How has WebAR changed over time?

How WebAR has changed over the years?

If you've ever tried on a pair of sunglasses while scrolling through your phone to find the perfect couch for your living room, or had a brand mascot leap out of a cereal box, you've been in the same situation as a whole lot of people. Most likely, you did this using something known as WebAR or web-based augmented reality.

WebAR is a technology that allows experiencing augmented reality in your web browser without any special applications. It can be used to put digital objects, such as 3D models, videos and games, into the real world around you using the camera that is on whatever device you are using. This is just a shift to web-based instead of app-based, and it has revolutionized AR usage patterns.

But WebAR did not emerge out of nowhere. Its history is one of gradual development, where significant technological advancements and even the internet itself have made a difference. We'll explore the evolution of WebAR and its transition towards becoming an accessible, versatile platform that is changing the way we shop, learn, and play.

Early Years: The History of AR from the Beginning (Before 2010)

In order to grasp WebAR, we must first take a brief look at the history of augmented reality itself. The concept of digital information being added to the real world is not new. A computer scientist named Ivan Sutherland made what is thought to be the first AR system in the 1960s: a large and bulky headset known as the Sword of Damocles, which could display simple wireframe graphics.

In the next few decades, AR remained primarily in the lab. It was an elaborate and costly technology utilized by armies and corporations. The first significant step toward democratizing AR was the release of ARToolKit, an open-source library that made it easier for developers to create simple, marker-based AR experiences, in 1999. This meant a digital object would be displayed on a camera when it was viewing a certain black-and-white image (a "marker"). Although this was a giant leap, this early AR was still connected to large desktop computers and webcams. WebAR never existed in the way that we know it now.

Age of Mobile: Incipient AR and the Instructional Age of the App Store (2010 - 2016)

The smartphone was the actual revolution in AR. With the increased power of phones with in-built cameras and more powerful processors, developers got another opportunity. AR could now be used anywhere you went, rather than being stuck at a desk.

This was the period of native apps. A company wanting to build an AR experience (such as a virtual tour or a game) would need to develop a platform-specific app for iOS and Android. This was helpful with large, committed experiences, but it had a significant drawback: friction.

Think about it:

• You needed to locate the application in an application store.
• You needed to download and install a big file.
• The application would occupy space on your phone.
• It is unlikely that you would want to repeat the experience.

This friction was a key barrier. Some humans just did not bother with the additional measures. Subsequently, AR was, in the majority, confined to several popular apps such as Pokémon GO or brand-specific applications. It was a niche technology and not a daily tool.

The Tipping Point: True WebAR (2017-2019)

In 2017, the AR world was transformed forever with the introduction of Apple ARKit and Google ARCore. These software platforms allowed developers to create powerful AR applications that had advanced features such as markerless tracking. Rather than requiring a special image to operate, these new tools could use the sensors on your phone to perceive the world around you and place digital objects on any flat surface, such as a floor or a table.

Although ARKit and ARCore were originally created as native apps, a serendipitous effect of the two platforms was their initiation of the WebAR revolution. Developers began investigating how they could introduce these new powerful capabilities to the web. The idea was to eliminate the barrier of downloading apps.

This resulted in the development of new WebAR-specific technologies and structures:

• AR.js: This is a free and simple open-source library that brought marker-based AR to the web with fast performance. It was a mere yet important starting point.
• 8th Wall: An online product that provided advanced web-based markerless tracking. This was revolutionary because it proved that you did not need to have a native application to experience a high-quality AR experience.
• WebXR Device API: It was the most significant milestone. Rather than working independently and creating non-standard ways to build AR on the web, the largest technology companies and developers started collaborating to develop one official standard. The WebXR API was created to enable both augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) on the internet, and its development was the point when WebAR became a serious platform indeed.

The shift was immediate. A company could now use a basic QR code or a web link in an advertisement to allow people to try a product in AR on the spot. It was quick, easy and did not involve commitment. This was when WebAR started going mainstream.

Modern Era: Performance, Functional Application, Accessibility (2020-TODAY)

WebAR is more powerful and common today than it has ever been. Technology has grown in a number of ways:

• Improved Tracking and Performance: The current WebAR employs two or more combined techniques such as SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) to get to know your surroundings. This implies that you can place the digital objects on a surface, and the digital object will remain in place even when you are moving your phone around. It is more smooth and the digital objects are more realistic.
• The Strength of the WebXR: Most new AR experiences on the web have been built on the WebXR standard. It makes WebAR content accessible on a wide range of devices and browsers, including a large range of smartphones and specialized headsets.
• New Formats and Features: WebAR is no longer a 3D model with basic features. Now it supports complicated animations, interactive video, and even has other features such as face tracking (to make AR filters) and image tracking (to bring a physical brochure or poster to life).

