I want to create an Android App which supports Augmted reality but it seems that the technologies are getting worse.
Since Google stopped working on Sceneform there are only 2 options left: Using ARCore with OpenGL which is basically impossible because there are hardly any docs out there.
Or using AR Foundation but that is also not working properly and takes a lot of time to build because of the long building time.
Most of tutorials are about Google Sceneform and I just have the feeling that Sceneform did a great job and I don't understand why Google closed this project.
I'm familiar with frameworks like Vuforia but I would need a reliable plane detection tool which Vuforia does not provide as far as i know.
Does anybody have suggestions what I can use instead? Does anybody has experience with AR?
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I would like to built a small app that shows a panorama 360º image with head tracking on Android. I quickly stumbled upon com.google.vr.sdk.widgets.pano.VrPanoramaView (https://developers.google.com/vr/develop/android/vrview). But there is a big disclaimer on top:
This site has been archived and remains strictly as a historical reference for developers who actively maintain apps built using the legacy Google VR SDK, which was last updated in 2019 and is no longer receiving updates. All developers actively developing experiences for Google Cardboard should use the new open source Cardboard SDKs for iOS, Android NDK, and Unity XR Plugin.
So clicking the link to the new Cardboard SDK I ended up here: https://developers.google.com/cardboard/develop/c/quickstart
Which shows a game like environment in stereo VR. Super cool in its own right, but it isn't a replacement for VrPanoramaView. And the newer SDKs for Android do not support VrPanoramaView anymore.
Also, I could not find an example on the new Cardboard SDK site how to built a 'simple' VR image 360º panorama viewer with headtracking.
Googling a bit more I found that people said there is no alternative for the deprecated panorama VR viewer, which I find hard to understand. The VrPanoramaView seemed pretty simple and elegant in its use, whereas going full blown C++ with matrices and all for lens distortion seems like pretty hard core to deal with to me. Compare all that C++ code to this much simpeler code example: https://youtu.be/gnDa-fvEyUk?t=471
Is there an out-of-the-box VR 360º image viewer that supports stereo? Or how could I use the new Cardboard SDK and built something similar?
I am very new to AR technology and Android. I have to implement markerless augmented reality system for mobile devices.(Android). I am little confused with which enviornment or SDK tool to choose. I came across Unity,AR toolkit, vuforia etc. I went through some tutorials on Unity. Please provide some suggestions on how to start with it.which tools or SDK to choose.
The term you are looking for is most likely SLAM (Simultaneous localization and mapping)
There are Frameworks like Kudan, which allow you to implement this. But keep in mind, that this technology is far from being perfectly stable in terms of tracking performance. It will most likely shake like the most camera based tracking solutions do.
Markerless AR may relate to several different things. While it is clear that marker-based SDKs, such as Vuforia, is not what you need, there are a few factors you need to consider. And Unity, by the way, is a platform - so whatever library you decide to use, you will need to consider if Unity suite your needs (assuming that library supports Unity).
I suggest you look here to read about some possible SDKs:
Augmented Reality: Marker vs Markerless AR
AR frameworks
I have created 3d models of some objects and see them correctly using cardboard through sketchfab.com without any difficulty.
I can see them as a VR model exactly what I wanted.
But I dont know how to create a standalone android app using my 3d model.
I am just looking for a template mobile application where I will place my model and see them as a mobile app through cardboard.
Any recommendation for an early start?
After lots of research, I found out the best solution is using Unity3D application. There are plugins to assist with cardboard app development. I created my first app very easily within minutes of using a demo carboard application. Now I am enjoying and learning Unity3D
The cardboard example? Might be a bit of hacking to chop out their block model and replace it with your art but it shouldn't be a mountain of work
https://github.com/googlesamples/cardboard-java
I'm trying to find out if there are any examples how to play 3D video for cardboard in android. I have a 3D video and need my app to play in cardboard. I'm not sure if the SDK has support and couldn't figure it out as there is very less documentation.
It is not very easy. I think the problem is not about Google Cardboard, but about Unity itself. It is not easy to add any kind of video to Unity. If you are able to open a normal video within the Unity game, I think that 3D video will work too.
Check the docs about how to configure it for Android: http://docs.unity3d.com/es/current/Manual/class-MovieTexture.html
I tried to add a video to an older version of Unity. Unity crashed. I did the conversion manually. I wrote the explanation here: http://answers.unity3d.com/questions/997663/unity-video-import-bug.html
I think this:
Google Cardboard SDK (Software Developement Kit)
Will help you to build apps that display 3D scenes with binocular rendering, track and react to head movements, and interact with apps through magnet input.
also you can easily adapt an existing Unity 3D app for virtual reality or build your own VR experience from scratch.
Thanks for all the answers. For me only solution that worked is to use that is described at HERE. Had to Use unity with a plugin to play video on movietexture.
Without using the unity plugin Easy Movie Texture plugin I couldn't find any easier solution.
I currently developed 4 multiplayer games on Android using andEngine.
The problem is the engine is kind of dead(no commit in the past 8 months) and I'd like to start developing in another good engine.
I saw playN and it looks promising, but my target is only Android devices(maybe iOs).
So, if I target only mobile devices what are the advantages/disadvantages of using playN vs a specific android game engine.
Interresting question. Here is my point of view.
Personally, as a PlayN huge fan, I see anyway one disadvantage if you compare it with a specific android game engine. PlayN use only OpenGL ES 2, it's a real problem if you want to develop a simple 2D game with big compatibility. For instance, it won't work on Samsung ACE.
But, I see many advantages :
Testing. Testing is really great with PlayN. You don't have to load a heavy emulator. You load the test and you can play it in a native window.
The Maven generation is quite awesome ! All your project can be generated, tested, run with maven with simple command lines. I know it's more a maven advantage than a PlayN advantage, but PlayN is really well connected with. In two command lines you can create your project and test it (because it comes with a sample code)
You only want to develop for Android, that's great, but don't shut the door already. You can develop your game for android, test and publish it. If people like it, you don't have to do much work to publish it on iPhone the next month.
It's just what I think. I hope it helps.
I'm no expert, but from what I've seen in PlayN's website, you can't compare AndEngine to PlayN. PlayN is no game engine, it's a library to help you compile your game in several platforms.
By the way, you say there's no activity in AndEngine, but I've just checked and, well, it's not much, but the project seems to be alive in github.
Also, I would like to bring another engine to the discussion: libgdx.
I'm thinking of creating some videogame for android and I'm doing some research for game engines and so far the most promising I've found among the free engines is libgdx. What do you think about it?