With both augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) having potential future for technological interaction, Amazon wants a piece of the market.
After announcing two developments in the area of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Amazon is debuting software tools called Amazon 'Sumerian'. The product is intended to help developers to create AR and VR apps using 3D computer graphics.
The name "Sumerian" came from the language spoken by Sumer people of Mesopotamia. The language was considered the world’s first written tongues, and has been considered to be the basis of many languages that came after it.
Sumerian runs on Amazon, using its Re:Invent Amazon Web Services (AWS), allowing developers to create mixed reality, for smartphones and tablets, head-based displays, digital signage and web browsers.
Initially, the service is browser-based, and only works with any browser that supports WebGL or WebVR graphics rendering, such as Daydream, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and iOS mobile devices.
Amazon is also making the tools compatible with Google's AR software tools for Android-powered devices (Android's ARCore).
For the interface, Sumerian resembles conventional photo-editing tools like Adobe Photoshop.
Developers can choose an array of libraries consisting digital graphics like tables, trees and rugs. Developers can insert those pre-built objects into their own digital environments, with minimal coding.
There is also the ability to drag-and-drop digital objects and create 3D animated scenes and characters (using its Lex speech recognition and Polly for natural language understanding); and then shipping the apps to various hardware.
This makes Sumerian comparable to video gaming engines like Unity and Unreal.
Amazon is also integrating Sumerian with third-party developers for certain features - including Mapbox for location services.
"Customers across industries see the potential of VR and AR technologies for a wide range of uses, from educating and training employees to creating new customer experiences,” said Marco Argenti, Vice President, Technology, AWS, in a statement.
"But, customers are daunted and overwhelmed by the up-front investment in specialized skills and tools required to even get started building a VR or AR application. With Amazon Sumerian, it is now possible for any developer to create a realistic, interactive VR or AR application in a few hours."
Amazon leverages a number of its acquisitions to help it build a foundation in this mixed reality field, which also included the body-scanning startup Body Labs and GameSparks, a platform for building games.
And to keep up with others and to also kick-start more AR and VR development, Amazon is also creating a series of pointers to help people initiate the development of this mixed reality. This include training simulations, virtual concierge services, enhanced online shopping experiences, virtual house or land tours.
For the bigger picture, Amazon is intercepting the market with tools to help developers create their own apps.
With Sumerian, Amazon wants to be the one to modernize and simplify the process of creating those apps, hoping that one day, its platform will become the default for creating mixed reality.
As with many other AWS services, Sumerian is free to use. Based on the cloud, users only pay for the storage they need.