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AWS has launched a platform for developers to build AR, VR and 3D apps at speed. Announced on the eve of the company’s Re:Invent AWS event, Amazon Sumerian is a new platform for developers to build and host VR, AR and 3D apps quickly and with minimal coding, for smartphones and tablets, head-based displays, digital signage and web browsers.
As with many other AWS services, Sumerian is free to use, with users only paying for the storage that they create. Available immediately, the service will initially be browser-based and will support WebGL or WebVR graphics rendering, such as Daydream, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and iOS mobile devices.
“Customers across industries see the potential of VR and AR technologies for a wide range of uses, from educating and training employees to creating new customer experiences,” said Marco Argenti, Vice President, Technology, AWS, in a statement. “But, customers are daunted and overwhelmed by the up-front investment in specialized skills and tools required to even get started building a VR or AR application. With Amazon Sumerian, it is now possible for any developer to create a realistic, interactive VR or AR application in a few hours.”
Using Sumerian, developers will have the ability to design immersive environments using libraries of pre-built objects; the ability to create animated characters (using its Lex speech recognition and Polly for natural language understanding); as well as shipping the apps to various hardware devices.
