App-free AR for Enterprise

Enterprise customers have access to "native" Augmented Reality (AR) features of mobile devices, with no mobile app required. Native AR relies on glTF / USDZ files generated by Sketchfab and ARCore / ARKit features of modern mobile devices (Android / iOS, respectively).

How do I enable app-free AR?

App-free AR is currently only available to Enterprise customers. Once you are using an Enterprise license, you will find a new setting available to you in Model Properties called "Allow AR". Turn this setting on to enable app-free AR on the model.

How do I change the default scale of the 3D model in AR?

To define the default scale of a model when it's loaded in AR, use the AR/VR "World Scale" tools in 3D Settings. It's best to edit 3D Settings on a desktop browser.

The "World Scale" number in 3D Settings tells the Sketchfab viewer how many "units" in your 3D model file are equivalent to one meter. So, for example, if your models were exported in inches, you should set the World Scale to 39.37, because 39.37 inches equals 1 meter.

Each time you change this setting and click Save Settings in the top-right corner, the glTF and USDZ file must be regenerated at that scale. This can take a few minutes. Similarly, each time you make changes to material settings or re-upload a model, the glTF and USDZ files are regenerated using the new settings.

Additionally, Sketchfab assumes models are uploaded in meters. So, if you export your 3D model measured in meters, the AR world scale should already be correct by default.

How do I view 3D models in AR?

Once the glTF and USDZ files are ready, anyone viewing your model will be able to click or tap on the [AR] button in the viewer to enter AR mode.

On desktop browsers, clicking this will open a popup with a QR code to open on mobile. This popup has some customization options. See Managing AR embeds, below.

Following the QR code from your mobile device camera or tapping the AR button on mobile will go directly to AR. This works by providing a special link for your device to open the glTF (Android) or USDZ (iOS) file.

Once you reach this point, the file is on your mobile device and no longer linked to Sketchfab. The rendering of the 3D model and the user interface are completely controlled by Android's glTF Scene Viewer and Apple's AR Quick Look.

What devices support AR?

Viewing 3D models in AR on mobile devices requires relatively recent hardware and software.

• iOS: iPhone 7 and newer or iPad 5 and newer, running iOS 12+
• Android: Devices with ARCore 1.9 support on Android 8+

How do I manage AR in embeds?

A typical Sketchfab viewer looks like this. This is an HTML iframe that embeds a sketchfab.com page in your website. It's very similar to how you might embed a YouTube video.

It starts like this: https://sketchfab.com/models/07ca1ff39a134fdf83aeaaa567c6d682/embed

If you have allowed AR on a model, the AR button will be visible in the embedded 3D viewer by default. But, you probably want to hide most or all of the other buttons (the information and links at the top, the Sketchfab watermark at the bottom left, and the controls in the bottom right). This is done by adding URL parameters to the iframe code.

For example, adding ?ui_infos=0 the end of the /embed URL will hide the information bar at the top:

https://sketchfab.com/models/07ca1ff39a134fdf83aeaaa567c6d682/embed?ui_infos=0

If you want to only have, for example, the AR button and the fullscreen button, you will need to hide all the other elements. You can also apply a dark theme to help visibility on a light background. The URL looks like this:

https://sketchfab.com/models/07ca1ff39a134fdf83aeaaa567c6d682/embed?ui_infos=0&ui_watermark=0&ui_stop=1&ui_help=0&ui_vr=0&ui_settings=0&ui_inspector=0&ui_animations=0&ui_annotations=0&ui_hint=2&ui_theme=dark

Here's the embedded result:

It's also possible to customize the QR code popup on desktop embeds.

• Setting ui_ar_help=0 will remove the sketchfab.com help link (which leads to this page)
• Settings ui_ar_qrcode=0 will remove the QR code.
• If you remove both, the popup will simply say, "Please open this page on a compatible mobile device"

For more information about embedding models and using embed URL parameters, see Embedding your models.

By using Viewer API, it's also possible to add your own custom "Go to AR" button on your website.

How do I link directly to AR mode?

It is possible to create a link directly to AR mode. A link like this will go straight to AR mode if opened on an Android or iOS device.

https://sketchfab.com/models/442c548d94744641ba279ae94b5f45ec/ar-redirect

You could, for example, make it a QR code for your visitors to scan:

Limitations

As mentioned earlier, viewing models in AR mode requires a glTF file on Android or a USDZ file on iOS. These file formats do not support every 3D rendering feature on Sketchfab, so, models might not look or behave in AR like they do in the regular 3D viewer.

For more details, please see glTF and USDZ.