Configure an ARCore session in iOS

AI-generated Key Takeaways

• An ARCore session, represented by GARSession, manages all AR processes like motion tracking and environmental understanding.

• You can configure a session to use features such as Cloud Anchors, Augmented Faces, and the ARCore Geospatial API.

• To create a session in iOS, you need to initialize GARSession, set delegates for callbacks, and integrate with ARKit's ARSession for frame processing.

• Session configuration allows enabling specific features like Cloud Anchors or the Geospatial API by setting properties on GARSessionConfiguration.

Configure an ARCore session to build AR experiences for your app.

What is a session?

All AR processes, such as motion tracking, environmental understanding, and lighting estimation, happen inside an ARCore session. GARSession is the main entry point to the ARCore API. It manages the AR system state and handles the session lifecycle, allowing the app to create, configure, start, or stop a session. Most importantly, it enables the app to receive frames that allow access to the camera image and device pose.

The session can be used to configure the following features:

• Cloud Anchors
• Augmented Faces
• ARCore Geospatial API

Configure a session

To use either the Cloud Anchors API or the Geospatial API, you have to create a GARSessionConfiguration with either the cloudAnchorMode or geospatialMode property:

• create a GARSessionConfiguration and set the geospatialMode or cloudAnchorMode property for it.

• Use setConfiguration:error: (GARSession) to set the configuration.

Create a session in iOS

• Create a GARSession.
• Set a GARSessionDelegate to get callbacks from hosting and resolving operations.
• Create and run an ARSession.
• Set an ARSessionDelegate.
• Pass ARFrames to the GARSession in the session:didUpdateFrame: method.

Next steps

• Cloud Anchors for iOS
• Augmented Faces for iOS
• ARCore Geospatial API