Qualcomm has just announced that they’re launching a mobile augmented reality platform and will release a software development kit for app creators this fall. Mattel has already partnered up with Qualcomm to make an AR Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em game, which based on the concept alone, I’m eager to try out. The Unity game development tool has helped out by creating an AR add-on using Qualcomm’s new engine.
Augmented reality is a relatively new kind of mobile app that takes the image captured from your phone’s camera and overlays it with pertinent location-based data, shown on the display. Most high-end smartphones these days have the GPS and digital compass necessary to make AR apps happen, but the developer side is still relatively nascent. Junaio has been pretty good about luring in partners to use their established augmented reality technology, and seem to be vying for the same game developers Qualcomm is targeting. Although it’s far from widespread, AR gaming has shown a lot of promise, and having a heavyweight like Qualcomm involved will surely push the apps further into the mainstream.
Head over to Qualcomm’s developer network to get involved in the private beta, or take part in their developer challenge to win $200,000.
[via Qualcomm]
UPDATE: Here’s a short clip showing off Mattell’s Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots game using Qualcomm’s new AR platform.