In Augmented Reality News
September 16, 2022 – Blippar, a technology and content platform specializing in augmented reality (AR), has announced the integration of its WebAR SDK into Unity, allowing Unity developers to create lightweight AR experiences that can be easily published directly to any web browser.
According to Bilppar, with its SDK Beta plug-in, Unity developers can save considerable time and effort, no longer needing to work between multiple platforms in order to create and publish WebAR experiences. The integration, which the company stated is something that has been frequently requested by developers, enables creators to rapidly increase their production of lightweight WebAR experiences and removes the friction of requiring end users to download an app.
Now, developers can create WebAR content more efficiently, and WebAR content – in comparison to dedicated AR apps – is far more accessible. Since WebAR can be triggered with a smartphone from any object, link or QR code, it enables publishing across social media platforms such as Meta, TikTok and Snap and websites including e-commerce and gaming. Additionally, the need for an app download is removed, which alleviates friction for end users.
Blippar stated that ultimately, this means that when AR experiences are web based, the addressable audience size is increased to 5 billion smartphone users, and as a result the company’s SDK allows brands and businesses creating with Unity to tap into this global market.
“In an age where technology moves fast, developers need to have the best tools available and working across siloed platforms causes unnecessary delays and friction. The ease of being able to publish AR experiences direct to web from within Unity will open doors for creativity and speed, providing a new market opportunity for light client XR experiences. We’re excited about the possibilities that bringing our WebAR SDK functionality into Unity will create for developers and brands alike, and look forward to seeing what users will create with this cross-platform tool.” said Faisal Galaria, CEO at Blippar.
Blippar and Unity users will now be able to benefit from the following features:
- Instant access to the integration via a simple, free downloadable package;
- The ability to publish Unity-built projects, along with interactivity, 3D models, animations, and particle effects to WebAR;
- The creation of fully immersive and realistic surface and marker tracking WebAR experiences;
- The ability to run creations through any mobile browser (iOS Safari and Android Chrome) or social media platform, including Snap, Meta, Whatsapp and WeChat.
The Blippar WebAR SDK Unity Beta package is available now for developers to download from the Blippar SDK page.
For more information on Blippar and its free to use ‘Blippbuilder’ augmented reality content creation platform, please visit the company’s website.
Image / video credit: Blippar / YouTube
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.