Vuforia is an

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR), also known as mixed reality (MR), is a technology that overlays real-time 3D computer graphics, 3D-rendered computer graphics onto a portion of the real world through a display, such as a handheld device or head-mounted ...

software development kit A software development kit (SDK) is a collection of software development tools in one installable package. They facilitate the creation of applications by having a compiler, debugger and sometimes a software framework. They are normally specific t ...

(SDK) for mobile devices that enables the creation of augmented reality applications. It uses computer vision technology to recognize and track planar images and 3D objects in real time. This image registration capability enables developers to position and orient

virtual object In optics, the ''image'' of an object is defined as the collection of focus points of light rays coming from the object. A ''real image'' is the collection of focus points made by converging rays, while a virtual image is the collection of ...

s, such as

3D models In 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling is the process of developing a mathematical coordinate-based representation of a surface of an object (inanimate or living) in three dimensions via specialized software by manipulating edges, vertices, and ...

and other media, in relation to real world objects when they are viewed through the camera of a mobile device. The virtual object then tracks the position and orientation of the image in real-time so that the viewer's perspective on the object corresponds with the perspective on the target. It thus appears that the virtual object is a part of the real-world scene. The Vuforia SDK supports a variety of 2D and 3D target types including ‘markerless’ Image Targets, 3D Model Target, and a form of addressable Fiducial Marker, known as a VuMark. Additional features of the SDK include 6 degrees of freedom device localization in space, localized Occlusion Detection using ‘Virtual Buttons’, runtime image target selection, and the ability to create and reconfigure target sets programmatically at runtime. Vuforia provides

Application Programming Interface An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software Interface (computing), interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that des ...

s (API) in

C++ C++ (, pronounced "C plus plus" and sometimes abbreviated as CPP or CXX) is a high-level, general-purpose programming language created by Danish computer scientist Bjarne Stroustrup. First released in 1985 as an extension of the C programmin ...

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

Objective-C++ Objective-C is a high-level general-purpose, object-oriented programming language that adds Smalltalk-style message passing (messaging) to the C (programming language), C programming language. Originally developed by Brad Cox and Tom Love in ...

, and the

.NET The .NET platform (pronounced as "''dot net"'') is a free and open-source, managed code, managed computer software framework for Microsoft Windows, Windows, Linux, and macOS operating systems. The project is mainly developed by Microsoft emplo ...

languages through an extension to the

Unity game engine Unity is a cross-platform game engine developed by Unity Technologies, first announced and released in June 2005 at Apple Worldwide Developers Conference as a Mac OS X game engine. The engine has since been gradually extended to support a variet ...

. In this way, the SDK supports both native development for iOS, Android, and UWP while it also enables the development of AR applications in Unity that are easily portable to both platforms. Vuforia has been acquired by

PTC Inc. PTC Inc. (formerly Parametric Technology Corporation) is an American computer software and services company founded in 1985 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was a pioneer in parametric, associative feature-based, solid com ...

in November 2015.

References

Augmented reality applications Software development kits

AR SDK providers like vuforia

ARCore ARCore, also known as Google Play Services for AR, is a software development kit developed by Google that allows for augmented reality (AR) applications to be built. ARCore has been integrated into a multitude of devices. Key technologies ARC ...

Arkit ARKit is an application programming interface (API) for iOS, iPadOS and VisionOS which lets third-party developers build augmented reality apps, taking advantage of a device's camera, CPU, GPU, and motion sensors. The ARKit functionality is onl ...

MAXST AR SDK

EasyAR SDK
*

ARToolKit ARToolKit is an open-source computer tracking library for creation of augmented reality applications that overlay virtual imagery on the real world. Currently, it is maintained as an open-source project hosted on GitHub. Overview In order to crea ...

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