Case Study: Augmented Reality-Based
iOS & Android Applications

Client: Multinational corporation with $50+ billion revenue, involved in traveling business

Business goals: Creation of mobile applications with augmented reality features to engage travelers and increase retention

Product: iOS and Android apps that comprise AR-based discovery with extensive use of complex animations and geolocation features

Applied technologies:
• iOS: ARKit, SceneKit, GLKit, CoreMotion, Swift 4.0, VIPER architecture
• Android: ARCore, SensorManager, Rajawali, Google Mobile Vision API, Java, MVP architecture
• Agile management framework, UI/UX design, AR testing

Augmented Reality: Wow Factor For Customer Engagement

Brands of today value the reputation of being innovative companies, and their customers are just as willing to get modern products and services. However, any innovative technology still has to comply with service standards, security and reliability criteria, and simply be ready for the market. Augmented reality is one of innovations that have already found their way to the market, providing customers with completely new experiences.

Here is a compelling example for you: an app that offers AR-enhanced discovery for travelers. Additionally, this solution helps to organize trips and provides users with real-time information.

Building And Delivering Smooth Augmented Reality Experience

Although the client had formed a clear vision of the product they wanted to receive, it still required our research. We needed to form an optimal tech solution—and iOS was the first platform we had to cover. The single most important goal was to deliver smooth experience within the specifics of different environments. It would cover both static scenes and moving transport, like trains, cars, and even aircraft in flight.

Finding the optimal architectural solution

For the iOS application, MVC architecture was abandoned in favour of VIPER. It allowed us to divide the presentation layer into different layers of responsibility, thus separating business logic from the UI layer. This led to a significant increase in reusability of code and UI elements. The application became more stable, flexible, and open to possible upgrades in the future.

Overcoming environment constraints

The specifics of different environments, especially motion-related, required a careful approach to run smoothly and keep even the most demanding users satisfied. ARKit, the main AR platform for iOS apps, was used together with SceneKit (an engine for rendering of 3D objects for augmented reality) and GLKit (for OpenGL rendering and shaders). This combination allowed us to create complex animations, while CoreMotion was additionally used to fix the acceleration problem, increasing the stability of the product. The subsequent Android version required similar tools, and we settled upon Rajawali.

Avoiding the loss of signal with geolocation forecasting

Various signal levels, high speed and altitude, different types of vehicle body protection – all this could have an impact on performance and location services. We solved this problem together with the issue of GPS data interruption. We found a way to use several channels to receive information and conduct calculations for correct data loading.

Augmented Reality As A Key Part Of The Marketing Campaign

The delivered iOS product was launched as a key part of the client's marketing campaign, almost immediately followed by development of the Android version. This project became a prime example of a business seeing business value in AR innovation and embracing it well before its competition. This applies to most modern businesses from a variety of industries, including healthcare, retail, and manufacturing. We saw this trend at CES 2018 last month, and we are certain to show more examples in the near future. Mobile apps are inarguably becoming one of the key AR trends of today.