Apple Vision Pro gains Niantic tech to open up more AR experiences

Niantic will be supporting the Apple Vision Pro with its 8th Wall Metaversal Deployment, which could make it easier for developers to bring WebAR experiences to Apple's mixed-reality headset.

One of the challenges of app development is to make it work across multiple different hardware and software platforms. With Niantic's announcement on Wednesday, developers keen to bring their VR and AR experiences from other headsets to the Apple Vision Pro now have some assistance.

Niantic's 8th Wall Metaversal Deployment is a platform for experiencing WebAR content. Originally launched in 2021 for smartphones, tablets, and computers, it was updated in 2023 with support for Meta's Quest 3 headset.

WebAR is a web-based augmented reality technology, namely serving AR experiences through a browser. Instead of downloading an app, the AR content is served via the browser, which handles communications between the AR experience and the hardware.

According to VentureBeat, Niantic is now bringing support for 8th Wall to the Apple Vision Pro.

While it is possible to view VR and AR content presented from within the Safari browser already, 8th Wall does offer WebAR developers some extra assistance. For example, it includes access to the entire VR environment of the Vision Pro.

The multi-platform nature of 8th Wall also means developers can create an experience for multiple platforms at once. This means that developers could release Apple Vision Pro content at the same time and identical to the release on Meta's headsets.

"With a category of MR headsets now available for consumers, cross-device content creation has become critical for developers who want to engage as many users as possible," said Niantic director of product, AR platforms Tom Emrich.

He continued that 8th Wall support means "developers can build once and deploy everywhere, including computers, smartphones, and headsets such as Meta Quest and now Apple Vision Pro."

Niantic's 8th Wall costs from $9 per month or $108 per year for developers to publish non-commercial web apps on the platform, rising to $99 per month for larger teams. Commercial licensing for brands starts at $3,000 per month, per project.