8th Wall

🎉 In 2024, we rolled out some big projects and shared them with you face-to-face at top events like AWE and Immersive Tech Week. But in case you weren't there, let's review the best of the best: #5 We introduced cross-platform capabilities with Metaversal Deployment. This means you can build one experience and share it across multiple platforms, from headsets and goggles to smartphones and tablets (all without installing an app!). #4 Niantic VPS for Web launched, giving developers access to over one million real-world locations to use as the background (or subject!) of their experiences and web games. #3 We loaded up on XR features. Face effects, world tracking, realistic physics - and the best part? They're all super easy to use with our new visual tools (spoiler alert, that’s coming in at #1). #2 We went FREE for personal use in Niantic Studio and reduced our commercial licenses big time. Whether you’re creating for yourself or a client, WebXR creation became a lot more accessible this year. #1 Our top spot goes to none other than Niantic Studio! This is the one that changed everything. Real-time visual interface, an in-platform simulator, all supported by a powerful web gaming engine. We’re pretty impressed with how 2024 went, but we’ve got even more exciting announcements on the horizon, so stick around. #xr #ar #developer #gamedev

👨🏻💻 Nothing hits harder than the first week back after the holidays—so why not spice up the office for some fun? Ian Curtis made the return to office more exciting by turning our workspace into an interactive Gaussian splat playground. All it took was Niantic Scaniverse, Niantic Studio, and of course the Niantic snack room.

In 2024, you showed us that when developers have the right tools, the creativity is explosive. 🎆 Here's to another year of pushing boundaries, breaking barriers, and building the future of immersive web experiences together.

The difference between a good WebAR experience and a great one often lies in the planning. Here are 5 essential questions our team recommends asking before starting your next project. #AR #XR #AugmentedReality

Whether you're coding or celebrating, we hope your holidays are filled with wonder! PS - Want to make your own Santa experience? Follow our tutorial! https://bit.ly/49EcRk1

The last working week of 2024 brings different priorities for different developers. Some are pushing for final deployments, others are recharging for the year ahead, while some see this as the perfect time to dive into experimental projects. What's your focus?

🌟 Developing Into the Scaniverse exclusively in the Niantic tech stack represents a major milestone for browser-based virtual reality—but before that, it proves the capabilities of Niantic Studio. We launched Niantic Studio with a vision of efficient, powerful, and collaborative WebXR development. When we started working within it to put that vision to the test, we found bugs to solve. But even better than that, we found that Studio really does open us to a future of faster and better developer experience. If you haven’t yet, go behind the build of Into the Scaniverse: https://bit.ly/41piVuw

⚠️ Building Into the Scaniverse in Niantic Studio was the ultimate test of our own tool—and it wasn’t always easy. But that’s good news! It meant we were able to identify, solve, and deploy improvements before they became roadblocks to our users. In doing this, we found and improved across a wide variety of areas: 📌 Developer Ergonomics 📌 Front-end Ergonomics 📌 State Machine and Events You may call it eating your dog food, but we call it eating our ice cream — because cutting down our feedback loop by months? That’s sweet.

🎁 The box is usually the forgotten player in gift-giving, but this experience shows its untapped potential! MOYOSA Media’s web-based AR experience for Sony LinkBuds shows how packaging, from products to gifts, can become part of the magic. #Gifting #HolidaySeason #Packaging

💡 Dive into the development journey of the Moodometer, an innovative WebXR experience that transformed Web Summit's physical space into an interactive emotional sharing platform. Using Niantic Studio's VPS technology and Gaussian splats, the team created a bridge between digital and physical worlds, allowing attendees to share their event experience through AR-anchored emojis. What's particularly impressive is that this entire project went from concept to deployment in just three weeks! We’re bringing you a Q&A with one of the lead developers of the Moodometer to share valuable insights about rapid development, remote collaboration, and the power of keeping experiences simple yet meaningful. #AR #XR #MobileExperiences