
Amazon Sumerian: A way to create VR, AR, and 3D experiences - jeffbarr
https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/launch-presenting-amazon-sumerian/
======
modeless
Looks heavily influenced by Unity. Kinda random that Amazon is building a web
based Unity competitor. Doubly weird when you consider that this is their
second game engine project. They are already building one called Amazon
Lumberyard, forked from the serious AAA game engine CryEngine [1], and it
appears at first glance to be entirely separate from this one.

Is Amazon really getting value out of all the dev time they are putting into
building game engines? I'm not aware of any games built in Lumberyard at all,
though I haven't been paying much attention.

[1] [https://aws.amazon.com/lumberyard/](https://aws.amazon.com/lumberyard/)

~~~
avar

        > Is Amazon really getting value
        > out of all the dev time they are
        > putting into building game engines?
    

What an odd way to think about projects like these. It seems obvious that the
answer is "of course not, _yet_ ".

You could have asked the same question about AWS in 2001. Why is a bookstore
putting all this effort into some online hosting platform for third parties?

~~~
simias
AWS was reusing their existing infrastructure and expertise and opening it up
to 3rd parties.

I'm unclear why Amazon needs a custom game engine. They must have some plans
to enter this area, maybe make their own VR headsets?

~~~
grogenaut
Not really. They mostly built a second parallel system for aws and moved to
using it several years after launch. Yes they used knowledge that existed in
house but it was a totally separate project and mini company

~~~
Theodores
We imagined that Amazon AWS was letting us use a few of their servers that
were idle because it was not the Xmas rush. This was a convenient narrative at
the time and it explained the competitive pricing. Reality was that it was a
different gig.

~~~
grogenaut
I believe that was the goal, but like any large endeavor it took a while to
get going.

------
bhouston
This is clearly based on Goo Create, which went bankrupt a few years ago:
[https://goocreate.com](https://goocreate.com) I never figured out how bought
the assets as it was never announced.

Take this screenshot of AWS Sumerian:
[https://media.amazonwebservices.com/blog/2017/Sumerian-07-Ma...](https://media.amazonwebservices.com/blog/2017/Sumerian-07-MannequinAsset.png)

And this screenshot of Goo Create:
[https://learn.goocreate.com/manual/editor/create-
ui.png](https://learn.goocreate.com/manual/editor/create-ui.png)

They are the same.

Here is a side-by-side image of the two:
[https://twitter.com/BenAtExocortex/status/935158702180417536](https://twitter.com/BenAtExocortex/status/935158702180417536)

~~~
pen2l
Saying they're the same is like saying Notepad2 and Sublime are the same, both
have status bars which indicate place in text, both support copy+pasting of
text, etc.

If you have a 3d modeling program of some sort, of course it will have an
object manager which shows components like your model, the lights, the sky, a
position box that tells you current size/rotation information of whatever
component, your current viewport settings, etc. And since it's a cloud thing,
like Fusion360 it has an asset manager which probably works more or less the
same way.

Unless you're fundamentally reinventing the wheel in some aspect, they ARE
going to be the same in a lot of places.

~~~
philtar
I don't know why you have to be so condescending with your comment, but as
someone who has used Goo Create, I am willing to bet money that it is the same
app.

~~~
pen2l
Hm, was I really condescending in my comment? I've gone back to re-read it and
it doesn't strike me as condescending, indeed when I wrote the comment I wrote
it simply in a matter-of-factly way with no emotion.

But maybe I slipped. Can you please point out which part was condescending?
(serious request; am interested in improving my written speech to be both
clear and not condescending in any way)

~~~
watty
For what it's worth, I didn't find your comment condescending at all and was
puzzled at that remark.

------
nautilus12
All that nerd culture love stuff in the beginning bugged me enough that I
didnt want to read the rest of the article. For some of us this is a career
and we dont really play into to the whole nerd is beautiful movement.

~~~
pkage
It struck me as one of those "I'm a marketing person who googled a bunch of
terms to try to relate" kind of statements.

------
ane
The name has to be a reference to _Snow Crash_.

~~~
stesch
WARNING: "Snow Crash" is a comedy!

Over the years people mentioned the book in comments about metaverses and VR.
But nobody said it was a comedy. I was buying it with the expectation of
getting some serious science fiction about a topic I'm interested in.

Instead it starts off with some pizza delivery science fiction parody.

~~~
mmjaa
I think you need to listen to reason. Snow Crash is serious business!

~~~
JetSpiegel
Reason is capitalised, unless you mean actual reason.

------
user1713952
The GUI is reminiscent of that of goocreate:
[https://app.goocreate.com](https://app.goocreate.com)
[https://learn.goocreate.com](https://learn.goocreate.com)

~~~
hccampos
It is the evolution of it indeed. Amazon got the code after Goo Technologies
went bankrupt, added some integrations with AWS and rebranded it.

