SDK for AR App Development that Grabbed Global Brands' Attention

About Our Client

The Client is a US startup that develops digital signage solutions offers large augmented reality (AR) screens. The content displayed on the smart screens can be managed via a cloud-based administration panel developed by ScienceSoft’s web application developers.

Challenge

The smart displays use the RealSense technology that allows them to detect objects (human bodies) or motions (gestures) and react in accordance with the behavior defined by the running AR software. However, the Client lacked the skills to develop a tool for creating AR software that would use the displays’ advanced technology.

Moreover, realizing, that the necessity to develop such AR apps from scratch can repulse potential customers, the Client needed to find a way to make the creation of AR content for their interactive screens easy and accessible.

Solution

As the Client was fully satisfied with ScienceSoft’s web app development, they requested our assistance again. In terms of 1 month, ScienceSoft delivered a Unity 3D software development kit (SDK) along with inline-documentation. At the Client’s request, we also successfully integrated the tool with the web-based administration panel.

The apps developed by a Client are ‘templates’ that can then be customized and used by the Client’s customers. If a customer doesn’t want to opt in for any of the readymade templates, they can use the SDK to develop their own AR applications.

The SDK is targeted specifically at the Client’s AR application development needs: leveraging the displays’ object- and motion-tracking technology, it allows making data obtained by RealSense in real time an integral part of AR apps’ functionality. This way, the Client’s developers can create apps that will, for instance, recreate any person in front of the display as a 3D model on the screen and allow augmenting this image with clothing or accessories.

Results

Thanks to the plugin, the Client's solution allows easy use and creation of AR content for a digital signage solution. This helps them stay highly competitive on the digital signage market, and they have already attracted the attention of multiple large brands all over the globe.

Technologies and Tools

Ubuntu, Unity 3D, Visual Studio Code, C#, .NET Framework, C++, Particle Systems, OpenGL, Shaders, Atlassian Jira, Git.