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Introduction

What is Pretia AR Cloud?​

Pretia AR Cloud is a platform containing a suite of products that helps developers create shared AR experiences.

The underlying technology uses “spatial maps” of a location which are created by scanning a space using a scanner app. Developers can put their AR contents into these scanned maps with Unity and use them in their apps. For managing maps and creating apps using our SDK, we also offer a platform called the Developer Console. Please refer to the AR Cloud Architecture for details.

Thus, Pretia AR Cloud consists of three major products:

  • 3D Scanner App - A mobile app for scanning a location to create maps, and placing AR contents. Currently, we have support for Android devices and are working towards iOS devices support.
  • Developer Console - A web-app for managing the scanned maps, and their usages in your apps.
  • Pretia SDK - Unity SDK for developing shared AR experiences using our cloud services. Currently, we support building Android and iOS apps with our SDK.

Main Features​

  • Mapping: Scan a location and create point-cloud maps.
  • Various relocalization methods: Image-based, map-based
  • Map management: Support multiple maps at the same location, GPS-based map selection, map visualization
  • Multiplayer (Beta): Game hosting, matchmaking, in-game services​
  • Content authoring: An easy-to-develop feature
  • Android and iOS support on relocalization

Relocalization​

Relocalization is the process of finding a point of reference in the real world space. We call this point of reference a Shared Anchor. By finding this shared anchor, your device will able to recognize its location in the real world space and change its AR origin to the shared anchor location. When multiple devices relocalize the same space, they will be able to find the shared anchor at the same point in real world location, hence "sharing" the same coordinate system. This is the core capabilities required when creating shared and persistent AR experiences based on real world environments.

Multiplayer (Beta)​

Sharing the same coordinate system is the first step in creating a shared AR experience. Pretia AR Cloud provides easy-to-use networking APIs combined with match-making and relay servers to help you get started quickly in developing AR apps that can be enjoyed by multiple people at the same time. Our multiplayer solutions are carefully crafted to integrate seamlessly with our relocalization features.

Content Authoring​

Placing an object and aligning it to match the real-world environment is tricky and time-consuming, especially so when we need to make adjustments to our content. Content Authoring is a set of features to help solve this problem and let developers iterate quickly on their AR content. These guides will walk you through each step in the workflow of authoring AR content.