Layar introduction for developers

This presentation gives a technical introduction of the Layar platform, targeted at developers. It provides an overview of Layar's architecture and features, and explains how to get started with layer creation. It includes Layar Vision

1. Layar introduction
for developers
Creating augmented reality experiences on the world’s leading platform
October 2011

2. © Layar 2011
Contents
•What is Layar?
•Why choose Layar?
•How does it work?
•Creating layers
•Getting started
•Developer support

3. © Layar 2011
What is Layar?

4. © Layar 2011
•Layar is a mobile platform for discovering digital information
about the physical world around you
•Using Augmented Reality (AR) technology, Layar displays
“layers” of digital information to the users’ mobile phones
•These layers can contain digital information related to both
geolocation as well as objects (images)
What is Layar?

5. © Layar 2011
Open platform
•Layar offers an open platform to publish, discover and search
for augmented reality layers
•Layar provides the mobile application and infrastructure
•Third party developers create the layers

6. © Layar 2011
The Layar ecosystem
Brands,
publishers
Developers
Layar
platform
End user
Content Layers Distribution
High quality
content
+ + =
Creativity,
passion,
dedication
Layar features
Impactful AR
experiences
Generic view
Search &
Discovery

7. © Layar 2011
Why choose Layar?

8. © Layar 2011
Why choose Layar?
•Create augmented reality experiences in an easy and
affordable way
•Publish your content for an audience of more than 1.5M active
users worldwide - by far the biggest reach of all mobile AR
browsers (see next slide)
•Benefit from the shared knowledge in the Layar developer
community of more than 9,000 developers

9. © Layar 2011
Download figures from Android market
July 2011
# of downloads Rating
Layar 1M - 5M
Wikitude 500k - 1M
Junaio 100k - 500k

10. © Layar 2011
Layar USP’s for developers
•
Largest reach in mobile AR
•
Open platform, flexible API
•
Healthy ecosystem
•
Active developer community
•
Available for iOS & Android
•
AR for your own app (with Layar Player)
•
Testing environment
•
Extensive list of features (see next slide)

11. © Layar 2011
Layar features
•
Layar Vision image recognition
•
Support for 3D models
•
Support for animated augments
•
Sharing to Facebook & Twitter
•
Layer actions: call, email, share, web page
•
Support for audio/video
•
Gaming elements: autotriggers, relative POIs, point-to-point
•
Layar Player (adding AR to your own app)
•
Payment platform (with PayPal)

12. © Layar 2011
Layar key figures
•Number of active users: 1.5M
•Number of published layers: 2,500
•Number of supported languages: 15 (Dutch, Spanish, French, Italian, Cantonese, Simplified
Chinese, German, Greek, Russian, Portuguese, Turkish, Japanese, Swedish, Korean, Slovakian)
July 2011

13. © Layar 2011
How does it work?

14. © Layar 2011
A bit of history
Layar 1.0
May 2009
Netherlands only
5 layers developed
in-house
Layar 2.0
August 2009
Worldwide
release
Open API
Layar 3.0
December 2009
3D OpenGL AR view
Layar 3.1
April 2010
Paid layers
with Paypal

15. © Layar 2011
A bit of history (cont’d)
Layar 3.5
June 2010
Stream local search
across layers
Layar 4.0
September 2010
More interactive API
Improved UX
Layar 5.0
February 2011 (beta)
Sharing to social media
Animation
Improved UX
Layar 6.0
October 2011
Layar Vision
Real-time, client-side
image recognition

16. © Layar 2011
AR smartphone requirements
GPS
Where am I?
Camera
What do I see in the real world?
Compass
In which direction am I looking?
Accelerometer
How is my phone oriented in the world?
Internet connectivity
To connect to the digital world
Gyroscope (optional)
To provide a smoother experience

17. © Layar 2011
Terminology
•Layer: a layer of digital information (a group of augments) in the Layar
Browser or Player
•GeoPOI: A point of interest with a specific latitude and longitude associated
with it.  GeoPOIs are rendered in the Layar Browser and Player. The GeoPOI
can be a real location or a relative location around the user.
•Target object: the thing on your desk, the picture in the magazine, the street
art outside. You can augment a wide range of physical items with ease.*
•Augment: the digital interpretation of a target object or a geoPOI. It’s
attached to a target object or geoPOI as seen through the lens of a mobile
phone.
*Target objects with many visual details, angles, and contrast work best. Simple, rounded,
low contrast targets and highly repetitive patterns are more difficult to recognize.

