Pokemon Go technology company Niantic continues to stock up on technologies to power AR development with the purchase of 8th Wall.
8th Wall has helped power a large number of Web-based AR experiences for a variety of major brands and Niantic sees the purchase as offering developers a more accessible set of tools than its existing Lightship platform, enabling them to build interactive AR content with wider distribution potential directly through a Web browser rather than through dedicated apps like Pokemon Go. Examples of some of the projects powered by 8th Wall technology are shown in the video embedded below.
Niantic teased a pair of AR glasses last year and also launched its Lightship development platform. The company has a standing relationship with chip-maker Qualcomm which likely provides the foundation for the forthcoming AR glasses and a Lightship developer conference was just announced for May 24th and 25th. With previous acquisitions including Hoss and 6D.ai, Niantic has been integrating the pieces needed to break free of its dependence on platforms like Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android for delivery of AR experiences. The company describes 8th Wall as “our largest acquisition to date” and a complement to its existing Lightship platform which provides tools to build more sophisticated AR experiences with integration directly in Unity.
