AR View For Amazon Isn't Like Apple's ARKit Or Google's ARCore

The big difference between Amazon's AR experience and that of either Google or Apple is in their approach. While Apple and Google take a developers-first sort of run at augmented reality, Amazon is, as always, concerned first with the end consumer. Not the end user, mind you – the end consumer. AR View isn't a toolkit for developers to make Amazon-friendly AR apps – it's a feature in their own app with which Amazon can sell products.

Augmented Reality with Amazon means looking around at your home with AR in your iPhone, and likely your Amazon Fire or Google Android device in the near future. This system actually uses Apple's ARKit to function – and for now, it only works on iOS devices. Much like every other ARKit app, this app requires the iPhone 6S or later running iOS 11.

With Amazon's AR integration in their standard shopping app, the company uses the most often employed AR application to the real world. By that I mean, since the beginning of this most recent augmented reality hype craze, the vast majority of apps and experiences have focused on placing objects in one's own home for preview before buying.

This is the sort of augmented reality Amazon can profit from most directly, so this is the kind of AR they're going to use first. Users can check out this AR View action in the standard Amazon app on iTunes right this minute. Have a peek at the video above to see how it'll all work.