Re: how's Canary-WebXR different from WebARonARCore and which one shall I use to start with WebAR?

Hello,

WebARonARKit and WebARonARCore are prototypes built a year ago when ARKit
and ARCore were announced to experiment with AR on the web. They are built
on top of the WebVR <https://github.com/immersive-web/webvr> 1.1 API with
completely *made up APIs* to expose things like hit test and anchors among
other things. They were never meant to be a final project or a production
ready product as the repositories explicitly explain. WebARonARCore
specifically, is a Chromium modification to play with AR capabilities.
These projects have helped build some initial prototypes, better understand
some implications on different approaches to a possible AR API and have
informed the current WebXR Device API proposals for AR capabilities on the
web.

Chrome Canary is a implementation of the WebXR Device API
<https://github.com/immersive-web/webxr> based on the hit test proposal
<https://github.com/immersive-web/hit-test>, so it is based on discussions
happening in the community group. The WebXR Device API itself is not final
and that is why these APIs are currently behind a flag, treating them as
experimental. But they should allow developers to get an initial grasp on
where things are going in the CG and have a working browser (beta version)
to build experiences on.

I hope this clarifies the situation that I definitively understand can be a
bit confusing. WebARonARKit and WebARonARCore are repos we no longer
support and are actively working on replacing soon with WebXR Device API
based solutions in a different context from browsers.

Regards,
Iker.

On Tue, Aug 21, 2018 at 10:56 AM Gusev, Peter <peter@remap.ucla.edu> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I’ve heard of WebARonARCore <https://github.com/google-ar/WebARonARCore> for
> quite a while but recently discovered WebXR and it’s AR functions available
> in Canary. I’m wondering, what are the differences between these two and
> what would be your recommendations regarding how to proceed if I want to
> start experimenting with writing AR experiences for the web?
>
> There’re few more questions, like:
> Is WebARonARCore just a custom modified version of Chrome which soon won’t
> be supported, most likely?
> It seems to me that WebARonARCore right now provides more functionality,
> such as plane, anchors and even markers. It’s API, however, by no means
> intends to become a standard, am I right here?
> Is there any information on what version of Chromium it is based on? And
> finally, if I’ll need to experiment by adding my own code to the Chromium,
> will forking Canary be practically similar to forking WebARonARCore?
>
> Thanks,
>
> --
> Peter Gusev
>
>
>
> *peter@remap.ucla.edu <peter@remap.ucla.edu> +1 213 5872748 *
>
> *Research Scholar @ **REMAP UCLA* <http://remap.ucla.edu/>
> * Video streaming/ICN networks/Creative Development*
>
>