AR Foundation | AR Foundation | 6.5.0
AR Foundation is a Unity package that enables the creation of multiplatform augmented reality (AR) apps. It provides interfaces for AR features, requiring provider plug-ins for specific platforms like ARCore and ARKit. Developers can choose and enable AR features via manager components in their Unity scene.
Overview
Added
March 17, 2026
Subject & domain
computer-science-advanced · augmented-virtual-reality-ar-vr
Grade range
Grade 9 (Freshman)–Grade 12 (Senior)
Page kind
Article
Introduction
AR Foundation Overview
- Core Functionality: AR Foundation allows developers to create multiplatform augmented reality applications in Unity by providing a unified interface for native AR SDKs.
- Architecture: The package acts as an abstraction layer; it does not implement features itself but requires specific provider plug-ins to function on target platforms.
- Required Plug-ins:
- Android: Google ARCore XR Plug-in
- iOS: Apple ARKit XR Plug-in
- visionOS: Apple visionOS XR Plug-in
- HoloLens 2 / Meta Quest: OpenXR Plug-in
- Key Supported Features:
- Tracking: Device, Plane, Bounding Box, Image, Object, Face, Body, and Point clouds.
- Interaction: Ray casting, Anchors, and Participants (shared sessions).
- Environment: Meshing, Environment probes, and Occlusion.
- System: Session management and Camera/Light estimation.
- Development Notes:
- Feature availability varies by platform; developers must check the compatibility matrix before implementation.
- XR Simulation is available to test specific AR features directly within the Unity Editor.
- The "Simple AR" sample scene is recommended for beginners to learn plane detection and raycasting.
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