This development has led to an explosion of novel and innovative applications:

• E-commerce: You can now see how a furniture item would appear in your house before purchasing it through companies such as IKEA and Amazon. This assists the customer in making more informed decisions and has resulted in a significant reduction of product returns.
• Marketing and Advertising: Brands are employing WebAR to develop interactive ad campaigns that allow consumers to experience their products in an entertaining manner, whether that is scanning a logo to get a preview of a new movie or trying on a virtual sneaker.
• Education and Training: Pupils may view a three-dimensional image of a human heart suspended in their classroom or study a solar system on a desk. This is participatory and retentive learning.
• Art and Entertainment: Artists are already exploring the API by building interactive art installations with WebAR, and museums have begun providing AR tours where they bring historical artifacts to life on your phone screen.

The Future of WebAR: What Lies Ahead?

The WebAR path is not completed yet. In the long run, the following key trends will be contributing to its next chapter:

• More Realistic Experiences: With even more powerful browsers and devices, WebAR can work at creating more powerful graphics and more complex interactions, which means that the digital objects will feel even closer to actually existing in your world.
• The Spatial Web: The spatial web is sometimes referred to as the next generation of the internet, and it is a place where digital data is overlaid over the real world. WebAR will be an essential aspect of this vision, and given the future possibilities of this technology, our phones and later our smart glasses will serve as a portal into this second dimension of reality.
• AI and 5G Integration: WebAR can be used to create more intelligent and personalized experiences by integrating with artificial intelligence. Suppose you have a virtual assistant display on your phone screen in order to assist you in assembling a new product. Large, high-quality AR experiences will be instantly loaded as well, thanks to faster 5G networks.

Future of AR: Co-Op and Enterprise AR

WebAR is expanding beyond consumer-facing experiences and into more advanced and collaborative applications as the technology matures. A real-time collaborative WebAR is one of the most thrilling new directions where two or more users in separate places can interact with the same digital objects in real time. It would be so much easier to gather around a virtual 3D structure of a building with a group of architects or even have a medical student and a professor talking about a virtual anatomy model in different classrooms. The basis of collaborative WebAR lies within the construction of web sockets and peer-to-peer connections, which means that WebAR is not an isolated experience, but a collaborative one. There is also growing industrial WebAR, where the technology gets applied to all sorts of things like remote equipment maintenance and repair, or instructions on how to assemble a product on a factory floor. These subtopics indicate that WebAR is not just a channel for selling products but an effective communication and productivity platform.

Performance Maximization: The Growth Strategy

Performance has always been a significant issue facing WebAR. Being a browser-based application, it should load fast and work well on a large variety of platforms, including both new and old phones. To address this, developers are concentrating on a few key areas. They are working with highly compressed 3D models and textures to have the AR experience loaded in almost no time. New browser-based applications are being developed to automatically make these assets web optimized. Moreover, developers are becoming more intelligent regarding adopting a more progressive approach, so the user can immediately begin to interact with a rudimentary AR scene, with the more detailed graphics slowly loading in the background. It is this tireless optimization of their performance that ultimately allows WebAR to fulfill its stated objective of providing everyone with a friction-free, seamless experience.

Co-creating for Change: No-Code WebAR

During its initial period, developing a WebAR experience involved knowing sophisticated code. You needed to be a master of web development, 3D graphics, and AR algorithms. This is not true today. New generations of no-code and low-code WebAR authoring and creation platforms have made the technology accessible to artists, marketers, and small business owners with no technical background or knowledge. On these platforms, you can create an experience with drag-and-drop interfaces that enable you to upload 3D models, build interactions, and go live with a WebAR scene in minutes. The barrier to coding has been removed, opening it up to anyone from a local furniture store to a freelance graphic designer to be able to create and publish their own AR content, which has driven the mass adoption of AR by everyone.

What is making WebAR performance and compatibility a problem?

Even though mobile and web technology have made great strides, WebAR has drawbacks in performance and compatibility. Since it works in a web browser, it cannot take full advantage of a device like a native application. It may result in reduced frame rate, lower-end graphics, and an inferior user experience, especially on older or low-end devices. It also depends on the browser's implementation of the WebXR API. Support is not always equally strong across all browsers, and a working functionality on one browser might not be reliable or even work at all on a different browser, so developers need to code to the lowest common denominator or write a platform-specific hack.

How does the need to have a steady internet connection limit WebAR?

The great advantage of WebAR, the ability to access it instantly, also fails to be a strong point: it demands a stable and high-speed internet connection. The speed of a user's network directly affects the user experience, as all the necessary 3D models, textures, and other resources must be downloaded to the browser in real-time. This can lead to long load times or high levels of lag in places with slow internet or untrustworthy networks, which entirely nullifies the frictionless advantage of the technology. Unlike native AR applications which often have the ability to store local data on the device itself and run without an active network connection, WebAR is currently unable to reliably provide an experience without a robust network connection, limiting its functionality in most real-world applications.