Amazon presents Sumerian service for building AR, VR and 3D applications

Amazon has announced a new service called Sumerian. This allows developers to build AR, VR and 3D apps. They can then host and run these on headsets like the Oculus Rift, in browsers or on iOS devices via ARKit.

According to Amazon, scenes shot in Sumerian will run on browsers that support WebVR or WebGL. In the future, the company plans to add support for ARCore for Android devices; which is currently missing. Amazon cites a number of use cases as examples, such as deployment for training purposes, instructing employees or giving a tour of a virtual object.

No specialist knowledge would be required to use the system. Users can deploy virtual 3d objects in the form of fbx and obj files to fill spaces. In the future, support for Unity should also be present. Then a virtual host, or host, can be added to the created space, which, for example, gives a presentation. It is also possible to animate objects.

Amazon has put an example project online. Users pay for the service based on the use of hosting for 3d objects and based on internet traffic generated. The service is available in preview form.