Developing API from ARKit - arkit

I just started developing using Apple's new ARKit. If I develop a useful app using the kit, is it possible to develop the app into an API?

If you mean, exposing your app somehow on a web server, it probably won't be possible, ARKit uses the sensors on your phone in order to calculate your position in the virtual/real space.
In any case, you might want to refine your question.

So basically your question is to develop some APIs based on ARKit framework.
If I'm getting the question right, it is possible.

ARKit is completely native. It will run only on iOS devices ( iOS >=11 & (iPhone6s & later) ), as it is bundled with the iOS operating system.
It is just like UIKit or any other Kit comes with iOS.
Of course, you can combine APIs & ARKit to make powerful apps..just like IKEA ( furniture catalog * ARKit) and POKEMON Go ( Location Services & ARKit)

Related

Is there something similar to ARCore's anchor and pose in any other AR library

I wanna build measurement app for Android and iOS using Unity. Can some one guide me through as it is my final year project and I am confused what to use that will work on both Android and iOS for all devices.
I am confused what to use that will work on both android and ios for all devices.
This is not a very reasonable thing to ask. You can deploy your applications to iOS and Android with both ARCore and Vuforia. However, not every device can run ARCore or Vuforia. There is a list of supported devices for both of them.
For the task you want to implement you need to use Vuforia Fusion. Here is the list of devices that support Vuforia Fusion. On top of that these devices should fulfill certain requirements such as having minimum iOS 9+.
For ARCore the list is like this and ARCore also has requirements specific to devices. However, it is easy to say Vuforia supports more devices than ARCore. Therefore, Vuforia is used more in such applications recently but this might change in the future. I prefer ARCore over Vuforia because of the flexibility it provides to developers.
Since this is your final year project i would recommend doing a thorough AR SDK research first and then decide with which one to start. There might be other SDKs which might be better for the task in hand. Good luck!

Do I need to update the Unity?

I have a license Unity 3.x. Now we need to create a simple 2D mobile application. Is compatible Unity 3.x SDK with current mobile API platform (Android, IOS) ?
I would say it's not really an issue of if you need to but should you.
And you absolutely should. Unity has released numerous improvements and native support for 2D applications that didn't exist or at least were very rough around the edges prior to 4. I can't think of any reason why I'd want to stay stuck with Unity 3.x when Unity 5 is readily available.

iOS XCode native vs PhoneGap for speed of development

I'm aiming to do an app like Badoo:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/meet-new-people-chat-socialize/id351331194?mt=8
Basically it involves chatting with people and GPS geo-location.
Question is - I have two options:
A. Have this developed in native XCode for iOS
OR
B. Have this developed in HTML5 + PhoneGap
Assuming either route is with an experienced developer, how much time does B save over route A in terms of getting a viable product out?
Performance, speed, and UI are all important for this, so obviously native is ideal... but how much time would PhoneGap save in getting it out?
Thanks so much!
Have this developed in PhoneGap, as you can target multiple platforms. And also phonegap also supports geo location functionality. so its a win win with phonegap.
if you are going to target ONE platform, do the Xcode route. if you are going to target android and ios together, then please Phonegap.
I'm a fan of native development even if you are deploying to multiple platforms.
However, the main point is if you have skills in html/css/javascript and potentially want to support multiple platforms then by all means go with PhoneGap.
If you have skills in iOS development then go native and reconsider what to do if you want to support other platforms later.
IMO, once you've developed an application in one language, then the amount of effort required to do another version in Android, PhoneGap, or whatever is greatly reduced. If you know the target platform well it is painting by numbers.
If you are building for iPhone/iPad (JUST IOS), then xcode will be your best friend and it will be much faster to develop in xcode in that case, as documentation and sites like this one (stack over flow) have many code snippets around and it will make your life easier. And not to mention that storyboards are also excellent in making your User interface. If you take the xcode route, it will still take you roughly the same amount of time as phonegap.
HOWEVER, if you want to make the SAME app for iphone and android, then phonegap will save you 50% project time, and this only applies when you are talking about one app for both android and iphone
Just out of curiosity, where do your skills lie in? ios or html/css?

difference between HTML5 and native iOS aps on iPhone

Could somebody list some things that you can do using native iPhone/iPad development but you can't using HTML5? I want to understand for what kind of apps is HTML5 usefull. I like it because it is an open technology which you can reuse to target other mobiles like android. I remember Steve Jobs said HTML5 is the future but I want to understand hat are it's limitations
The main difference I guess is that with an HTML5 app you don't have access to the native APIs and access to onboard devices (like the accelerometer, camera, etc.).
If you use something like Phonegap though you can have the best of both worlds.

Vision based Augmented Reality Objective-C library

I'm looking for an Objective-C library / or just help in building a vision-based augmented reality application that does not rely on visual markers.
Qualcomm's is perfect, but only on Android (iOS is coming, but not soon enough). Any body know any other similar libraries?
QCAR for iOS has recently been released into public beta.
The only one I'm aware of is String, and I've become aware of that only via this iPhone + Kinect AR video (YouTube link) that recently did the rounds. So I've no direct experience of using it and no opinion on it, but I nevertheless think it qualifies as an answer to your question. It's commercial, but I think Qualcomm's is too.
Benjamin Loulier created a VRToolKit sample application for the iPhone that is based on the ARToolKitPlus framework. This sample uses the framework to track specific markers within the environment and allows you to overlay objects on them. I've seen some even more impressive demonstrations of this framework for using the camera to augment reality.
However, the ARToolKit framework (the parent of ARToolKitPlus) is by default available under the GPL license, which generally makes it incompatible with the App Store (and with commercial applications in general). You can purchase a commercial-use license for this framework from ARToolworks, if you need to use this within a non-GPL application.
Additionally, you might look into OpenCV for recognizing and tracking features in the environment. I've heard reports of people getting fairly decent performance out of it on iOS devices, even for more complex operations.
I've done some limited work myself in processing the video from the iPhone camera using the GPU, but nothing like what ARToolKit or OpenCV provides.
Have you looked at Aurasma http://www.aurasma.com/? They let you build custom apps with their system, which might suit your needs.