Augmented Reality Solutions
Augmented Reality is the natural step following Vartual Reality. It offers solutions to a wide variety of challenges across many industries from operational excellence to training and marketing. Augmented Reality is already proven to be a versatile innovation in a range of industries.
Vertical industries
Our Work
Our insights in various industries are coupled with innovative and creative ideas to achieve your goals.
- Tailor made
- Scalable
- Solid framework
- High quality design
AR Technology
We develop solutions for AR using the latest technologies. Our main workhorse is Unreal Engine 4, while for AR we also use Unity. Our pipeline varies from project to project and it is adapted to the specific needs of each client. We employ a pool of independent talents in graphics design, motion design, animation, modelling, texturing and game development.
Unreal Engine 4
Arguably the most powerful commercially available Real-Time Engine, Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) shines in bringing VR to life. We heavily rely on its prowess to create realistic scenes, develop clean user interfaces and easily develop interactions between the VR user and the 3D environment.
For us, Unreal Engine 4 exhibits a number of advantages:
Unity
Unity is a great 3D engine that is capable of rendering 3D environments with exquisite detail. The final product works on a variety of devices from desktop computers down to low-end smartphones.
Unity bases itself on a powerful programming language called C#. This allows developers to create scripts to handle interactions, changes in environments, behaviours and Artificial Intelligence. It allows users to plugin-in scripts, meshes and environment pieces to speed up development.
Unity exhibits a number of advantages:
The main drawbacks we see with Unity are:
That being said, for Augmented Reality, Unity is still the engine of choice as it supports the most functionality.
AR APIs
ARKit from Apple and ARCore from Google are the two Application Programming Interfaces (API) which allow developers to create apps that support Augmented Reality on iPhones, iPads and most new Android phones.
ARKit and ARCore exhibit similar functionalities but ARKit currently features the most advanced AR features.
Both APIs make use of the front camera to scan the environment and to discern the layout of that environment. The APIs combine device motion tracking, camera scene capture, advanced scene processing and lighting estimation to simplify the task of building an AR experience.
The APIs allow developers to virtually place 2D or 3D objects in the scanned environment. These objects can then be integrated in varying degrees of accuracy into the environment. The user can then also interact with the objects.
Apart from the ARKit and ARCore APIs, there is Vuforia, which is a library of features that allow developers to create seamless AR experiences for a variety of devices. Vuforia incorporates state-of-the-art object recognition, which can in turn be used to trigger various AR features. Unlike ARKit and ARCore, Vuforia is not free to use.
Another API that enables developers to create AR applications is Wikitude. This API is a good alternative for Vuforia and also supports a wide range of devices. It is a paid service but it costs less than Vuforia.
AR Headsets
There is a multitude of AR Headsets available on the market. Many of these headsets exhibit specialised and proprietary Software Development Kits (SDK) which allow developers to create software for use in specific industrial settings. AR-capable headsets are what we call “head-mounted AR“.
Apart from specialised devices, most modern smartphones and tablets are potent AR devices too. To use these, the user will have to hold up the device and look through it to a scene. The device will then place virtual objects in the scene which are displayed on the smartphones’ screen. This is what we call “see-through AR“.
We explain the different devices we develop solutions for here.
Integrations
Augmented Reality only shines when it can show information relevant to the environment and relevant to the user. Indeed, if you want to augment a machine, you need to get relevant information to that machine at the right time. For example, the user may need to see the maintenance status of the machine along with some information on how to operate it.
To this end, the holy grail of AR is that the system is able to interpret objects (what and where it is), know the layout of the environment (can place objects with correct shadows and occlusion), remain persistent (if you look somewhere else, the 3D object should stay) and have ubiquitous networking availability (5G to download and show objects in real time). This is what one calls “deep AR”, versus “shallow AR”.
This is all promised in technology based on SLAM (Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping) which allows users to understand the physical world through point clouds, GPS and other inputs. This makes it possible for AR applications to recognise 3D Objects & Scenes, as well to Instantly Track the world and to overlay digital interactive augmentations.
Aside from being able to place objects, it is also important to get the correct objects to show. Through integration with a company’s back-end systems (ERP, SAP, SalesForce, …), the AR app will be able to discern which objects to show and when. This way, relevant information can be extracted at any time from the cloud and shown to the Augmented Reality user.
Contact
Take the step and innovate
We have all the expertise you need to design, build and implement XR solutions that make a difference. Let’s have a talk about how you can innovate using emerging technologies.
