In May 29, 2019 – Wikitude has today announced support for all leading wearable technologies and has expanded its offering from standalone devices like Hololens to a new spectrum of smart glasses that plug into compatible smartphones, such as the Epson Moverio BT-35E. Epson is now the first AR device manufacturer to partner with Wikitude to deliver the new optimized AR experience to users with tethered devices.
“Our partnership is jump-starting the next generation of immersive AR computing, enabling users to experience realistic and highly engaging AR content with Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) connected to 5G smartphones,” said Martin Herdina, CEO of Wikitude. “Wikitude is pleased to partner with Epson, a market leader in designing these fashionable, robust devices for real-world solutions.”
With smart glasses that are plugged into phones, the heavy computing is managed by smartphones instead of the HMD. This allows smart glasses designers to create less cumbersome and more lightweight products, in some cases almost like sunglasses, which become more affordable and can be used outside of Wi-Fi coverage.
“Wikitude was one of the first AR platforms to offer a Moverio-optimized experience. They continue to evolve and improve their solution to support the next generation Moverio products,” said Eric Mizufuka, Product Manager, Augmented Reality at Epson America, Inc. “The BT-35E is a great example of a device that combines phone-centric, USB-C connectivity, light-weight design, and sub (USD) $1,000 pricing that AR use-cases demand today.”
Another new effort is between Wikitude and Qualcomm Technologies, and aims to allow for hyper-immersive AR-experiences. The Wikitude AR platform is now optimized for Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform, which means consumers and enterprise professionals with devices powered by Snapdragon have the ability to experience AR, with real-life environments blended into the virtual world.
“Qualcomm Technologies continues to drive leadership and scale in XR by offering a compelling experience to XR viewers tethered to Snapdragon-powered devices,” said Hiren Bhinde, Director, Product Management at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “The Wikitude platform opens new opportunities for developers to create immersive experiences with features like plane detection, image, object, and scene tracking, all seamlessly integrated and fully optimized for standalone HMDs and the next generation of AR devices.”
The Wikitude platform offers comprehensive compatibility for developers and brings a feature set that includes plane detection, image, object, and scene tracking, all integrated and fully optimized for the next generation of AR devices. Wikitude states that it sees its platform opening new opportunities to build more compelling, lightweight apps for gaming, industry, and enterprise experiences.
“The Wikitude solution is the only one of its kind that runs across all operating systems (iOS, Android, and UWP) and devices, so AR developers can port them easily from smartphone AR to new headsets”, said Philipp Nagele, CTO of Wikitude. “Developers will particularly enjoy working with our optimized AR SDK that brings reliability and a proven platform for building consumer and enterprise level solutions.”
A demonstration of the company’s technology will be held at the AWE 2019 conference in Santa Clara, May 29–31, at the Wikitude booth (#419).
Image credit: Wikitude
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.
