Blippar launches Unity Beta plug-in, enabling creative developers to easily build and publish web AR experiences

By Globe Newswire Published on September 15, 2022, 18:00 IST

LONDON, Sept. 15, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Blippar, the leading technology and content platform specialising in augmented reality (AR), has integrated its WebAR SDK into Unity, allowing Unity developers to create lightweight AR experiences that can be easily published directly to any web browser. With Blippar’s SDK Beta plug-in, Unity developers save considerable time and effort, no longer needing to work between multiple platforms in order to create and publish web AR experiences. This integration, which has been frequently requested by developers, enables creators to rapidly increase their production of lightweight web AR experiences and removes the friction of requiring end users to download an app.

The benefits are three-fold, advancing both creators, businesses, and end-users. Developers can create web AR content more efficiently, and web AR content – in comparison to dedicated AR apps – is highly accessible and allows for spontaneity. As web AR can be triggered with a smartphone from any object, link or QR code, it enables publishing across social media platforms such as Meta, TikTok and Snap and websites including e-commerce and gaming. Additionally, the need for an app download process is removed, alleviating friction for the end user. This means that when AR experiences are web based, the addressable audience size is increased to 5 billion smartphone users, and Blippar’s SDK allows brands and businesses creating with Unity to tap into this global market.

“In an age where technology moves fast, developers need to have the best tools available and working across siloed platforms causes unnecessary delays and friction. The ease of being able to publish AR experiences direct to web from within Unity will open doors for creativity and speed, providing a new market opportunity for light client XR experiences. We’re excited about the possibilities that bringing our WebAR SDK functionality into Unity will create for developers and brands alike, and look forward to seeing what users will create with this cross-platform tool,” said Faisal Galaria, CEO at Blippar.

Lightweight web AR content can be utilised across all industries. These experiences are not only essential tools to increase engagement across digital marketing and advertising, but also positively impact education, training, culture, fashion, architecture and design. Beyond increasing ROI through incentivised packing and virtual ‘try-ons’, there is great value to be found from mapping a digital world onto the physical, whether this be a healthcare tutorial, a DIY guide, or a historic monument that users can enter from their current location. Blippar’s integration unleashes the creative potential of Unity developers, enabling them to populate the world with highly immersive, engaging lightweight XR experiences that work everywhere.

Blippar and Unity users will benefit from the following features:

Instant access to the integration via a simple, free downloadable package
The ability to publish Unity-built projects, along with interactivity, 3D models, animations, and particle effects to web AR
The creation of fully immersive and realistic surface and marker tracking web AR experiences
The ability to run creations through any mobile browsers (iOS Safari and Android Chrome) or social media platform, including Snap, Meta, Whatsapp and WeChat