Niantic is joining the trend of creating apps that are centered on "real-world metaverse." More and more tech companies are getting interested in bringing mixed reality developments into their platforms. This time, the "Pokemon GO" creator decided to launch the Lightship platform.
Niantic Brings Lightship AR Developer
The Verge reported on Monday, Nov.8 that Niantic CEO John Hanke shared some information about its plans on metaverse applications. He said that users could use Lightship to know the real-time appearance of the environment. It could even tell if the camera is pointing to the water and even skies.
As we all know, Niantic has been committed to bringing more improvements for augmented reality with its most popular game "Pokemon Go." Hanke said that Lightship will help the people transition into constructing the "planet-scale AR apps."
Previously, the company said that the platform was in the development stage. This time, the developers could now access it.
As such, they could use every free software that is offered in Lightship. If they want to try accessing multiple devices that allow AR integration at the same time, Niantic said that there's a separate payment for that one.
In line with its AR venture, the tech firm also said that it would fund the other companies for $20 million.
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Major Update For Lightship to Come Next Year
In the same report, Niantic unveiled its plans on introducing the major update for the Lightship Augmented Reality Developer Kit (ARDK) in 2022.
The commitment of the company when it comes to AR is evident through its core foci. This covers Sharing, Understanding, and Real-Time Mapping. It also managed to feature Occlusion APIs which is the reason why we could interact with virtual objects.
For smartphone users, Niantic bolstered its AR campaign by including the Semantic Segmentation APIs for easy understanding of the virtual space.
Meanwhile, sharing in the open space is not just showing the available media to the public. For Niantic, this also includes letting users feel the AR elements during the interaction. The metaverse apps are finally coming at once this year for several firms.
For those developers who want to sign up for the Lightship ARDK, it's much better if you would opt-out for the service as early as now. The San Francisco-based firm said that they only have until May 1, 2022, for the free tools.
If ever they sign up after the said date, a new set of terms will appear, Slash Gear reported. In an update by the tech site, Niantic said that it would offer Multiplayer APIs for free for the first six months.
Niantic's Advanced AR System
The news about the metaverse might be connected to our previous report back in March where Hanke teased the AR glasses in his tweet. At that time, many speculated that Niantic was looking forward to improving its gaming service to a new level through these wearables.
Earlier this November, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that another pair of AR glasses is allegedly coming in late 2022. It is expected to arrive with Wi-Fi 6E support.
Related Article: Microsoft Xbox Metaverse: CEO Satya Nadella Teases Virtual Worlds for Gaming, But When?
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Joseph Henry
