Face tracking in Unity is presented with several options. Not limited to Unity AR Foundation and its ARcore and ARkit packages, developers can detect and augment faces using Banuba Face AR plugin. Explore its unique features and consider 7 reasons why developers switch from Unity AR Foundation Face Tracking to Banuba Face AR plugin for Unity.
Unity is favored for 2D and 3D support, excellent design interface, cross-platform compatibility, and strong community, which makes it a perfect choice for AR game development. However, face tracking and face augmenting functionalities are somewhat limited in Unity
Unity face tracking: AR Foundation, ARCore, ARkit, Banuba
AR Foundation is an augmented reality platform for Unity app development. Among a variety of its features, the platform supports a face tracking functionality enabling the camera to detect and track human faces in real-time.
To enable Unity face detection on a specific platform, AR Foundation provides ARCore and ARkit packages. Each overlays textures and 3D models on a detected face using a face mesh. This mesh may include face landmarks, vertices, UV coordinates, facial regions and other data by which algorithms recognize a face in a video stream.
ARCore face tracking Unity features
ARCore XR Plugin enables face tracking in Unity apps on the Android platform. It provides access to "regions", which are specific features on a face.
Unity ARkit face tracking overview
ARKit face tracking package for Unity recognizes the position, topology, and facial expressions to overlay AR assets and animate a user face in real-time on iOS devices. It requires a front depth camera and runs only on the iPhone X, XS, XR, and the iPhone 11 series or the iPad Pro series.
Face AR plugin for Unity
To help developers bring amazing AR experiences cross-platform, we provide Unity Face AR plugin which supports face detection and tracking in Unity. It features unique possibilities allowing companies and developers engage users with realistic face filters, 3D lens, facial animation and AR backgrounds effects.
Face AR for Unity overview
7 advantages of Banuba over Unity AR Foundation Face Tracking
1. Cross-platform coverage
ARkit and ARCore face tracking runs on either Android or iOS operating platforms. The Banuba Unity face tracking asset is a full-featured cross-platform solution used to develop Android, iOS, Windows, Mac and Web apps. As a developer, you can save time and efforts as you don’t need to develop an app for each platform.
2. Broader device reach
ARcore face tracking Unity support starts with middle-top mobile devices. In the same way, Unity ARkit face tracking runs only on devices with a forward-facing depth camera, like the iPhone X or higher which means your audience reach is somewhat limited.
Banuba face tracking in Unity covers low-end devices starting from Android 5.1 (API level 21) and iOS 10.0+; iPhone 5s and later. You can reach far more users on both platforms.
3. Face filter assets included
To streamline app development, we imported some of our best face filters into Unity. Developers can licence high-quality AR content n their app designed by our Art team to address audience preferences and keep them engaged. They can design and upload custom filters using our assets as templates. Funny beards, AR hairstyles, animation, beauty effects, virtual try on for glasses, hats or jewelry - the sky's the limit.
4. Runs on Web and desktop
Both ARCore and ARkit Unity face tracking run only on mobile devices while Banuba Face AR for Unity is available for the Web too. To use, just WebAssembly support is required. You can develop engaging Web AR games and apps in Unity where users can overlay face filters using their web camera.
5. Neural network support (Background)
Banuba background segmentation in Unity
The Business version supports background segmentation in Unity, allowing users to remove and change backgrounds in real-time. Trained for the selfie camera, the neural network separates a person from the background in real-time without the need for physical green screen. You can use images, animated wallpapers or videos as a background.
6. A larger number of vertices
Google's ARCore extension only has 468 vertexes and 898 triangles. Banuba's Unity Augmented Reality plugin possesses 3308 vertices and 6436 triangles. This larger number of polygons translates to better accuracy of how the face mesh describes the face geometry. It's especially important for beautification and face morphing features.
7. Dedicated specifically to face tracking
Last but not least, we develop and optimize our face tracking technology specifically for mobile and Face AR, enabling you to create the most fascinating and professional augmented reality apps in Unity with facial animation. AR Foundation is not especially dedicated to face racking, providing basic face augmentation capabilities.
Building cross-platform AR apps in Unity? Discover Face AR SDK possibilities.
