Augmented Review

New York-based startup Augmented Rеview was founded with the purpose to revolutionize the way designers, architects, and 3D artists collaborate when working on three-dimensional artworks with other people.

To make this happen, the Enkonix team developed an app that uses mobile augmented reality technology to create a virtual canvas for all participants and enable them to collaborate on 3-dimensional objects in real-time.

PLATFORM: Web, iOS
TECHNOLOGIES: ARKit, Swift, Vue.js, Python, Django, PostgreSQL
PROJECT DURATION: 6 months

Project challenges

• The application had to include sophisticated functionality, and yet be easy-to-use and introduce AR features to users with no experience with augmented reality apps.
• Considering the requirement to have a real time image from the camera on the app background, our design team had to come up with an optimized color scheme and styles that would remain visible in different environments.
• We had to find a way to minimize the well-known AR issues with planes such as ARKit engine losing track of the object’s position and drifting, problems with non-realistic shadows / no shadows.
• Changes brought to iOS 12 rendering process created unexpected issues with 3D models textures.

Solutions

• We built our own 3D models loader in order to eliminate the iOS 12 rendering issues. The know-how protects Augmented Rеview from similar issues in the future.
• The app detects all the nearby planes, including vertical ones, and continues to analyze the area showing available planes as the user walks or turns around.
• To deal with the ARKit plane drifting issue we decided to attach the object to the plane. This prevents the plane from covering a part of the object while drifting.
• Our iOS developer has created a solution allowing to control shadow visualization. This functionality can work for multiple objects in a single scene.
• Our UX/UI designer reduced the number of app screens and used standard iOS control elements to simplify the user flow and ensure intuitive access to all the app features.
• We created a step-by-step tutorial that demonstrates how to use AR features. The camera screen always stays in the background highlighting the possibility of AR experience, but not interfering with the control elements.

Results

Enkonix team has created from scratch a set of applications and developed unique features:

• iOS app for iPhone and iPad for designers and reviewers.
• Responsive web app for designers and reviewers.
• Admin panel for business owners.

Neat and comprehensive design for the iOS version complies with the Apple Human Interface guidelines and accommodates the standard actions familiar to iOS users. The web version uses the same styles and similar control elements and is adapted to mobile, tablet, and desktop screens.

Enkonix UI/UX design team created the brand identity and graphics for Augmented Rеview in close relationship with Augmented Rеview’s founding team.

The project was integrated with Stripe and allows subscription management from the Admin Panel.