With the release of ARki 2.0 we made a challenging decision to re-develop the app with the inclusion of a marker-less AR solution, ARkit, versus our previous marker-driven SDK provided by Vuforia. The pro and cons of both solutions were extensive, and we deliberated over this decision tirelessly. However in the end ARkit won, and today I wanted to go over some of our reasons for why we chose to upgrade to ARkit over our beloved Vuforia SDK. 

​The introduction of paper-less AR is a total game changer for ARki visualisations. The ability to bring design propositions to life without the need for printed images, means that ARki is free from the confines of paper printouts, and paper size limitations. Now ARki is able to be explored spatially, on-site, and in any environment that could essentially benefit from an augmented visualisation. The release of ARki 2.0 is the start of our paper-less AR adventures. We are excited to see how this new toolkit allows us to start incorporating AR within the built environment, and at much larger scales than the standard AR experience. 

​When we started theorising about ARki back in in 2010, we imaged a parallel dimension of architecture and environments that ran along our physical reality, and seamlessly merged with our surroundings. In this reality, architects could easily superimpose their designs within their physical sites, visualise digital models on table tops, and experience walking through their designs in real time, without having to create physical prototype or models. Initially the AR technology available didn’t allow us to freely create these experiences without the use of 2d image trackers, such as site plans etc, to augment these digital models within the real-world. Moreover the ability to create large scale architectural propositions in AR was always limited to the use of industrial scale printed markers as trigger images to kickstart the augmentation.