Even though the mobile app is super simple to use, the process of developing a fully functional and user-friendly app was not so simple. RUBICON overcame the following challenges when building the app:

• Operating new technology in an upcoming field

• Rendering realistic-looking furniture models

• Building a seamless user experience

• Creating an interactive experience in a real-world environment

Operating new technology in an upcoming field

Both the ARKit for iOS and ARCore for Android were brand new to the field of software development. The frameworks were created for developers to be able to build augmented reality apps. RUBICON toyed around with both kits learning the ins and outs of both frameworks before becoming experts and being able to start the development of the mobile app. With both frameworks being new and barely tested by other users, it was a challenge to learn how to become an expert within this domain. In the end, RUBICON’s developers conquered both frameworks and used them to make a functional mobile app for customers to use.

Rendering realistic-looking furniture models

One challenge during the development process was how to feature realistic models of the furniture on the mobile app. For the iOS version of the app, RUBICON used the rendering engine SceneKit and for the Android version, Unity was used. By using two different rendering engines, the developers had to come up with a custom solution where the end product needed to look and feel the same on different platforms. On Android, the challenge was also creating a communication bridge between embedded Unity and Android UI to get the best of both worlds. The goal was to provide users with realistic models of furniture that would not take up too much memory and appear the same on both versions of the app.

Building a seamless user experience

One of the main goals of the mobile app was for users to be able to easily place, rotate, and move the furniture without any confusion. The challenge was how to communicate to the user how to simply play around with the furniture creating their ideal space. The solution the developers discovered was to add shadows and hovering movements to the furniture so the user could tell when the furniture was ready to be placed and how to place it properly and in the space of their choice.

Creating an interactive experience in a real-world environment

Another UX/UI challenge was to make the app a quality interactive experience for users to perceive it as a real space with real furniture so they feel like they’re placing Gazzda’s furniture in their own home. The mobile application had to be designed to look high-end, minimalistic, and aesthetic matching Gazzda’s brand.