18. © Layar 2011
Layar
Browser
Layar product portfolio
Layar
Server
Third-party
Content
(augments)
Layar Service
Provider
Layar Connect
Layar
Publishing
Site
Layar Feature
Repository
Layar
Player
Layar environment

19. © Layar 2011
Layar product portfolio
•The Layar Browser is the world’s first and leading mobile AR
browser, offering users to see augments for objects and
geoPOIs
•The Layar Player is an SDK to integrate the an AR experience
in your own app in an easy and convenient way
•Layar Connect is an API to the Layar server and offers third
parties to build an end-to-end, one-stop-shop content
management system for layers

20. © Layar 2011
Creating layers

21. © Layar 2011
Creating layers•Layers are built using simple web technology
•You can use programming languages like PHP, MySQL,
Java etc as long as the response is in JSON format

22. © Layar 2011
Terminology of UI assets

23. © Layar 2011
Third party tools
•Instead of creating your own layer service, you can use one of
the third party tools developed by the community, e.g.:
•Porpoise
Open source server software
•Hoppala Augmentation
Hosted solution, easy to use
•More tools? Check the Layar website

24. © Layar 2011
Pricing

25. © Layar 2011
Pricing model
•With Layar Vision, Layar introduces a pricing model for
developers and publishers based on usage of Layar Vision
layers in the Layar Browser or Layar Player
•The Layar Player SDK is free of charge for application
developers to integrate into a mobile application
•The Layar Browser is free to use for end users

26. © Layar 2011
Pricing
GeoLayar Vision
Layar Browser + Player
€ 0.01 per match per monthMonthly usage fee
FREE
max € 1,000 per month
first 10,000 matches per month are FREE
Prices valid until May 1, 2012

27. © Layar 2011
Pricing explanation
•The Layar Browser and the Layar Player monthly usage fees
are based on the number of object matches using Layar Vision
•An object match is counted for each target object that is
successfully tracked and the associated content displayed to
the user for at least 1 second
•The maximum usage fee per month is capped at € 1,000
•First 10,000 matches per month are free of charge

28. © Layar 2011
Pricing examples
Number of matches per month Usage fee per month
5,000 €0
10,000 €0
15,000 €50
100,000 €900
110,000 €1000
200,000 €1000
1,000,000 €1000

29. © Layar 2011
Getting started

30. © Layar 2011
Getting started
1.Create a developer account
2.Create a layer
3.Create a layer service

31. © Layar 2011
Step 1: Create a developer account1.Create Layar account on www.layar.com
2.Create developer account on
www.layar.com/development
(Click here for detailed instructions)

32. © Layar 2011
Step 2: Create a layer
•Create a layer definition in the Layar publishing environment
(Click here for detailed instructions)

33. © Layar 2011
Step 2: Create a layer
•http://layar.com/publishing
•Add all the static content and
metadata of a layer
•Listing details
•Look & feel
•Service provider URL
•Layer type (2D, 3D, Layar Vision)

34. © Layar 2011
Step 3: Create a layer service
•Create a layer service for delivering the augments to the Layar
Browser or Player
•The following elements are needed to set up a layer service:
•A public web server
•A database
•A layer can be written in various programming languages, as long
as the response is in JSON format
(Click here for detailed instructions and sample code)

35. © Layar 2011
Step 3: Create a layer service
•HTTP request with the following
parameters
•Latitude, longitude, filter settings....
•Response
•JSON data containing geoPOI or
object information

36. © Layar 2011
Developer support

37. © Layar 2011
Developer support
•The following support resources provide a wealth of information
for developers:
•Layar developer wiki
•Layar developer support environment

38. © Layar 2011
Testing environment
•Layar offers developers to test their layers before publishing:
•Through the API test page in the publishing platform
•Via the Layar Browser
•Layers in testing phase of development are only visible to the
developer (when logged in with developer account)
(Click here for detailed instructions)

39. Thank you