Web based AR app

Questions & Answers
1

I’ve been asked by a client to create an Augmented Reality App that can run via their website. It will need to be accessible on iOS and Android phones and incorporate ARKit, ARCore and Vuforia.

I have developed apps for iOS/Android stores before but don’t know where to start with a web based one as I have very little experience with website coding.

I would appreciate any help if you’ve had experience with this!

So, a few questions I have:

Is the coding process the same as developing for the stores? i.e. once the App launches from the website, is it the same as if one had downloaded an App from the store?

Does ARKit, ARCore and Vuforia work on a web based app? If so, do I need to do 2 separate apps, one for Android and the other for iOS, or would I need to code both in and detect what device the user has?

How does the App integrate into the website, would this require me to code in some HTML or would it be a package, similar to how you submit to the stores?

I would also appreciate any examples of existing web based apps to have a look at.

Many Thanks

2

Hi Holly,

I’ve previously created some webvr experiences( use mozilla webvr assets to get understandings)… I’m digging my hands on ar now , hence came across this, did you ever got to solve this problem?

you wouldn’t need to build a different app for ios and android, also no html coding required but is helpful to know in later stages of putting it up over a server. You’ll most probably be exporting it via webgl or babylon js( both of export options are available in unity).

Im currently trying to find answer to this as well, if vuforia build will run(should imo), and accessing proper geo and camera through web api’s.

7

I know this is an old question and I hope you’ve found a good solution.
Anyway, we are working on a library to create web AR experiences from Unity.

Video: https://youtu.be/bcw7mwjXgpE
Repo: GitHub - ToughNutToCrack/ARWT: This library allows you to use Unity to build AR Web applications, working as a bridge between Unity and the best AR libraries available for the Web.
Info e Doc: https://toughnuttocrack.it/arwt

3

Hi @jackerlo , @hollym16

Hope you are doing good. Did you guys find any solution to use AR on web. I’ve found lot of content showcasing the development on Android (using ARCore) and Apple (using ARKit), but I’m struggling to get and resource/leads to follow them to develop a ar application on web using unity. If you find anything on this, kindly help me out.
Thanks in Advance.

4

One thing that you can look into is AR.js and A-Frame (I have not personally tried this, it is a suggestion). There was an older blog post about using AR with A-Frame here: Creating Augmented Reality with AR.js and A-Frame – A-Frame.

In order to communicate with the A-Frame JavaScript library, one can write a wrapper .jslib file that your Unity scripts can call in order to use the APIs. There is a good reference to do this here: Unity - Manual: Interaction with browser scripting.

The HTML page you have hosting your Unity application will need to load those libraries and add any of the necessary markup required.

5

Can you export for web ar or not? I have read Vuforia does not support it so does that leave AR Foundation? Really need an answer to this before we invest a lot of development time. Thanks in advance.

6

I have yet to see a tutorial of anyone demonstrating how to do this? Is it possible with Unity?

8

this is nice. So basically with Unity and your ARWT library we can make web-based apps for unity!!!. One question is compatible with vuforia???

Thanks in advance

9

Hi hollym16,

Maybe it’s a bit late but there is a No-Code Web AR creation platform where you can create markerless or marker-based WebAR apps under 10 seconds. Customize it with your own 3d or customized buttons within a few mins if your customer is asking for more customization.

The platform is FREE to sign up and you can try it out - maybe it’ll solve your problem.
Marvin XR : https://www.marvinxr.com:8443

10

From the research I’ve done, it appears that Unity doesn’t currently support AR on Web based apps.

Platforms such as Blippar and Zappar can facilitate this but uses java script to do anything beyond basic functionality and of course means that your content is hosted on a platform you have no control over.

I have recently become aware of ARWT, which is being developed to help create WebAR experiences using Unity.

I don’t know much about it and haven’t tried it out yet but could be a doorway to a solution.

11

Hi there !
Any new solution for this ?
Would like to use AR Space detection (Vuforia’s Area TArget) in Web browser…

Le me know pleaaase !
Merry Christmas