In Augmented Reality News
August 20, 2023 – Rock Paper Reality, an augmented reality (AR) and immersive content design agency, has announced a partnership with Adobe Aero that involved the creation of a new location-based AR experience built on Google’s Geospatial Creator platform that showcases the history and culture of Japantown.
The new experience, which is accessible via a simple QR code, transforms San Francisco’s Japantown neighborhood with custom 3D digital origami artwork. Origami and paper craft supplier Paper Tree of San Francisco’s Japantown was selected as the heart of the creative project, and RPR’s developer and design teams utilized geospatial technology to transform the entire neighborhood with custom 3D digital origami artwork.
Earlier this year, Google announced the integration of its Geospatial Creator platform with Adobe Aero. Powered by Google Maps Platform and ARCore, Geospatial Creator makes accurate real-world anchoring, scene semantics and more accessible in Unity and Adobe Aero.
The integration enables developers to build, preview and publish 3D content and AR experiences that are anchored in the real world and accessible by anyone, and according to RPR presents an opportunity for developers and brands seeking to evolve the way audiences discover and engage with them.
“The potential for any brand to tell stories beyond their traditional storefront or page, elevating how their audiences discover and engage with their products in the digital realm is huge,” said Patrick Johnson, CEO and Founder, Rock Paper Reality. “With immersive spaces and headset use on the rise, it has never been more vital to have an omnichannel 3D strategy in place, particularly powerful with the younger generation where 3D worlds are the norm.”
RPR and Adobe’s experience was created using a host of Adobe products, including Adobe Sampler, Substance Painter, Substance Stager, Adobe Dimension, Photoshop, and Illustrator. Additionally, the project was anchored accurately with Google’s Visual Positioning Service (VPS).
“Leveraging Adobe’s powerful tools has been a game-changer, elevating our workflow to new heights of speed and efficiency,” said Preston Platt, CTO and Founder at RPR. “The Substance suite in particular has become an indispensable part of our toolkit, allowing us to texture with precision using Painter, swiftly sample textures with Sampler, and seamlessly pre-visualize our projects with Stager.”
RPR stated that thanks to Google’s Visual Positioning Service (VPS), it was possible to accurately anchor the product, ready for visitors to discover. The company also noted that it was able to accomplish almost all of the work remotely, and that only one of its designers physically visited the site during the entire project, thanks to VPS.
The Japantown immersive experience is now ready for visitors to discover in San Francisco, and will also be featured at Adobe Max 2023, where RPR CTO Preston Platt will teach a workshop on geospatial technology. To learn more about RPR and its creative AR solutions for businesses and brands, please visit the company’s website.
Image / video credit: Rock Paper Reality
About the author
Sam Sprigg
Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.
