Ardk 3 shared AR colocalisation

I'm Stuck
1

ARDK 3
Unity 2021.3.4 - mac

it seems like there are only two colocalisation options - either VPS or image tracking -
in the previous ARDKs we could create shared AR with neither of these - i.e. the system would just recognise that people were in the same space and the shared AR would work like that - is that no longer an option? - or is there still a way to do that not using the SharedSpaceManager ? thanks

2

Hey Ross,

Officially, the flow would either be to co-localize via an image or VPS anchor but it is also possible to have fake room options in the SharedSpaceManager as a workaround. Here’s a link to the SharedSpaceManager as well as a link to the documentation on how it’s used to get an idea of how this could work:

https://lightship.dev/docs/beta/ardk/how-to/use_shared_ar/#joining-a-room-using-sharedspacemanager
https://lightship.dev/docs/beta/ardk/apiref/Niantic/Lightship/SharedAR/Colocalization/class_SharedSpaceManager/

3

Hi Ross,

So we had a bit of a discussion regarding this since there appears to be only those two options for co-localization but I have another three suggestions for you.

  1. You can set the colocalization to mock mode and you’ll basically simulate all network functionality minus the localization. It is mainly meant for debugging but it can also be used in this way for your particular use case. This is probably the best of the three options to go with.
  2. A more primitive network stack consisting of the RoomManagemetnService, IRoom, INetworking, and IDatastore interfaces. Do note that while this does seem to provide more flexibility, you will need to invest some time into getting acquainted with the documentation for these since we don’t offer samples for this
  3. Due to the Unity ARFoundation integration, there is more freedom with the libraries you can use. You’re free to use other networking libraries with the caveat that Niantic services such as SharedSpaceManager, SharedOrigin, etc… will not work with them, and since ARDK hasn’t been officially validated to work with other 3rd party libraries, we won’t be able to provide support for issues you run into.
4

Hi thanks for your detailed responses! I’m not entirely following though - on suggestion 1) does that mean that players would still be able to play in the same space? this is for a multiplayer game where the player’s characters need to interact with each other and with the meshed environment
THanks