Seaworthy AR glasses: all hands on deck!
Successful body leasing for a tech start-up supported timely delivery of an advanced AR navigation system.
By 21infinity (MK, DG) & VEO (ES) with support of GZ.
Updated 10:05 am CEST, June 1, 2020
Business Partner
VEO is a hi-tech start-up specializing in Augmented Reality (AR) solutions for a variety of industries and areas of application since 2017. The company business goal is to build a wide range of innovative navigation systems for yachts and motorboats, motorbikes, cars, bicycles, skiers, kayakers, walkers.
VEO offers AR-based land and sea navigation system Xploria that converts all collected data into a real-time view displayed on augmented reality glasses (AR). Currently, tens of different areas of application of Xploria are being tested by various public services.
VEO is also the official reseller of reputable AR glass brands: Vuzix, Thirdeye or Epson.
Onboarding the pros
VEO’s international expansion plans have set tight deadlines on their state-of-the art AR glasses for navigators project called Xploria. To meet its summer 2020 sales tournee goal, the start-up needed to add more reliable and experienced developers to their team. After a number of unsatisfying recruitment attempts, in early 2019, VEO requested 21infinity to lease an experienced developer for their Android team.
The developer contracted for the project was Michał Kaźmirowicz, known in 21infinity for his fast and timely work.
“As a person who goes the extra mile for his projects and communicates well, Michał was our recommendation, despite the imperfect technological fit. As a reliable body leasing partner, we were transparent about the misalignment, to maximize the chances for a long-term and satisfying relationship.”
– Bart Juszczak, Founder at 21infinity
The sheer size of the project, and its complex architecture, required Michał to learn fast. Within a week, he joined VEO’s remote team, as a fully-fledged project partner. The onboarding process was supported by Bart Juszczak who liaised between customer and programmer.
Navigating the technicalities
Unlike other AR systems, VEO’s proprietary Android-based application for AR was to offer highly advanced navigation features. To this end, it was to comprise a number of modules, e.g. map processing, point of interest (POI) detection, navigation, communication with the glasses or user profile management.
Michał’s team was responsible for integrating the communication between the AR glasses and the user’s smartphone via Bluetooth to be displayed for the user. One of the project challenges he solved was to modify the Bluetooth library to support automated pairing between the smartphone and the glasses.
In the course of the project Michał got a partner developer Piotr, who complemented Michał’s skillset. This allowed him to grow professionally in new areas.
“Mobile applications is where I want to grow professionally, and this has been a great opportunity. Being a part of such a big project has been very interesting.”
– Michał, developer at 21infinity
From the sea to public security
The effective body leasing partnership with 21infinity allowed VEO to onboard a skilled and motivated developer and keep the set deadline for the project.
Xploria is an advanced AR online/offline land and sea navigation system. The solution maps real-world objects using OpenStreetMaps with own data, and displays the information on the eyepiece in 3D. The system is managed via a user-friendly mobile application, and communicates with the glasses via Bluetooth. The solution can be customized for a variety of sports, and for navigating people in the city space.
Although the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced VEO to extend the project’s timeframe, many of the modules intended for Xploria were re-oriented towards curbing the pandemic. The system’s features can be used by various services, e.g. for body temperature recognition or face identification.
“In autumn 2020 we are launching a sales tournée in the US, and hope to continue with Michał and 21infinity on the future development of Xploria.”
– Ernest Syska, CEO at VEO
As an out-of-the-box project, Xploria gave us incredible satisfaction, and was a lesson in humility. We are looking forward to the final effect and further plans of AR/VR technology expansion, of course in cooperation with VEO
– Bart Juszczak
Project fact sheet
Time: 8 months
Type: Bodylease
Market: US, Global
Systems supported: Android 6.0+
No. of participants: 3
Solution benefits for:
USERS
- AR online/offline navigation system
- Hands-free access to critical data
- Automated pairing
MANAGEMENT
- Effective body leasing partnership
- Skilled and motivated team member
- Timely project completion