Qualcomm Incorporated, a major player in the next-generation mobile technologies field, today announced the immediate availability of its Augmented Reality (AR) Extension for Unity.  Qualcomm’s AR Extension for Unity will enable developers to use Unity’s award-winning game development tool to rapidly build augmented reality applications for Android smartphones.  

Building upon Qualcomm’s existing AR platform for Android, the Extension, combined with the Unity development platform, expands the options available and allows developers to build richer interactive games and applications with shorter development times.  

“Our mission at Unity Technologies is to democratise game development by making best-of-breed enabling technologies accessible to the broader developer community,” said David Helgason, co-founder and CEO of Unity Technologies. “We continue to deliver on this mission by supporting Qualcomm’s AR platform for Android application development, and are excited about the potential for AR games and experiences.”

“In order to drive developer adoption, we are leveraging leading development tools,” said Jay Wright, director of business development at Qualcomm.  “Unity has proven to be the development platform of choice for both 2D and 3D game development on mobile platforms, making them the obvious choice for this collaboration.  Combined with Unity’s vibrant developer ecosystem, we believe that the Qualcomm AR Extension for Unity will be a significant catalyst for augmented reality game development.”

Qualcomm’s AR Extension for Unity is part of Qualcomm’s AR platform, which also includes the previously released AR SDK for Android.  First announced in June 2010, the platform uses computer vision technology to tightly align graphics with underlying objects in the real world. The approach is an evolution from current AR techniques that use a device’s GPS and compass for mapping applications. Vision-based AR delivers a fundamentally different user experience in which graphics appear as if they are anchored to real world objects. 

“Qualcomm’s AR support for Unity allows our developers to leverage our existing tools to quickly start development of compelling AR applications,” said Michael Pole, CEO at Trilogy Studios, a leading developer.  

The Qualcomm AR Extension for Unity is available immediately for download as a beta release from Unity’s recently announced Asset Store as well as from Qualcomm’s developer portal at developer.qualcomm.com/ar.

Qualcomm is also known for their speedy Snapdragon processors that are used in a number new smartphones.