Korean tech giant Samsung held its developer conference in San Francisco on November 7th and 8th. In addition to significant announcements such as the upcoming arrival of its first folding smartphone, the manufacturer also unveiled its work in the field of augmented reality.
The Korean manufacturer made several announcements, including the opening of its Bixby AI assistant to third-party developers and the presentation of a smartphone prototype equipped with a folding display. The company also spoke about its latest developments in virtual and augmented reality during a technical session called “How to be a superstar AR developer.”
Samsung has updated its “GearVR Framework” created initially for its virtual reality accessory for smartphones. It is now called the “SXR SDK,” which stands for “Samsung eXtended Reality Software Development Kit.” It is no longer limited to GearVR only but also works with Oculus Go and Google Daydream headsets.
SXR SDK, an AR cloud and an experimental augmented reality headset, Presented By Samsung
Above all, SXR SDK now also manages augmented reality, and it is compatible with ARCore, the Android augmented reality framework, as well as with the glTF file format, while it also comes with a library of 3D widgets. The SXR SDK is already available on Github. Samsung also presented an experimental augmented reality headset with an external camera, can track movements in six axes, and is accompanied by a controller, but which is limited to only three axes. The headset is Java-compatible and already has a Unity plugin.
A final announcement was made in the session dedicated to “augmented reality in the cloud” (AR Cloud). This concept, which Google is already working on, uses the cloud to create collective augmented reality experiences. Samsung has developed its own version through the “Whare project,” a framework that links physical space to virtual experience and then persists through multiple sessions and on multiple devices.
Now, Samsung is organizing an Augmented Reality Hackathon, from November 9th to 11th, 2018, in Mountain View.
