I’ve been working on an AR (augmented reality) application for iOS and thought I would share some of the available software libraries and devices for iOS.
Hardware
Although an iPhone is not as ‘hands free’ as a dedicated AR device (Moverio, Vuzix, or the Meta SpaceGlasses) there are interesting hardware solutions to use your iPhone or Android smart phone as a AR client…
The Durovis Dive works with any Android or iOS smartphone featuring a gyroscope and an accelerometer and a display not larger than 5 inches. You just insert your smartphone, start the application and adjust the lenses to your eyes.
You can construct your own FOV2GO Model D Viewer – for the iPhone 4/4S, the Samsung Galaxy Note, or most Android smart phones – out of foam board and a couple of plastic lenses. Just download the instructions and the appropriate template.
Software
Source for my initial research and a great resource at Augmented Reality SDK Comparison
Open Source and/or Free
Argon
iOs – augmented reality from Georgi Tech – appears to be open source but I can’t find the code available for download – based on KHARMA – a KML/HTML Augmented Reality Mobile Architecture
iPhone ARKit
iOS – iPhone ARKit is a small set of class that can give you augmented reality in any iPhone application.
iPhone Augmented Reality Toolkit
This version of the iPhone ARKit is a forked version of the ARKit started on GitHub by Zac White.
mixare – Open Source Augmented Reality Engine
iOS & Android – It works as a completely autonomous application and is available as well for the development of own implementations.
PRAugmentedReality
open source – Augmented Reality Framework for iOS
Vuforia
(from Qualcomm)
iOS, Android, and Unity 3D
Very powerful tracker based AR SDK – free for commercial development
Proprietary and/or Paid
ARPA
iOS & Android
ARToolKit
iOS & Android – a very powerful Lib with a lot of work being done with it – has an open source version (but not on mobile devices)
Catchoom
iOS & Android
Metaio
iOS & Android (includes Junaio) – lots of products, including content creation and a cloud offering
String
Comes in vanilla OpenGL and Unity flavours. Add AR to any iOS project, regardless of 3D engine.
Wikitude
iOS, Android and BlackBerry 10 – both tools for client and creation – also has an AR browser app – very popular with a lot of dev shops using it
Xloudia
cloud based AR recognition and tracking
Roll your Own
Product7 