting a new standard for what’s possible in WebAR development. Developers now can create immersive, location-based experiences that feel deeply tied to the real world—whether by using Niantic’s vast library of VPS-activated locations or uploading their own.”
What is Niantic VPS?
Niantic VPS is the company’s AR technology that allows for the localization of users and anchoring of digital content in the physical world with centimeter-level precision. VPS ensures that digital elements align perfectly with real-world objects and locations, helping to keep digital content stable and accurately placed for users.
What is Niantic Studio?
Niantic Studio is the company’s recently launched visual interface for Niantic 8th Wall developers that offers a more intuitive way to build immersive 3D and XR experiences. Studio can be used to create everything from AR scenes that use Face Effects or World Tracking, to more complex 3D web games and immersive XR experiences.
Why is Niantic VPS integration into Niantic Studio significant?
By fully integrating Niantic VPS into Niantic Studio’s visual editor and web gaming engine (more on this below), developers can now build, test, and deploy WebAR experiences in a more straightforward manner.
Whether creating WebAR murals tied to a location, sculptures that come to life when scanned, virtual art installations or interactive gameplay in urban environments, developers can use a range of tools in Niantic Studio to adjust and position AR elements in a scene and create persistent, location-based experiences.
How does Niantic VPS work?
Niantic VPS utilizes a growing global map of over 600,000 VPS-activated locations, curated from millions of community-submitted scans from Niantic’s developers and players. These locations are optimized for high-fidelity interactions and immersive AR experiences, according to Niantic.
Each location’s mesh is created by combining dozens of individual scans made using Niantic’s Scaniverse for Developers app (available on iOS, with Android coming soon) to form a detailed, high-quality 3D model. Niantic added that the map is constantly expanding, with 50,000 new locations added weekly.
What functionality does Niantic Studio have?
Niantic Studio features a Geospatial Browser (GSB) that allows developers to explore Niantic’s library of VPS-activated locations or add their own. Once a location is selected, the corresponding VPS mesh is added to the Studio Viewport, providing a 3D foundation to place and adjust digital content in real time.
Developers can now also test experiences remotely without having to physically visit locations to ensure everything works as expected before deployment. Studio’s Simulator tool can simulate movement within a scene using simple ‘WASD’ controls to see how WebAR elements will interact with the real-world environment.
Niantic Studio’s web gaming engine
With VPS and Niantic Studio’s web gaming engine, developers can transform the real world into the backdrop of interactive WebAR gameplay. VPS ensures AR objects remain accurately anchored across gaming sessions, enabling developers to build persistent experiences that evolve over time, and allowing players to return to the same location and continue where they left off.
With support in Studio for both VPS and Gaussian splats, developers can now create multi-modal gameplay experiences that work in both physical locations and remotely in WebXR. Creators and developers can capture a VPS mesh and a splat using the Niantic Scaniverse app, and then transform these locations into real-world experiences that can be enjoyed on-site at a VPS-activated location or remotely in WebXR.
Niantic VPS availability
Niantic VPS is now available for both Basic and Pro users in Niantic Studio. Developers and creators can start building with VPS in Studio using a free tier that offers 25,000 monthly calls to the VPS server, with users only charged once they exceed this threshold.
To learn more about Niantic Studio and to start building using Niantic’s sample projects, please visit the company’s website.
Image credit: Niantic
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About the author
Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.