What are the AR development considerations?

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There are a number of development considerations you should factor in when embarking on an AR project.

Open Source or Proprietary

At the project outset, technical architecture and choice of software was considered integral to its level of success. As the project would not be developing any technical code or services, building on existing frameworks available as open source (e.g. AR browsers) it was imperative that the delivery solution would be intuitive,structurally sound and technical viable.


As a consequence of the cutting edge nature of Augmented Reality, a set of accepted standards has yet to be ratified by the W3C, although a working group discussing this subject has been formed to discuss a needs analysis. While most AR vendors are working on their own proprietary platforms, they are all relatively similar, so any future issues related to interoperability should be minimal. The majority use XML documents to hold the POI (or GLUE object) information with most nodes being generic (i.e. Longitude, Latitude, Name, Description, 3D model, Multimedia etc.).


It is hoped by the end of the project that the application of base level standards will be ubiquitous across most AR browsers enabling the outputs to be interoperable regardless of delivery choice.


Skills of Team

The technical skills required to build Augmented Reality experiences largely depends on the level of interactivity and types of media you intend to use. A good knowledge of web development (HTML, Javascript Frameworks, XML) and some understanding of backend technology (PHP, MySQL) is preferable. Other desirable skills include graphic design, video production/editing, 3D modelling and instructional design. These roles may be separated depending on the level of staffing available to the development team.

Time/Resources

The production of media rich resources such as 3D or Video may be time intensive so it is worthwhile measuring achievable outputs to timeframes allocated by project managers. Many institutions have an AV department that can provide support and reference in terms of video and sound production. It is worth utilising their expertise if at all possible rather than learning complex new skills that are often time consuming and counterproductive when working with tight deadlines.