Apple and Pixar created a new file format for augmented reality on your phone
What is USDZ?
USD stands for Universal Scene Description, and it’s a file format that’s fundamental to Pixar’s 3D animation process. You can read the technical classifications for USD here, but it's essentially a way for content creators to code 3D objects and package-save them with enough information about things like geometry and shading to stay consistent across editing applications.
USDZ takes the concept one step further and packages all the USD elements an application needs to display that 3D object, and combines them into a single, uncompressed zip file. Each USDZ file is an archive full of individual elements that applications can reference in real time to make an object appear on a screen and in augmented reality situations.
What’s the competition look like?
According to Stefano Corazza, head of augmented reality at Adobe, the company is currently working with USDZ as well as a competing format called glTF, which already has support from behemoths like Google, Microsoft, and Facebook.
Corazza says that format is primarily designed for the web and is still working on adding some of the features that are inherent to USDZ right from the outset.
Some other people in the 3D world have concerns about USDZ as well. Apple’s sheer number of iOS devices can make a file format relevant for content creators, even if it’s not the strongest candidate.
See the full story here: https://www.popsci.com/usdz-augmented-reality-apple-ios12#page-3
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