ARFoundation and 2D image target tracking

As both ARCore and ARKit have support tracking 2D image targets (such as posters on the wall), I suppose ARFoundation will support this as well. The feature is not supported in the initial ARFoundation preview version, but according to Mike Durand (in the closed beta group, which is not so active anymore..) "functionality will be expressed via subsystem that will ship post Unity 2018.3."

Now, as "post 2018.3" might be almost a year away from now (which is an eternity in the XR technology world), my question is: is using ARKit/Core SDK:s directly for the image targets in parallel with ARFoundation fully supported and possible?

 

Would be very interesting for us to!

 

It's something I am interested in using also!

 

Very interested in this as well!

 

Hi All-

We're designing a multi-platform 2D image tracking system now and the tentative plan is to release it as a package in the coming months. However, it will only work with 2018.3 and later. Sorry if my "post 2018.3" quote was too ambiguous.

-Best,
Mike

 

Is it outside of the ARKit and ARCore implementations or is it some bridging of the two so that trackable images for both android and ios can be managed with one top level control?

 

The idea for ARFoundation in general is to provide a multi-platform layer so that you only have to write once and it will run everywhere. So the intent is for all the subsystems including the Image Tracking one to have multi-platform support. In this case, we want to use the underlying ARKit and ARCore implementations to provide the data for the subsystem.

But there could be a 3rd party who decides they can do image tracking better than these SDKs, and they are more than welcome to use the Image Tracking subsystem to deliver their data in a multi-platform manner.

 

@jimmya and @mdurand Thanks for the answers. How about the question in the original post: is using ARKit/Core SDK:s directly for the image targets in parallel with ARFoundation fully supported and possible?

I would assume nothing is keeping from using any tech alongside ARFoundation, but I am just a bit worried if they might somehow "clash"...like when ARFoundation and ARKit/Core are all required to use the camera image simultaneously etc. Is there anything that would expose the underlying ARKit/Core in the ARFoundation API?

 

Am looking into how I can take and use the image tracking element of arkit in the ARFoundation as a hacky workaround for now, has anyone done this yet?

 

I'm curious about this as well. Is cross-platform image tracking really a year out? Would using native ARKit/ARcore image tracking in unity break AR Foundation?

 

Is there any update on when this might be ready? I have a very limited amount of time and need this functionality. I'd rather use your solution but may have to go the Vuforia route if it's still months away.

Warmest regards,
Chris

 

We plan to have full ARKit 2.0 and ARCore 1.3 support by the end of this year (not a year from now), which will include 2D image tracking.

It's not currently possible because they would indeed clash (there can only be a single ARSession at a time). We're actively working on image tracking support. We'll let you know when it's ready.

 

That's great news! Thanks for all the efforts in bringing the separated AR plugins together for simplicity of use

 

Hey can we use ImageTarget now in the new Beta:
Unity 2018.3.0b1?

 

ARFoundation new features are released in new version of the ARFoundation packages, not in Unity version releases. They are also released at a faster cadence than Unity releases.

 

Can I use now the ImageTarget than? Or is it possible to combine ARFoundation with Vuforia?

 

No, it is not possible to have Vuforia and ARFoundation in the same project. If you do, you get a weird error about conflicting AndroidManigest.xml files when trying to build. I think the fact that you cannot use both should be indicated a lot more clearly in Unity.

@jimmya Is there an estimate on when the image targets would be available via ARFoundation?

 

Thanks for this interesting thread. I personally think that AR Foundation (which is a great approach) should allow the low-level use APIs of AR Kit and AR Core, if needed. Otherwise, there will always be a huge time delay. And the AR world is moving fast. Very fast.

(I would also love to see support for Vuforia, but I can understand that this is a way heavier task to achieve.)

 

Slightly Off-Topic: Is there any estimate when AR Foundation will also support World Mapping? This is the other feature I am missing dearly.

 

I'd also like to know when image targets will be supported in ARFoundation...

 

I doubt ARFounation will have support for Vuforia, since it is kind of "competing" abstraction layer - Vuforia already has this thing called Vuforia Fusion which uses ARCore or ARKit under the hood if they are available and supported by the device. So far it only utilizes the surface tracking, though.

But Vuforia does not expose the underlying ARCore/Kit API either, which kinda sucks. Vuforia´s image tracking is way more robust and faster the one in ARCore though. ARkit image tracking I havent tried yet.

 

Any news on the inclusion of image targets in ARFoundation?

