Epson released the Moverio AR SDK for its Moverio Smart Glasses lineup. The new SDK offers developers advanced features that enable new ways to interact with virtual content. Moverio’s Smart Glasses lineup already supports AR content, but it’s now easier for developers to create applications that take advantage of the capabilities of Epson’s devices.
Epson designed its lineup of Moverio Smart Glasses to support augmented reality content, but the SDK it previously offered didn’t offer true AR content support. The Moverio SDK included an Android API and a Unity plugin, which supported 2D applications, but not spatially aware 3D content. The new Moverio AR SDK includes the features from the previous SDK, and it also enables the creation of 3D content for the Moverio headsets.
Epson's press release included a statement from Leon Laroue, software manager, augmented reality solutions, Epson America: "The Moverio AR SDK will enable developers to take augmented reality applications to a new frontier with our Moverio smart glasses platform. This development reinforces our dedication to helping push AR into the mainstream."
Epson’s Moverio headsets don’t have 3D cameras for spatial tracking, but the company created a system that interprets spatial position from CAD drawings. The headset compares the 2D images of objects in the environment to 3D CAD files of those same objects to determine spatial orientation. Epson said the CAD-based tracking technology supports simultaneous detection of multiple objects, and it also supports dynamic, independent movement of the headset and objects without losing orientation. The CAD-based tracking system doesn’t require external markers, such as fiducial markers or QR codes to determine object orientation. The Moverio AR SDK can also track multiple 2D images on a 3D plane.
Epson’s Moverio AR SDK is not yet widely available, but the company is accepting applications for beta testers who would gain early access to the SDK and help Epson’s developers weed out the bugs. For more information about the Moverio AR SDK, or to sign up for early access, visit Epson’s website.
