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

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

3. What is Layar?
© Layar 2011

4. What is Layar?
• Layar is a mobile platform for discovering information
about the world around you
• Using Augmented Reality (AR) technology, Layar displays
digital information called “layers” in a user’s field of vision
through their mobile device
© Layar 2011

5. 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
© Layar 2011

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

7. Why choose Layar?
© Layar 2011

8. Why choose Layar?
• Layar is not just an app, but an open platform with many
possibilities
• With Layar, developers can easily tap into the great
opportunities of augmented reality
• Layar has the biggest reach of all AR browsers (see next
slide)
© Layar 2011

9. Download figures from Android
market
March 2011
# of downloads Rating
Layar 1M - 5M
Wikitude 100k - 500k
Junaio 50k - 100k
© Layar 2011

10. Layar USP’s for developers
• Largest reach in mobile AR
• Open platform, free to use
• Healthy ecosystem
• Active developer community
• Support for multiple mobile platforms
• AR for your own iPhone app (with Layar Player)
• Testing environment
• Extensive list of features (see next slide)
© Layar 2011

11. Layar features
• Support for 3D models
• Support for animated POIs
• 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 iPhone app)
• Payment platform (with PayPal)
© Layar 2011

12. Layar key figures
March 2011
• Number of active users: 1.4M
• Number of published layers: 1,800
• Number of supported languages: 15 (Dutch, Spanish, French, Italian, Cantonese,
Simplified Chinese, German, Greek, Russian, Portuguese, Turkish, Japanese, Swedish, Korean, Slovakian)
• Number of supported mobile platforms: 4
Symbian)
(Android, iPhone, Bada,
© Layar 2011

13. How does it work?
© Layar 2011

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

15. A bit of history (cont’d)
Layar 3.5 Layar 4.0
Layar 5.0
June 2010 September 2010
February 2011 (beta)
Stream local More interactive
Sharing to social media
search across API
Animation
layers Improved UX
Improved UX
© Layar 2011

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

17. Terminology
• Layar: the AR browser application
• Layer: a content layer in the Layar application
• POI: Point of Interest, element of data in the AR view
(sometimes called hotspot, or object)
© Layar 2011

18. Layar architecture
Layar
s
ion publishing
fi nit
GPS data d e environmen
er
Lay t
Layar server
Get layers
Get POIs
Create layer
Lay
Fixed er
De
data Ge velop
tP
OIs er AP
I
Layer
View service
POI in
form Ge
View
POI i
ation provider tP
OI
nform s
ation
Layer
content
Legend
sources
Layar environment
© Layar 2011 Third-party

19. Creating layers
© Layar 2011

20. 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
• 2 step process:
1. Create a layer definition in the Layar publishing
environment
2. Create a layer service for delivering the POI content to
the Layar app
© Layar 2011

21. Step 1: Publishing
• http://layar.com/publishing
• Add all the static content and
metadata of a layer
• Listing details
• Look & feel
• Service provider URL
© Layar 2011

22. Terminology
© Layar 2011

23. Step 2: Layer service
• HTTP request with the following
parameters
• Latitude, Longitude, filter
settings,...
• Response: JSON data containing POI
information (hotspots)
© Layar 2011

24. 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
© Layar 2011

25. Getting started
© Layar 2011

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

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

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

29. Step 3: Create a layer service
• Create a layer service for delivering the POI content to the
Layar app
• 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)
© Layar 2011

30. Developer support
© Layar 2011

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

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

33. Thank you