WebAR or AppAR? The Short Explainer to Help You Choose.

The camera of the latest versions of smartphone are getting more and more sophisticated. They allow Augmented Reality to access the device’s RGB camera, gyroscope, accelerometer, orientation, and magnetometer features to display virtual experiences. Complicated terms to help launch fun and highly engaging marketing campaigns. So let's dive-in. There are 2 types of AR experiences: WebAR and App based AR.

1. WebAR

With WebAR technology, no specific app is required. Users with the latest smartphones will enjoy WebAR using their operating system, connection to the internet and web browser.

It usually requires that a QR code is scanned to bring the digital information to the surrounding reality. in real-time and brings (it can also be a link, a marker image, or even a user’s face).

As it is reliant on the internet, a stable internet connection is required to see 3D models, filters, video, text overlaying your reality without the need of app development.

Short explainer, tutorials, branding messages and other marketing displays are used by a growing number of brands and marketing agencies to bring packaging, banners and other marketing materials to life.

What is the technology involved :

To display such experience, the latest smartphones offer the best experience. The technology requires, that your phone is capable of
- activating triggers (QR codes, links, markers, face recognition) which.gives users access to AR experiences via a cloud system 
- tracking a model’s three axis of orientation and three axis of position (6DoF) to place a digital model within a real-world environment
- synchronising the virtual and real world to enhance the environment using the smartphone camera
- do surface mapping to place a 3D object within a physical environment. 

That's a lot for a smartphone camera, but the technology is now here to create smooth and enjoyable AR experiences that create massive engagement and an average 70% CTR when launch by users for the first time.

2. App Based AR

If you are a company or a brand with an existing branded app, you could decide that at this particular stage of the business an AR experience will bring an additional value to your customers. Through AR modules integration within your existing app. The new piece of software behaves like an upgrade to your app to add new features or functionalities. It allows users to activate image or object recognition and tracking, geo-location AR features, 3D models and much more. It offers extended functionalities and possibilities and is not dependent to the internet as the experience is already pre-loaded within the app.                                

The technology is the perfect fit for companies which have already developed app and that are willing to upscale their user's experience in order to create more engagement, increase sales, boost loyalty and generate more revenue via their app. Being not reliant on the internet is a huge plus that gives travel companies, cruise lines and expedition agencies, remote workers and all other businesses which activity is performed in inaccessible areas an upper edge. The AR experience is already embedded within the app with content hosted on the cloud and uploaded with the first launch.

What is the technology involved :

To activate AR experiences within your pre-existing app, a few parameters are required :
- Define the different constraints for the Android, iOS platforms
- Develop Unity game engine based AR modules / C++, Java, Objective-C++ and .Net APIs through the Unity game engine.
- Ensure Modules run on the background of the main app, and vice versa.
- Test that switching between the app and the AR module is performed smoothly and without crashing (asynchrony).
- Balance content creation more smartphone memory

We can do consultancy, analysis, implementation, deployment and provide further support and maintenance. We also deploy all the solutions in popular clouds like AWS or Azure or Google Cloud Platform so we work with proven technology that provide and extra layer of safety, stability with less work on the client's side.  The benefits are tangile and the integration process is fairly easy. The roadmap creation is also a very important component in the development of AR modules for future upgrades, scalability, UX and UI features and possible conflicts between libraries.

Building AR experiences means taking in account important variables and you can rely on our expert team to develop the perfect AR solution for you.

We give you access to our unique AR Pilot Program at fixed and affordable price to test, share, visualise and bring ideas for a larger scale AR development. Try now !