Table of Contents

Introduction to EasyAR Mega

EasyAR Mega is a spatial computing platform designed to create a persistent and high-precision digital twin space for the entire physical world (such as a city, a campus, or a large shopping mall). With EasyAR Mega, your applications can achieve large-scale, high-precision indoor and outdoor positioning and virtual-real occlusion, bringing users an unprecedented spatial interaction experience.

This chapter will briefly introduce the core working principles, expected effects, and platform adaptation guidelines of EasyAR Mega from the developer's perspective.

Important

Non-developer users (such as product managers, operators, testers, etc.) can directly go to the Mega User Guide to learn about the Mega service.

Before You Start: Make Sure Everything Is Ready

Before integrating the EasyAR Mega cloud positioning function into your application, you must ensure a core prerequisite: the Mega cloud positioning service is ready.

  • On-site data collection is completed
    • Collect data of the target area using designated devices.
    • Use the Mega Toolbox to collect EIF data for effect verification.
  • Mega Block mapping is completed
  • The positioning service is enabled and bound to the application
    • Add the Block to the Mega positioning library in the development center.
    • Obtain a valid App ID and API Key and configure them correctly in your project.
Important

If the above steps are not completed, the application will not be able to obtain positioning results, which will manifest as "unable to trigger AR content all the time". Be sure to verify the service availability before developing with Mega cloud positioning.

Basic Principles of Mega Positioning

Different from traditional GNSS positioning that relies on satellite signals, EasyAR Mega is based on advanced visual positioning technology. By matching the image data captured in real time by the user's device with the pre-built high-precision 3D data, the user's 6DoF pose in the physical world is determined. Based on this pose, the application can render and overlay virtual content at the correct physical position.

The workflow is as follows:

  1. Map Building:

    • Use professional equipment (such as a panoramic camera) to collect data in the target area.
      Data Capture
    • Upload the collected data (such as .360 files) through EasyAR's mapping management backend.
    • The cloud processing platform will calculate the images in the collected data, use advanced AI algorithms to extract the visual features of the target area; and fuse the images with information from the IMU sensor, etc., to restore the movement trajectory during data collection (i.e., the camera pose at each moment); then generate a 3D point cloud of the entire scene and build a dense mesh with texture mapping.
    • Finally, the mapping system will output a high - precision "Mega Block map" customized by EasyAR, which contains 3D geometric information and visual features. This map is the cornerstone of Mega positioning.
      Mapping Process

  2. Real - time Localization (taking Mega cloud localization as an example):

    • When the user opens the application, the device camera captures images in the user's field of view in real - time, and sends them together with camera intrinsic parameters, extrinsic parameters (if available), and auxiliary information (if available, such as GNSS) to the Mega cloud localization service.
      User case
    • The Mega cloud localization service will extract the visual features of the uploaded images and quickly compare and match them with the Mega Block maps in the localization library.
    • Once the matching is successful, the system can calculate the user's exact current pose (i.e., position and orientation) in the map with centimeter - level accuracy.
    • At this time, Mega cloud localization will send the calculated pose to the application side and perform fusion tracking with the device's own SLAM system on the application side.
    • Finally, the application side will obtain a real - time localized and continuously tracked pose, so that virtual content can be displayed at the pre - anchored position in the physical world and continuously updated as the person moves.
      Localize Process
Tip

The implementation principle of Mega Go on - device localization is basically the same as that of Mega cloud localization. The only difference is that the client's localization occurs entirely on the device locally without any network requests and cloud computing.

Effects and Expected Results

After successfully integrating EasyAR Mega, your application can achieve the following amazing effects:

  • Centimeter-level accuracy: Compared with the error of several meters or even dozens of meters in GNSS, Mega positioning can provide sub-meter or even centimeter-level positioning accuracy, allowing virtual content to be stably “pinned” to specific positions in the real world.
  • Persistent space: Virtual content can be placed anywhere in the physical world, and all users will see the same content at the same location.
  • Real occlusion: Through Mega's spatial understanding ability, virtual objects can be occluded by real buildings or obstacles, greatly enhancing the sense of immersion.
  • Work in GNSS-free areas: In areas where GNSS signals are weak or ineffective, such as indoors, underground parking lots, urban streets with high-rise buildings, or mountain forests with dense trees, Mega can still provide stable and reliable positioning services.

The video shows a typical example of the effect of using EasyAR Mega:

  • High-precision and persistent spatial positioning allows virtual content to perfectly fit the building surface, presenting beautiful dynamic videos and carefully designed giant 3D posters.
  • Real occlusion brought by spatial understanding makes the fireworks and digital special effects in the sky blend in harmony with the surrounding environment without any sense of incongruity.
  • With the support of advanced visual algorithms, the entire experience is not afraid of the complex and dense human environment around, and can work stably even at night.

Possible unsatisfactory situations

  • Slow positioning and recognition speed

    In areas with dense crowds, such as the site of large-scale events, due to network delays, concurrent requests, etc., the delay of Mega cloud positioning may be relatively large, and users may need to wait for a certain period of time to see the virtual content.

    Note

    When using Mega Go on-device positioning, the positioning speed will be determined by both the scope of the space and the computing power of the terminal device. The latter is the biggest factor affecting the positioning and recognition speed, and the response delays of different devices may vary.

  • Errors caused by environmental changes

    If the physical environment changes significantly (for example, construction fences, seasonal vegetation changes), it may lead to a decrease or loss of positioning accuracy. Mega maps need to be updated regularly to adapt to environmental changes.

  • Drift during continuous experience

    Mega positioning will be fused and tracked with the device's own SLAM system on the application side, and the camera will be continuously turned on. Long-term operation may cause the device CPU to downclock, resulting in phenomena such as screen freezing or frame dropping, and tracking scale drift.

Tip

For more detailed abnormal effects or faults, please refer to the Troubleshooting section:

Expansion Suggestions

If you encounter many non-program development related issues such as service failures, scene changes, and business expansion during the integration of EasyAR Mega, please visit our Mega User Guide.

In this guide, you can find:

  • Service creation: See how to create a Mega service and perform simple troubleshooting.
  • Effect optimization: Learn how to preview the running effect, collect abnormal data, and perform cold start monitoring.
  • Persistent operation: Understand how to handle scene changes, business expansion, and persistent operation requirements such as migration/upgrade.
  • Business docking: Familiarize yourself with the use of practical business data such as navigation road networks.
  • Reference resources: Operation manuals for practical tools such as the Mega Toolbox.

Through this article, we hope you have a clear understanding of the working principles and effects of EasyAR Mega. Next, you can start preparing for your first Mega project!

Platform-specific Guides

The integration method of EasyAR Mega is closely related to the platform. Please refer to the following guides for development according to your target platform:

Important

Mega Go only supports development through the Unity platform for now.