Facebook is expanding its augmented reality platform to make it possible for developers to create AR content tied to physical objects such as logos, signs and posters.
The company has already integrated a few examples of its ‘AR Target Tracking’ tech into Facebook camera, letting smartphone users conjure up AR experiences for both Ready Player One (2018) and A Wrinkle in Time (2018) posters. Although in closed beta currently, a toolkit for developers will be released later this spring.
The AR experiences, Facebook says in a recent developer blog post, can be anchored on any flat surface for the effect to show up as an overlay in the Facebook camera. Effects can also be activated by scanning a QR code.
Last April at the company’s F8 developer conference, Facebook made its first strides in AR by releasing their Camera Effects Platform. Last December, the company launched AR Studio, a developer platform allowing users to place 3D objects into their surroundings and interact with them in real-time.
This is Facebook’s first foray into what it calls “persistent AR,” and chose 2D planar targets such as signs and posters “because they are ubiquitous.”
