Microsoft might be preparing a response to ARKit and ARCore on mobile

Microsoft is currently looking for a Principal SW Engineering Manager for its 3D scanning and augmented reality on mobile devices team, a Microsoft job listing reveals. First spotted by WalkingCat on Twitter, the job listing requires:

As Principal SW Engineering Manager, you will lead multiple engineering teams, some specializing in computer vison others in application development and user experience. You’ll be partnering closely with a talented cross-discipline leadership team to develop products that push the bar on what’s possible with new technologies. You’ll lead the implementation and maintenance of new features, and be responsible for delivering products on-time and at high quality. You will set technical and program direction and deliver solid technical mentorship and feedback.

Microsoft currently doesn’t have a mobile platform, so it seems likely that this will be an iOS or Android endeavour first and foremost.

With ARKit and ARCore currently being built in on both platforms, Microsoft might be working with both technologies in order to enhance synchronicity between 3D platforms and WIndows’ own native 3D Technologies.  Neither Apple, nor Google, nor Microsoft has proven that there’s a widespread consumer demand for meaningful AR computing (I’m excluding Snapchat selfie masks and similar use cases here). Will this be Microsoft’s pre-demoed 3D scanning app making its way cross-platform or something more? Microsoft’s last word on that matter was the following:

The capability to capture objects from your world in 3D using the camera on your phone is not one of our Creators Update features. As we shared in October, we envision the functionality being available across platforms, and we’re working to bring to mobile devices in the future.

We’ll have to wait for Microsoft to share more to find out if this is the culmination of that work.