In Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality News
October 29, 2020 – Hololight, a provider of immersive software and technologies, has announced that it has developed a remote rendering solution to stream entire augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) applications in real time via local servers or the cloud. The company states that its Interactive Streaming for Augmented Reality (ISAR) platform helps to address the issue of performance restrictions due to limited computing power of mobile AR and VR devices such as smart glasses or smartphones.
“By rendering each application remotely as a whole, ISAR enables visualization and interaction with highly polygonal, data-intensive content such as 3D objects, 3D CAD models or BIM data. The CPU and GPU of the end device are only required to a small extent, which in the long term will help to reduce the size of the end devices and optimize the form factor,” said Philipp Landgraf, Head of Technology at Hololight. “Remote rendering enables AR and VR content to be experienced in unprecedented detail and complexity, from the industrial sector to entertainment and gaming”.
Hololight noted that usually AR or VR apps are developed in a game engine, for example Unity or Unreal. Aspects of the app such as the visual representation of menu structures, or interaction possibilities are therefore individually designed by developers according to specific devices. This therefore subjects the app to technical requirements and limitations (CPU, GPU, RAM) of the end device.
The ISAR SDK is a new component that allows for the outsourcing of demanding work processes such as application logic or content rendering. This means that the computing power does not have to come from a device itself, but can instead be provided by a powerful local server or from the cloud.
The ISAR SDK therefore allows new apps to be developed without the limits and restrictions of individual end devices by instead building a server-based application. Streaming complete applications also increases data security, according to Hololight, since data remains on the server chosen by the customer during remote rendering and is merely streamed and not stored on the mobile device.
Hololight added that once its ISAR SDK is built into an application, the app no longer needs to be installed directly on an end device. Instead, the app is installed and run on a more powerful server or in the cloud. Users can then simply connect from a provided gateway (client app) on a mobile device to the XR application on the external server. As a result, the rendering process shifts from the low-performance XR device to the high-performance server. The client app is still used to send data – such as sensor data for room tracking, position data and hand gestures – to the server, where data is then processed. The 3D content to be displayed is finally sent back to the client app, resulting in the real-time streaming of XR content.
ISAR is already empowering Hololight´s own Augmented Reality Engineering Software ARES Pro, which the company states is being utilized by German automobile manufacturer BMW, which has been able to accelerate the design of vehicle concepts and prototypes by up to twelve months at its Munich pilot plant with ARES Pro thanks to its ability to handle data-intense 3D CAD models.
BMW engineers can visualize and manipulate detailed components such as engines or entire cars with many millions of polygons in real time and in high quality, according to Hololight. Assembly processes and concepts can therefore be evaluated at an early stage and adapted for series production.
“The infrastructure of cloud providers empowers new highly scalable business models, because of the global availability of computing resources as well as the accessibility of the marketplace and the flexible cost structure. In combination with our ISAR SDK, our customers are able to offer their XR applications in the cloud, creating a scalable, secure and attractive pay-per-use model,” said Florian Haspinger, co-founder and CEO of Hololight.
In addition to an on-premises solution, Hololight also provides a cloud-ready SDK to run XR apps in the cloud. For more information on Hololight and its cloud XR application solutions, please visit the company’s website.
Image / video credit: Hololight / YouTube
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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.