A short course from Google on the Coursera platform introduces augmented reality (AR) and Google's ARCore. Available for free, it starts on July 16th and lasts four weeks.

Aimed at beginners ad with no pre-requisites, this class is intended to teach the fundamentals of augmented reality (AR), and how to build an AR experience using ARCore. It is introduced in this video:

In brief the topics it covers are:

• How to identify different types of AR experiences
• Tools and platforms used in the AR landscape
• What makes AR feel "real"
• Popular use cases for AR
• How to create an AR use flow
• How AR experiences work
• Tools like Google Poly and Unity to build AR experiences
• Next steps to start building an AR experience using ARCore and other tools

Taught by the Google Daydream Team the presents complex AR concepts in ways that make them easy to understand, while also sharing expert tips and knowledge. For the creation of AR content it focuses on Google's ARCore platform, which is the baked-in platform for Android mobile devices.

Having completed it, there are various options for going forward. Cousera has a 5-week hand-on course from Institut Mines-Télécom. Despite coming from a French institution, Getting started with Augmented Reality is in English and is free - although there is the option of a certificate which you'll be frequently encouraged to purchase. It consists of videos, reading and hand-on projects - and by the end of it you will have explored practical techniques for prototyping three different applications for Android smartphones and tablets.

While Google, along with Unity, was involved in creating Udacity's Virtual Reality Nanodegree Google in 2106, a year later when it introduced a one-term program in the field of augmented reality it decided to focus on ARKit for iOS, see Udacity and Unity Expand AR/VR Training for details. 

More Information

Introduction to Augmented Reality and ARCore

Getting started with Augmented Reality

Related Articles

Google Takes VR Seriously - Daydream 

Google's Project Tango Shut By Tweet

Google-backed Virtual Reality Nanodegree 

Udacity and Unity Expand AR/VR Training

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