No apps required.
Until recently, most Augmented Reality experiences have only been available on dedicated mobile apps. And lets face it, who wants to download multiple apps for each individual purpose or brand?
We've been experimenting with a technology called WebAR for the last year, and even published a demonstration of a webstore in August 2019. As the name suggests, WebAR is augmented reality, but accessible through a regular browser without the need for apps or plugins.
Lighting Estimation.
One of the clever features of WebAR is it's ability to automatically evaluate lighting. This improves realism and immersion by creating accurate intensities, colour, shadows and highlights on the virtual object.
In the example above we've used a studio light at each side of our fabric chair, shadows are cast under the chair as well as inside the seating area.
What is AR occlusion?
Put simply occlusion in AR is the ability to hide virtual content behind a real world object.
Until recently AR apps have lacked the ability to account for foreground objects. The introduction of occlusion in AR gives devices the ability to mask around physical objects that get between the augmented model and the camera, again creating a more immersive and believable experience.
The latest version of WebAR natively supports occlusion. It uses the movement of the device's camera, using the standard AR tracking to calculate a depth (in a similar way to stereo imaging). This depth mask can then be used in real time by clever tech to hide virtual objects behind real things.