Viro Media now makes it easier for React and JavaScript devs to build AR apps

When it comes to building AR/VR gaming titles, the folks at Unity and Epic Games have products that can’t be beat. They can both be a tad daunting outside the game development crowd however, Viro Media wants to be the startup that makes building non-gaming apps a whole lot simpler for web and mobile developers.

Viro brings JavaScript and React developers closer to the augmented reality fun, giving them the opportunity to build things like AR selfie filters or magic portals with ease thanks to full support for Apple’s ARKit in iOS 11.

We covered the startup’s VR ambitions back in March after it closed a $2.5 million funding round with cash coming from Softbank NY, Lowercase Capital, Betaworks and a few others. With ARKit support now, and Google’s ARCore support later, the startup is gaining access to a whole lot of devices optimized for this new technology. VR headsets aren’t too plentiful these days, but ARKit supports around a half-billion Apple devices.

The startup launched a sample app, Figment AR, which really showcases the power of the platform, allowing developers to easily build a host of effects into their new or existing apps. It’s not just fun and games, Viro is optimizing the platform for enterprise customers as well.

The AR experiences out right now are pretty gimmicky for the most part, by helping mobile and web devs, Viro Media is also going to allow existing apps to easily gain some AR functionality and allow developers to begin experimenting.

The Viro AR platform is free and available now, sign up here.