They just have to take their 3D models from whatever 3D software they use?

JC: And then put it on the platform, yeah. The only thing that may need to be done is simply for education of the model because when you have a free model of a building, the model can be really huge and you need to trim it down in order to get it in the platform.

So you are limited by the power of tablets and smartphones ability to render?

JC: Yeah, I mean architects they work with pretty powerful computers because those models are like 5GB in terms of size, so when you need to load that into memory it’s computers with 8, 16GB of memory and you never have that in the tablet. Some tablets, the full extent of the whole memory is 16GB so you can’t just open a large sized model.

Where did you have the most success in term of adoption and usage?

JC: In the CPG world. They consume good products like Coca-Cola and these kinds of companies will be working with 3D models so all the merchandise that you see everywhere, it’s built in 3D somewhere and they have thousands of resources and they have real needs in terms of showing their products to their customers. So imagine you’re Coca-Cola and you want to put a new fridge in the bar. It’s so much easier if you can talk to the bar and show what the fridge would look like as opposed to just talking to the bar owner [and explaining] that it will be this big or that it would look like this.

So that’s what we pinpoint. By now the majority [of salespeople] are already in possession of tablets, so it’s just perfect match for us. Their models are not too complicated and so that’s where we are in terms of commercial traction; that’s where we have the best traction. Then in terms of like user traction in architecture, the traction is really good and we have a lot of academics for universities, schools, colleges. More than 1,500 are registered to Augment and they use it in the classroom to show to students objects or a test, a chemistry molecule, a human body part and the students use it to present their project in a situation where the users are really engaged.

Do you think in the future you might transition to glasses once they become more popular?

JC: Yeah, I mean, I am sure the glasses are like the next stage in terms of AR so we’ll follow the flow of devices in order to have Augment available where it’s needed and right now it is tablets and smartphones, but in the future it can be glasses with headsets or any other type of device in which you can have an experience like this.

Very cool. What are you most excited about that’s coming up for Augment?

JC: I think the arrival of the that sensing, like Google Tango in mass production smartphones and the Lenovo Phab 2 is the first smartphone that will have that sensing and it arrives in September. That’s really exciting because, that sensing, it changes everything in terms of user experience since that sensor allows the smartphone to have knowledge of this place so it knows where the floor is, where the walls are, and it can really place them precisely, at a scale where you want the model to be. So for me that’s very exciting. It will really change the perception of Augment reality because you won’t need to have a tracker to fiddle around with the model to place it correctly. It would be wider, right scale

And the Google project Tango, is that an addition to the Nexus phones?

JC: No, the Google Tango is their ability to have that sensing and this is integrated in the Lenovo Phab 2 and it will be integrated in other smartphones in the future, so maybe in the early new Nexus or the new Samsungs. They haven’t announced anything, but it’s supposed to be that next sensor that will be deployed massively.

Do you have any advice for those looking to join the AR industry?

JC: I would say to be really knowledgeable about the industry itself. There is lots of information out there and if you come with full knowledge of what’s going on, what the technology is, how it works, if you already have ideas and how it can be used, it will be a lot easier to get an AR company than if you just come without any previous knowledge. Right now it’s easy to get a job in an AR company if you already know about AR because, really, no one knows about AR, so if you come and you already know a lot and you can show that knowledge to the company, you can get a job.

Very cool. Is there anything else you want to share with the readers?

JC: I would say just that I think Augment is the best way to discover with variety, you can download the app on your OS for free and give it a try, test it and visualize. Readers can do all that and see what it is and how it looks because you can ask people describe AR to you for hours, but you will never know how it really feels before you test it. So yeah, give it a try, test it and give us some feedback.