------
cheeaun
omg took me some time to find the actual product page:
[https://aws.amazon.com/sumerian/](https://aws.amazon.com/sumerian/)

~~~
veli_joza
Welcome to the future! Throught the magic of Virtual Reality, we can now
transform your boring 2D slides into perspective-mapped boring 2D slides [1]!
Incredible! /s

[1] [https://d1.awsstatic.com/product-
marketing/Sumerian/sumerian...](https://d1.awsstatic.com/product-
marketing/Sumerian/sumerian_landingpage_howitworks4.53fbe8df9907c25c6e54d52381815b0724c836e9.png)

~~~
pjmlp
So basically the VRML demos are back.

~~~
jackhack
Yes, of course, but it's IN THE CLOUD, don't you see?

I'm waiting for 10 years from now when we rediscover the ability to write
native applications in one language that run on the local OS & processor. No
doubt it will be promoted as a magical cure-all elixir.

------
veli_joza
This is product launch? Where is the product page? API docs? How does Sumerian
relate to Lumberyard, the other Amazon 3D engine?

They demonstrate basic placing of 3D objects in environment, what about UI?

~~~
pjmlp
I also did not understood, it looks like half-finished article.

------
neya
I have a different perspective on all this. Alibaba, recently did something
with VR[1][2] Shopping and had good success with it (in China). I think,
Amazon might simply be trying to experiment with it to see if it works outside
of China. And for this, of course, they need a platform to build on, just like
they did with AWS.

I'm also quite curious to know how all this turns out. If we'll be seeing
"Total Recall" style ads around us, thanks to Amazon, Google and Facebook,
then in which case, we're screwed.

[1] [http://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2016/11/28/alibaba-vr-
sh...](http://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2016/11/28/alibaba-vr-shopping-
stevens-pkg.cnn)

[2] [http://www.thedrum.com/news/2017/07/18/alibaba-merges-
online...](http://www.thedrum.com/news/2017/07/18/alibaba-merges-online-and-
offline-shopping-experience-with-three-new-physical-stores)

------
cylinder
What's Amazon really trying to do here?

~~~
Tepix
I think this may be their first foot in the door towards the inevitable
development of a Metaverse/Oasis type VR multiuser environment where millions
of people will eventually spend most of their time.

The 2nd coming of VR is cooling a bit right now but with the advent of
improved hardware I don't see why it won't heat up again reaching mass
adoption within a decade.

~~~
mmjaa
>>>Metaverse/Oasis type VR multiuser environment

If anyone has an app for AR, Amazon has an app for AR.

Maybe they're expecting us to browse the aisles virtually in the very near
future?

~~~
adventured
Nearly every valuable and or volume product (not every copy of every product)
will be scanned for VR/AR purposes, so you'll be able to actually examine it
from most or all angles. There's no scenario where Amazon doesn't do this
eventually. The applications for clothing alone (which they're extremely
determined to be huge in) makes it a big obvious must. Near-term it'll be
ugly, 20 years out it'll be so good as to be the routine way to shop for a lot
of products (you won't bother with basic well understood purchases, things in
generic boxes, like advil).

~~~
mcintyre1994
Furniture apps using ARKit work shockingly well for this already. I definitely
expect to see Amazon support something similar for a lot of products soon, and
I think it'd be genuinely useful.

------
gbrits
A bit at a tangent, but I was recently looking for software (open source or
commercial) that could help me develop a 'interior design / planning' editor.
I.e.: given a specific area (outside dimensions), allow to drag walls, doors,
etc to create a floorplan, and given that, allow more detailed planning like
kitchen, bathroom appliances, etc. Ideally, this would result in a 3d-model
which could be imported in a tool like Amazon Sumerian to do a 3d-walkthrough.
Any advice on where to look?

~~~
jackhack
Everything old is new again:

We did that exact thing 30 years ago: Auto-Graph Computer Designing Systems'
"Kitchen & Bath design". Draw walls on grid paper. Choose placement of items.
View in 3d. It was used at home improvement stores to preview remodeling
efforts for the consumer. We had a package dedicated to wire shelving, too
called ClosetDesign that let you drag objects from a 2D palette onto a 3d
surface. It would produce a materials list and even print drilling templates
for the support brackets.

And again 20 years ago with Virtus Walkthrough. A visualization tool for
architects.

Both companies are long gone. Now you can pick up simple architectural design
software on a CD at officemax for $5. There's probably a free package online.

Sumerian is feeling like the same thing "but on the cloud." Maybe I shouldn't
knock it. Entire careers were built taking manual processes and "putting them
on the computer" so people could do bad work faster.

------
magoon
Integration with other services is the key. This could help offload some of
the heavy lifting publishers have to deal with around infrastructure.

~~~
allpratik
Can you explain it little bit further? Which kind of services are we are
talking about here?

------
codesternews
Recently they have added ARView made with ARKit on iOS. I think moving forward
they think the future in AR, VR and provide their vendors and other developer
to build on this platform.

This is really forward thinking approach and it is kind of same they had done
with AWS in 2000.

------
FreeHugs
Back in the day, I really loved Poser on the Mac. Is there a good web-based or
free linux alternative these days? Something you can use to create realistic
humans?

~~~
pathompong
MakeHuman is what you are looking for.
[http://www.makehuman.org/](http://www.makehuman.org/)

------
Tepix
I assume this is based on the CryEngine they licensed? Can someone shed some
light on the differences between Amazon Lumberyard and Amazon Sumerian?

------
e-nouri
I think this will destroy some dreams :-/ Mine included, I am/was working
about something similar.

~~~
jplur
Tools aren't a zero sum game, go make your thing ;)

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bdz
Looks like Sims

------
suyash
Best news to my years. Unity is bloated and needs serious competition. +1 for
using JavaScript for scripting.

~~~
bpicolo
This looks to be targeting enterprise-style VR products rather than games.
Sales training in VR, etc. Lumberyard is their game engine

