Augmentify

Austrian based Mobilzy (the company that brings Wikipedia articles via augmented reality to your phone) have released a beta API for their AR system, on the Android platform.

They are the first company to publicly release an API. Competitor SPRXMobile also have an augmented reality API (Android platform only), but availability is limited to 50 applicants at present.

The Wikitude API is completely open – just mail developers@wikitude.me to receive a copy. The package you receive contains a basic AR sample app demonstrating how to instantiate the system, and add a few points of interest. Wikitude must be installed on the phone for this to work.

This is a significant event. Having a freely available API to create AR applications means most developers can engage their creativity to create interesting AR applications, rather than having to re-invent the wheel.

I expect the Layar API will not stay closed for long – there may not be space for more than one dominant API in the market, and being in that position will be financially rewarding.