Overview
The Appearition Platform provides a set of important Augmented Reality (AR) modules for providing immersive XR experience capabilities.
Important Concepts#
There are a number of key concepts that you need to understand when working with AR:
Marker vs Markerless Experiences#
AR experiences can be triggered in two ways. Firstly using a marker which is scanned and recognised by an Image Recognition (IR) provider and the experience is augmented relative to the marker. The second trigger is markerless w hich uses SLAM technology (AR Core/AR Kit) to recognise a physical surface (eg. table top) so that the experience can be placed on top of that surface.
Register an IR Provider for Marker Based Experiences#
The Appearition Platform has modules to enable third party IR providers. To begin using this feature you’ll need to register an account with your preferred IR provider.
Vuforia IR Provider#
The Appearition Platform will be configured by default to have the Vuforia IR Provider module activated. You will need to bring your own Vuforia license . For more information visit the Vuforia Developer website.
Configure your IR Provider Account on the Appearition Platform#
Login to the Appearition Platform and under the Developer section click on Image Recognition. Click on Add Provider. Enter the required information by referring to your IR provider’s access settings.
For a Vuforia account you’ll find Database name, Server Secret Key, Server Access Key, Client Secret Key and Client Server Key under Target Manager in the Database Access Keys section for a selected database. License Key will be in the License Manager in the License Key section for a selected Development Key.
Target Images#
When building a marker based AR experience, you will need to upload a picture which will be used for recognition by the AR app on the device. Once recognised, the image surface will be tracked by the AR app and the defined media will be augmented over the image.
Media and Media Types#
Media is the content which is augmented when an AR experience and triggered on a user’s device. The type of media which can be augmented is very specific to the type of device and software that a developer is building on. As such, the Appearition Platform provides an extensible mechanism for defining the type of content which can be uploaded and served as part of an AR experience.