 

Also, will ARFoundation support non-square images? ( https://forum.unity.com/threads/arimagereference-rectangular-image-support.584707/ )

 

hope image tracking will be released this month since its the last of this year

 

I guess many people have seen this video from the recent Unity 2018 LA conference.

In the video they did talk about image tracking & creating image databases around about 5 minutes in.

I would really like to be able to try an alpha version of this if possible. I am doing some prototyping of some AR projects currently & to be able to make the projects cross platform for AR Core & AR Kit would be ideal.

 

Are there any news on when 2D Image Tracking will be available?

 

is the image tracking available in AR foundation with new unity 2018.3 release ?????

 

> is the image tracking available in AR foundation with new unity 2018.3 release ?????

I think you mean in the AR Foundation package that was just released, and can only be downloaded using 2018.3.

No, unfortunately it's not available yet.

 

https://blogs.unity3d.com/2018/12/18/unitys-handheld-ar-ecosystem-ar-foundation-arcore-and-arkit/

 

Not image Tracking yet

 

Does anyone know if the image tracking or 3D object tracking would be able to effectively track a cylindrical label on something like a glass bottle?

If so, does AR Foundation render Vuforia largely redundant? Or is AR Foundation meant to be used in addition to Vuforia?

 

How propable is it, that image tracking will be available by the end of this month?

 

> How propable is it, that image tracking will be available by the end of this month?

The probability of a required feature appearing within a time frame is always inversely proportional to the importance of your project needing that feature within that time frame

 

Are there any news on when 2D Image Tracking will be available?

 

I would like to know too! It would make my next project so much easier!

 

Neither the ARCore or ARkit Unity repos have had an update since early-mid December 2018 which suggests to me that the actual ARCore and ARKit developments have halted or slowed around Christmas time (understandably). While ARKit has fully tracked Image tracking, ARCore still only has non-tracked markers where you can only track something that isn't moving (like a poster on a wall). It's been mentioned a few times that Google are working on moving image tracking but that hasn't been released yet.

I can only assume for now people use other SDKs like Vuforia for moving image tracking on Android and IOS so I guess we gotta wait!

What fascinates me is that ViroReact has cross-platform image tracking on Android and IOS with ARkit and ARCore but I haven't seen anyone developing on that platform who has complained that ARCore on Android doesn't track moving markers still.. odd!

 

It's usually recommended to not allow 2d markers to bend, Vuforia has its own solutions for this so I would recommend looking at it for your use case.

As for ARFoundation and Vuforia, you shouldn't use the two together as they are both going to be doing similar things and will conflict if you try to use both of them together.

 

Looking at the Unite LA video, it seems like the image targets are scriptable assets and referenced by the AR Image Manager.

Does this mean it is possible to make AR activations into hosted asset bundles, and have new activation using new image target without the need to update the app ?

I know the image target feature is not released yet, but wanted to know if this is possible when it roll out!

 

I wouldn't like this post become just a list comments asking if the image tracking is already available or not. So I won't ask again but I would like to know where can we check any update about this subject. I have been checking this post almost every day but maybe there is a best place to check updates.

 

Hi Jimmya, do you have any estimation about the release date of image tracking feature in ARFoundation? Thanks in advance

 

The only update I can give you is that the release is imminent, and there are people hard at work on this.

 

Wait and see then, I can't wait to see it. Meanwhile if anybody has a solution to mix Vuforia for image recognition and ARFoundation that could be interesting

 

Ready to try re-writing my Vuforia-based app with AF Foundation as soon as this is released!

 

I'm here to be in the know the split second 2D image tracking with AR Foundation is revealed! Right now I'm making an experience using ClueKeeper and ZappAR. Works great, but user interface of ClueKeeper is non customizable and ugly.

 

Any update on image tracking? @jimmya
I have to start a new project this week. At the moment i'm using ar kit. But i would prefer using ar foundation

 

Hey @jimmya or @tdmowrer, do you have a closed alpha or beta package of AR Foundation with 2D image tracking/detection that I can participate in?
Monday I start on our AR features, but it doesn't ship for awhile. I would rather work with your unified front, even if it is a moving target, then build my own layer. All I need is plane detection and 2D image detection, the image detection you showcased at Unite in the hallway.
Thanks.

Edit: To clarify, I need 2D image detection, not tracking. World tracking plus image detection/targets.

 

hi unity folks @jimmya and @tdmowrer! as @flyingaudio mentioned, I am also interested in participating in an alpha or beta for image tracking. Starting cross platform image tracking support for an art installation project.

 

looking for that. up up up

 

UP UP UP
We need Image Tracking!!