How to integrate AR into your Flutter app

Augmented Reality (AR) is a technology that integrates computer-generated elements into the real world, enhancing users' perception and interaction with their surroundings. AR has gained immense popularity in recent years, revolutionizing various industries, including gaming, e-commerce, education, and entertainment. If you're a Flutter app developer looking to add an extra layer of interactivity and immersion to your app, integrating AR can be an excellent choice.

Integrating AR into Flutter

You can integrate AR into your Flutter mobile app using the predefined libraries readily available online. Some of these libraries include:

  • ar_flutter_plugin

  • arcore_flutter_plugin

Or you can import your pre-made AR projects into your Flutter app by using the flutter_unity_widget package. This package allows you to import your Unity projects and deploy them into your Flutter app as a custom widget.

Prerequisites

There are quite a few prerequisites for using AR in your Flutter mobile application. Some of them are as follows:

  1. Development environment: Make sure you have set up a development environment for Flutter, including Flutter SDK, IDE (e.g., Android Studio, Visual Studio Code), and relevant plugins.

  2. Mobile devices: AR development relies on hardware capabilities, so you'll need physical Android and/or iOS devices for testing. ARCore (for Android) and ARKit (for iOS) require specific hardware features like motion sensors and cameras.

  3. Supported devices: Check the list of devices supported by ARCore and ARKit to ensure your target audience has compatible devices. ARCore and ARKit have minimum OS version requirements, so ensure your users' devices meet these requirements.

  4. AR development kit installation: Install the required AR development kits and SDKs (e.g., ARCore for Android, ARKit for iOS) on your development machine. These SDKs provide the necessary tools and libraries for AR development.

  5. Permissions: Be aware of the permissions required for accessing cameras and sensors on user devices. Request necessary permissions appropriately in your app.

Installing the required packages

Firstly, we have to install the dependencies required for AR integrations into your pubspec.yaml file. We can do that in such a manner:

dependencies:
  flutter:
    sdk: flutter
  ar_flutter_plugin: ^latest_version
Installing dependencies

Save the changes and run the flutter pub get in the terminal to fetch the new dependencies into your pubspec.yaml file.

After that, you can import the package in the dart file in which you want to use these packages.

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:ar_flutter_plugin/ar_flutter_plugin.dart';

Using the AR plugin

The usage of the installed dependency can vary from one dependency to another. However, the plugin we installed can be used in the following way:

class ARGame extends StatefulWidget {
  @override
  _ARGameState createState() => _ARGameState();
}
class _ARGameState extends State<ARGame> {
  ARViewController _arController;
  int _score = 0;
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(
        title: Text('AR Catch Game'),
      ),
      body: ARView(
        onARViewCreated: (controller) {
          _arController = controller;
          // Set up AR session and tracking type here
        },
        // Add the AR scene with falling objects and the basket here
        // Use the score variable to display the player's score on the screen
      ),
    );
  }
  // Implement game logic here, including handling object collisions and basket movement
  // Use the accelerometer and gyroscope data to move the basket left and right
}
Structure of ARView()

Code explanation

  • Lines 1–4: Here, we declare the ARGame class, which is a StatefulWidget. The StatefulWidget means that this widget has a mutable state that can change over time. The ARGame class extends StatefulWidget, which means it can have a corresponding state class that manages its mutable data.

  • Lines 6–8: The state class of the ARGame is made as it is a stateful widget, and inside it, a private instance variable _arController of type ARViewController is defined. The _ before the variable name indicates that it is private and should not be accessed outside the class.

  • Lines 8–22: Inside the build() method, we return a Scaffold widget. A Scaffold provides a basic structure for material design applications, including an app bar and a body.

    • The body property of the Scaffold widget holds the main content of the screen, which is an ARView widget.

    • The ARView widget is from the ar_flutter_plugin package and represents the Augmented Reality view in the app.

    • The onARViewCreated callback is invoked when the ARView is created and ready to be used. Inside this callback, we get the reference to the ARViewController, which we store in the _arController variable for further usage.

  • Lines 24–25: These are comments that indicate where you should implement the game logic, including handling object collisions and basket movement using the accelerometer and gyroscope data to move the basket left and right. The actual implementation of the game logic is yet to be done.

The code provided represents the skeleton of the ARGame widget. It sets up the basic structure of the app with an app bar and an ARView, which will be used to display the AR scene. The actual AR scene and game logic implementation, including game physics, should be added later based on the specific requirements of the game.

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