Google opens the floodgates and offers the Depth API to all developers

Google may have made a fortune in online research, the firm was not limited to this single sector of activity. It has indeed considerably enriched its offer over the years, to the point that it has finally given birth to a group in order to better organize its activity: Alphabet.

Like many 'companies now, Google has belatedly discovered a passion for augmented reality. And there was even a time when the group planned to market a pair of smart glasses.

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But that's it , the Google Glass project unfortunately ended up taking on water and being canceled.

Google, still connected to augmented reality

Google did not not completely removed from the market. In fact, the company has even unveiled quite a few new features in recent years. In December, it presented its famous API Depth - part of its augmented reality toolbox (AR).

Relatively complete, this API touches on quite a few different fields in order to offer the best possible realism. The idea being of course to give the impression to users that AR objects are actually part oftheir world and their environment.

As its name suggests, the Depth API notably allows you to better place objects in relation to each other. A chair created in augmented reality will thus appear behind a physical table instead of floating on it, for example.

At launch, the experimental functionality was only available for certain partners. It is now available to all developers on Android and Unity.

Also read: Google Solar , or when AR helps to enforce social distancing

The Depth API available for everyone

The API already has found several notable applications. Illumix Five Nights at Freddy’s AR: Special Delivery, for example, uses it to make characters pcan hide behind objects. Same thing for TeamViewer Pilot which uses its services to activate AR annotations on video calls.

The best thing in history is that the API does not need a hardware component and therefore works with all compatible Android devices running Android or Unity.

If desired, developers can even reuse open source code on GitHub to save time. As for end users, there are already a number of augmented reality experiences to test, such as Lines of Play, which allows you to design elaborate domino creations, topple them and watch them collide with furniture and the walls of your room.

And of course, more experiences will follow later this year, like SKATRIX, a new Reality Crisis game that turns your home into a skate park digital, and SPLASHAAR from ForwARdgames, whichi allows you to race with your friends in AR on any surface.