Metaio introduces platform-independent AR software

Augmented Reality (AR) specialist Metaio will introduce ‘scalable and sustainable AR production methods’ to empower AR on every smartphone.

The company will release platform-independent AR production software that unifies all of its existing software with a single, shared codebase, built on HTML5, JavaScript and native application code ‘in a new language’, which it calls AREL (AR Experience Language). The tools will allow even non-developers to augment nearly any image or object in any real-world environment.

The single platform-independent approach for the streamlined and sustainable creation of AR experiences will accommodate the growing number of developers (+30k), users (+20m), brands (+two k) and OEMs (+15) actively engaging and interested in AR.

Thomas Alt, CEO and co-founder of Metaio, said: ‘We’re bringing the vision of the Augmented City to reality. We want to connect every real-world object to the internet through our technology, and we can do it.’

Powered by AREL, developers, designers and publishers will be able to create a single experience with the new Metaio SDK and deploy it to Android, iOS or even PC. Metaio also introduced a new version of its Metaio Creator, a simplified desktop publishing tool which will allow non-programmers to create and run AR experiences quickly and without a single line of code.

‘Augmented Reality is a horizontal technology – you can do anything with it,’ commented Peter Meier. ‘Our unified SDK has over 500 possible technology combinations in a single, scalable SDK so that developers will be able to do anything with AR.’

Metaio also integrated two chief camera technologies into its software platform: Continuous Visual Search (CVS) and Simultaneous Learning and Mapping (SLAM). With CVS, users need only point the camera of their smartphone at a given image, surface, or even object to discover AR content. SLAM will allow developers to augment nearly any real-world environment, instantly and in real-time. Metaio has also improved the precision, accuracy and speed of its tracking technology.

‘We’ve created multiplatform tools that nearly anyone can use to create and maintain augmented reality projects,’ said Michael Kuhn, director of product development. ‘More than ever, we are providing the major building blocks for creating sustainable, scalable AR experiences.’