PALO ALTO, Calif., Nov. 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, 8th Wall announced the launch of its all-new Reality Engine, becoming the first augmented reality development platform to enable WebAR experiences to immediately work across all devices: iOS and Android smartphones, tablets, computers and AR and VR headsets.
Reality Engine is a completely reimagined version of 8th Wall’s original AR engine, fully optimized to adapt to a myriad of devices to serve up the appropriate immersive experience every time. Upon creating a web-based augmented reality (WebAR) project, developers can leverage the engine’s Metaversal Deployment capability to build once and deploy everywhere—unlocking more places to access and engage with the experience and significantly expanding its reach, without expanding the development time.
End users who access 8th Wall WebAR experiences will now be able to engage with them in augmented reality on mobile and smart glasses, 3D on computers, and virtual reality on head-mounted displays. 8th Wall’s Reality Engine ensures that the user gets the right experience based on the device they are on and manages all of the mappings needed for a user to properly view, interact and engage with the immersive content no matter what device they are using.
“This is the start of the new responsive web,” said Erik Murphy-Chutorian, CEO and Founder of 8th Wall. “Just like 2D websites needed to adapt from desktop to mobile, immersive websites need to react to the different devices that are used to experience them. With the launch of our Reality Engine, developers can for the first time build a WebAR experience that’s instantly compatible across the most popular mobile, desktop and headworn devices.”
8th Wall Reality Engine provides five core features in order to make Metaversal Deployment possible:
- Reality Application Runtime - 8th Wall’s award-winning augmented reality application framework has been rebuilt to respond to every device type.
- Spatialized UI - Automatic translation of 2D web UI elements onto a spatial control panel when an experience is accessed on a VR or AR headset.
- Interaction Mapping - Universal mapping of gestures to handle input across devices including controllers and hand tracking.
- Environment Mapping - Instant application of an environment to ground 3D content in space when the experience is accessed on computers and VR devices.
- Responsive Scale - Accommodating user position by making 3D content comfortable and accessible while ensuring the developer’s vision is consistent across devices.
“The Web is evolving, becoming spatial and more immersive, and we believe that our Reality Engine equips developers with the tools they need to create content for the next iteration of the Internet—the Metaverse,” says Tom Emrich, VP of Product at 8th Wall. “By enabling 8th Wall developers to take advantage of Metaversal Deployment, their WebAR projects can now be immediately accessed on the devices that have become an integral part of our daily lives today, as well as the devices that will facilitate our lives in the Metaverse tomorrow—all without increasing development time.”
8th Wall has powered 50,000+ WebAR projects including over 1,200 commercial experiences since its original AR engine debuted in 2019. The 8th Wall platform has been making the web a powerful place for smartphone-based augmented reality and giving its developers access to an estimated reach of 3.5 billion smartphones across iOS and Android devices—the widest reach of any augmented reality platform. Now with the launch of 8th Wall’s Reality Engine, developers can extend this reach even further to meet users on their computers and headworn devices including Oculus Quest/Meta Quest and Microsoft HoloLens.
Developers can start creating WebAR World Effects projects with the all-new Reality Engine today at www.8thwall.com. New users can sign up for a 14-day free trial of the 8th Wall platform. Existing developers can simply log in and begin building.
About 8th Wall
8th Wall is an award-winning computer vision software company that makes it possible to build interactive, immersive content that can be experienced on any device—no app required. With the world’s largest augmented reality platform, 8th Wall supports billions of devices globally and has been used by developers, agencies and creative studios to create AR activations for brands across industry verticals including retail, food and beverage, travel and tourism, automotive, fashion, sports and entertainment. 8th Wall has powered WebAR experiences for top brands such as Nike, Porsche, Sony Pictures, Burger King, General Mills, British Gas, Heineken, McDonald’s, Swiss Airlines, Toyota, Red Bull, Adidas, COACH and more. Learn more about 8th Wall at www.8thwall.com.
Media Contact:
Jennifer DeFalco
jen@8thwall.com
650-263-1144
Photos accompanying this announcement are available at
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A video accompanying this announcement is available at
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