Right now, I’m developing an app that should make it easy for users to find artwork in museums. In order to make it more accessible, I want to develop a web application that does not require users to download anything. To be able to just hover over an artwork and be greeted with an engaging 3D user interface and “creature” that pops out is my goal.
Could you suggest a framework or library that would work well for this kind of interactive web application? Finding a library that facilitates the creation of dynamic 3D elements is something I’m especially interested in.
Look into web libraries like Three.js or Babylon.js. These tools let you create those dynamic 3D elements directly in a web browser, so no downloads are needed. Plus, they’re popular with lots of online resources to help you get started. With these libraries, your app will have users hovering over artwork and encountering those engaging 3D “creatures” in no time
8th Wall is a WebAR platform that lets companies build AR experiences within browsers. The platform’s AR engine offers: World Effects, built on JavaScript and WebGL, which offers simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) for real-time AR experiences on mobile browsers
Here’s my recommendation for the best AR library to develop an AR web app: ARCore by Google is the most robust and widely-supported platform for building AR experiences on the web. It provides a comprehensive set of APIs that allow you to easily integrate AR functionality into your web app. ARCore enables features like plane detection, object interaction, and augmented images, all with high accuracy and low latency. It has excellent cross-browser compatibility, working seamlessly across Chrome, Edge, and other major browsers. ARCore also integrates with popular web frameworks like Three.js and A-Frame, making it easy to build interactive 3D scenes. For advanced use cases, ARCore offers APIs for hit testing, lighting estimation, and environmental HDR. With its powerful capabilities, extensive documentation, and active developer community, ARCore is the clear choice for building high-quality AR web applications. It’s the library I’d recommend for any AR web development project.
Maybe Polygonjs can help you with this (disclaimer: I run it). It is built on threejs, which is open source, and I used it to make this interactive gallery.