Vision Pro is now supported by Niantic 8th Wall Metaversal Deployment
Recently, 8th Wall’s Metaversal Deployment was extended to include support for development on Apple Vision Pro, according to Niantic, the company that makes augmented reality (AR) technology and is the inventor of Pokemon GO. With the 8th Wall platform, Niantic’s collection of augmented reality (AR) tools for the web, developers can now create and distribute across mobile devices and mixed reality headsets, such as Apple Vision Pro.
Metaversal Deployment changes the way developers build and distribute spatial computing experiences, claims Niantic. With the advancements in mixed reality and spatial computing, Metaversal Deployment offers a means of bridging the gap between devices in disparate ecosystems, enabling developers to build experiences for an array of platforms.
Apple Vision Pro was first released in 2021 and upgraded in 2023 to provide pass-through compatibility for devices such as the Meta Quest 3. According to Niantic, the most recent addition to the gadget takes advantage of WebVR features. With this upgrade, developers will have a platform to show off their creativity that is even more engaging.
The fact that Apple has still not granted the browser camera access is currently a drawback for WebVR developers using Vision Pro. But with Niantic’s tools, developers can still leverage Vision Pro’s advanced VR capabilities to create experiences that flow from immersive augmented reality in the real world on mobile or pass-through devices, like Meta Quest 3, to a full VR environment on Vision Pro, the company claims.
As Niantic describes it, the creation of asymmetrical WebAR and WebVR experiences that take into consideration the various and distinctive capabilities of each device, is made possible by this flexibility and enables the distribution of consistent experiences across platforms. To show how these kinds of experiences may be used across several platforms, the business released a prototype of a basketball arcade.
The release from Niantic includes a new feature that allows developers to further customise the experiences: they can now combine the Personas feature of Vision Pro with Face Effects from 8th Wall. Apple’s solution for giving users a lifelike, dynamic portrayal of themselves when wearing Vision Pro is called Personas. The business claims that using 8th Wall Face Effects, these Personas may now be further developed to integrate smoothly inside a WebXR experience. This implies that Vision Pro users will still be able to take advantage of WebXR experiences with face filters, even while their Persona will be covering their face with a headset.
Niantic has declared that WebAR and tools such as Metaversal Deployment will play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between AR and VR devices. The company has extended the technical capabilities of AR creation and deployment by integrating Apple Vision Pro into Metaversal Deployment, thereby encouraging the developer community to push the boundaries of creativity even further.
Niantic 8th Wall has made a number of sample projects available in its project library for developers and artists that are interested in using their Metaversal Deployment platform to create content for Apple Vision Pro. A complimentary 14-day trial is also available to new users.
