Web giant Google has unveiled a new resource called Poly, a searchable database full of all sorts of 3D objects and scenery, made to help with augmented reality and virtual reality development. The powerful tool is free to use, and allows developers to find objects to use as-is, or even modify them as needed. Poly allows uploading of OBJ and MTL files made in almost any 3D suite, and is integrated with Vive and Oculus apps Tilt Brush and Blocks from the ground up, meaning that anybody using those two platforms can practically drag and drop creations in and out of Poly. Those who want to use Poly creations outside of Blocks and Tilt Brush can simply download them in OBJ form. Each creation has its own license set forth by the creator, and most of them allow for totally free use of any sort with proper credit.
At the moment, there are thousands of Poly creations made by Google, mostly in the same low-poly, expressively simple art style found in the Cardboard and Daydream demos. In fact, a few iconic models from those demos, such as the white fox, are available in Poly for creators to use and modify. Anybody with a Google account can upload files to Poly, and there does not seem to be any sort of quality monitoring, so 3D artists of all experience levels are seemingly welcome to give their creations to the community at large. There are a few models on the service that are not entirely family-friendly, though the service is brand new and already features a vast number of submissions. Presumably, Google will clean things up a bit in due time.
Poly is part of an ongoing effort by Google to make development of 3D experiences, especially AR and VR ones, as easy as possible. These efforts to push the standards along have resulted in the rise of the aforementioned Tilt Brush and Blocks tools, as well as numerous developer advocacy efforts for Daydream, among other initiatives. Google’s innovations and creations from outside sources, such as the easy to use InstaVR suite, have made VR and AR development incredibly accessible to anybody with an interest in creating.