The challenge of making augmented reality appealing enough for mainstream adoption has caught the attention of both tech giants such as Google LLC and emerging startups. One of the newest players in the race is eight-month-old Ubiquity6 Inc., which today announced that it has secured a $10.5 million funding round.

Index Ventures led the investment, joined by several other institutional backers, including Google’s artificial intelligence-focused Gradient Ventures and First Round Capital.

In conjunction with the funding, Ubiquity6 is launching its flagship offering, an app positioned as a “spatial browser” for AR experiences. A set of ready-made building blocks will enable developers to create custom content that the startup describes as more advanced than what’s available on the market today in several respects.

Ubiquity6’s first unique feature is a computer vision engine that Wired reported can use a phone’s camera to map out a room in about 30 seconds. That’s considerably faster than alternative systems, which sometimes take several hours. Moreover, built-in deep learning algorithms enable Ubiquity6 to recognize specific objects such as walls and furniture.

This is significant because the data allow the startup’s service to associate basic physical properties with each object. As a result, something like a virtual ball can be made to bounce back when a user throws it against the wall in a realistic fashion, without requiring too much work on the developer’s part. The technology could potentially pave the way to achieving a higher level of realism in immersive environments.

Another adoption barrier that Ubiquity6 is tackling alongside graphics fidelity is the fact that most AR apps today lack a meaningful multiplier element. That’s also the focus of another Google-backed startup called Blue Vision Labs Inc. that raised a $14.5 million funding round earlier this month.

Ubiquity6 claims that its app managed to host 10,000 users in a single space during internal tests. Moreover, the service provides the ability to create persistent content that lasts beyond a single session, a capability with the potential to come just as handy outdoors as indoors. Despite the fact that it was founded less than a year ago, Ubiquity6’s investors clearly believe that the startup can combine these elements into a meaningful whole and push AR adoption forward. 

Image: Ubiquity6