Google aims to speed up how VR and AR development with a new service it’s calling Poly.

Poly is an online library of 3D objects developers are free to use in their own projects. Building everything from scratch is time-consuming and wastes resources which are better used on improving the experience for end users.

“If you’re building for virtual and augmented reality, you need 3D objects for your apps,” wrote Google in a blog post. “Poly lets you quickly find 3D objects and scenes for use in your apps, and it was built from the ground up with AR and VR development in mind.”

The service can be thought of as similar to image hosting services like Flickr where users can decide to make their work freely available for others under a Creative Commons license.

Microsoft has been making a big deal of “mixed reality” as part of its recent Windows 10 update known as the Creators Update. 3D creations made in the new 3D Paint app can be uploaded to the ‘Remix 3D’ library for download and use by others.

Google’s service improves on the concept of Remix 3D with objects that are compatible with VR platforms — as well as frameworks such as ARKit on iOS, and ARCore on Android.

Creatives building objects within AR, using tools such as Google’s Tilt Brush and Blocks, can upload their creations directly to Poly for others to download and use.

Google has uploaded many 3D models to Poly which have been developed in-house to get the service off to a promising start. Hopefully the community will help it to flourish over the coming months.

All creations are free, but it’s likely some creators are going to want some payment for their efforts and time at some point. It will be interesting to see whether Google introduces monetisation further down the line for more complex work, or if the company will keep it for hobbyists.

Poly will soon have an API which you can sign up to preview when available here.

Are you impressed with Google’s new Poly service for AR/VR developers? Let us know in the comments.