Introducing Where’s my cAR? iOS/Android Mobile Application

During our research and development programme, we’ve been doing a lot of work and experiments using AR, or Augmented Reality.

We’ve produced various concepts, looking at some common use-cases for the technology. Typically these show the capabilities of rendering virtual objects in a real-life scene and require the app to interpret the environment and accurately place the various objects in it.

A challenge had been set. Would it be possible to place an object in Augmented Reality without relying on the camera to survey the surroundings?

Where’s my cAR?

Where’s my cAR? is a free to download mobile application for compatible iOS and Android Devices that allow you to find the location of your car using Augmented Reality (AR), using geocoded data from your device’s location.

Technical Challenges

As Augmented Reality technology is still in its infancy, ARCore (Androids AR engine) doesn’t have an easy way of representing location data in AR. So as part of this process, we developed the ARCore-Location library to help us (and any other Android developers) to create GPS location-based AR experiences. Luckily, iOS already has a wonderful library available from ProjectDent.

Another challenge is how to find out where somebody has parked their car. Whilst both platforms are able to tell us whether the user is walking, running, driving or standing – only Android allows you to do so whilst the app is not being used. Therefore in the Android version, we’re able to automatically detect when you’ve disembarked from a moving vehicle and set that as the location. At the time of writing, on the iOS version, this is something that can only be done manually.

Additionally, mobile locations services can be quite temperamental. The location updates being given to apps vary wildly in accuracy, meaning that sometimes it might think you’re several hundred metres away from where you really are. Mobile compasses are also only accurate to approximately 15 degrees, and that’s assuming your compass is properly calibrated and you’re not close to any electronics or large machinery! This can be problematic when trying to get an accurate bearing on your current position and the position of your car – giving some mixed results.

Download it and give it a try, we would love to have your feedback.

You can download the app on to your device from the Apple App Store or on Google Play.

Contact Appoly for AR Consultancy & Mobile App Development Services

We hope that you have found this article interesting and informative. We provide augmented reality development services if you’d like to book a consultation with us to further explore your options to start professional development on your AR project, get in touch with us and we can discuss your needs and see what we can do for you.