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

Hi Iker,

Thanks, that clarifies a lot.
One last related question —
Since I plan to integrate third-party code into Chromium (on top of utilizing WebXR functionality), is forking Canary practically the same as forking chromium/chromium<https://github.com/chromium/chromium> repo?

Thanks,

--
Peter Gusev

peter@remap.ucla.edu<mailto:peter@remap.ucla.edu>
+1 213 5872748

Research Scholar @ REMAP UCLA<http://remap.ucla.edu/>
Video streaming/ICN networks/Creative Development

On Aug 21, 2018, at 11:21 AM, Iker Jamardo <ijamardo@google.com<mailto:ijamardo@google.com>> wrote:

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<mailto: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<mailto:peter@remap.ucla.edu>
+1 213 5872748

Research Scholar @ REMAP UCLA<http://remap.ucla.edu/>
Video streaming/ICN networks/Creative Development