Skip to main content

Google Poly API, a 3D object and scene repository for developers, rolls out

Introducing the Poly API and Poly Toolkit
With ever-increasing support for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) hardware and applications, there’s a parallel growing need for 3D objects and scenes to populate AR/VR environments. Google has been offering a number of tools to make it easier to create those 3D assets for several months now, including the development of the free Tilt Brush and Blocks solutions and their associated websites. Now, there’s a new site, Google Poly, that makes it easy for creative types to  both share and access a warehouse of 3D objects and scenes.

If you’re interested in getting started with creating or accessing 3D objects for VR, Google’s ARCore, or Apple’s ARKit, you can visit poly.google.com. Google also recently released an application programming interface (API) for Poly to help developers make the most of Poly assets and easily add them into their games and apps. VR and AR developers can get started with it here.

Poly is fully integrated with Tilt Brush and Blocks, letting creators directly publish their creations from both tools, and with the new API, developers will be able to integrate Poly into their apps and games.

Recommended Videos

Tilt Brush is a VR-based toolkit that helps 2D artists make the transition to working in 3D, and Blocks also works within a VR environment to allow nontechnical people to create 3D objects.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

OBJ files can also be directly uploaded to Poly. The site is already fully stocked with thousands of 3D objects and scenes in easily searchable categories such as Animals & Creatures, People & Characters, and Technology. Users can also filter results to include Tilt Brush sketches and Blocks objects, to show only those that allow remixing, and to select by publish date.

Google
Google

The 3D objects that are uploaded to Poly are published under a Creative Commons public license and many are fully remixable. That means that they can be imported into Tilt Brush or Blocks and edited. When the remix is subsequently published, Poly then automatically links to the original asset and credits the original creator.

Google
Google

In addition, anyone can check out the 3D objects in a mobile or desktop browser and search for new creations using keywords. The objects can also be shared via animated GIF, with the ability to select aspect angles and animation speed, or viewed using Cardboard or Daydream View.

Update: Added information and trailer for Google Poly API. 

Mark Coppock
Mark Coppock is a Freelance Writer at Digital Trends covering primarily laptop and other computing technologies. He has…
Nvidia celebrates Trump, slams Biden for putting AI in jeopardy
The Nvidia RTX 5090 GPU.

In response to new export restrictions placed on AI GPUs, Nvidia posted a scathing blog criticizing the outgoing Biden-Harris administration. The administration's Interim Final Rule on Artificial Intelligence Diffusion largely targets China with restrictions on AI GPUs, according to Newsweek.

Nvidia disagrees. "While cloaked in the guise of an 'anti-China' measure, these rules would do nothing to enhance U.S. security. The new rules would control technology worldwide, including technology that is already widely available in mainstream gaming PCs and consumer hardware. Rather than mitigate any threat, the new Biden rules would only weaken America’s global competitiveness, undermining the innovation that has kept the U.S. ahead," wrote Nvidia's vice president of government of affairs Ned Finkle.

Read more
This new DirectX feature could completely change how PC games work
A scene from Fortnite running in Unreal Engine 5.

Microsoft has announced that neural rendering capabilities are coming to DirectX soon. Cooperative vector support, as it's called, will lead to "cross-platform enablement of neural rendering techniques," according to Microsoft, and it will usher in "a new paradigm in 3D graphics programming."

It sounds buzzy, but that's not without reason. This past week, Nvidia announced its new range of RTX 50-series graphics cards, and along with them, it revealed a slate of neural rendering features. Neural shaders, as Nvidia calls them, allow developers to execute small neural networks from shader code, running them on the dedicated AI hardware available on Nvidia, AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm GPUs. Microsoft is saying that it will enable these features on all GPUs, not just those sold by Nvidia, through the DirectX API.

Read more
This gaming PC with an RTX 4060 is on sale for $1,000 today
The iBuyPower Trace 7 on a white background.

Best Buy often has some great gaming PC deals, with one highlight available today: Right now, you can buy the iBuyPower Trace 7 gaming PC for $1,000 instead of $1,300. The PC includes the RTX 4060 GPU, so it’s ideal for mid-range gaming. It even comes with a keyboard and mouse, so you only need to make sure you have a screen to add to it. If you’re looking to upgrade your gaming PC for less, here’s what it has to offer.

Why you should buy the iBuyPower Trace 7
You won’t see anything from iBuyPower in our look at the best gaming PCs, but don’t let that discourage you. This is still a good option for those on a budget. This particular model has great hardware for the price. It has an AMD Ryzen 7 5700 CPU teamed up with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage. More pivotal for a gaming PC is its graphics card: a GeForce RTX 4060 with 8GB of VRAM.

Read more