NTU Computing student joins Gooii for third-year placement

We’re excited to introduce Gooii’s newest team member. Luka is a tech enthusiast who brings creativity, passion and a deep love for Virtual Reality (VR) to our innovative projects.

Bridging university learning with real-world experience

Luka joins us as a Junior Developer for their third-year placement as part of their Computing course at Nottingham Trent University. Having completed two years of study, Luka is gaining hands-on experience at Gooii before returning to finish the final year of the degree. 

Choosing to work at Gooii was a no-brainer for our latest recruit, who has always been drawn to Nottingham’s vibrancy. Beyond its charm, Nottingham offered the perfect environment – an independent and close-knit company where creativity thrives. 

“I really like Nottingham and I wanted to work at a smaller and more indie company rather than a large one. Gooii fits that perfectly, and so far it has really worked out.”

A lifelong love for coding and tech

Gooii’s expertise in VR development was another draw. The world of VR has been a long-standing passion for Luka. The opportunity to dive into this innovative field was too good to pass up.

From a young age, Luka was captivated by coding, surrounded by friends who could already speak the language of computers. This interest didn’t stop at coding, it extended to a broader fascination with computers and electronics.

Now at Gooii, those skills are being applied to a groundbreaking project: an Augmented Reality car show. Luka is currently focusing on Gooii’s 3D modelling work. They’re also developing their coding skills along the way, before they hope to start programming.

“I’m 3D modelling, texturing, rigging and making a basic Unity application. We are making an Augmented Reality car show and I am modelling many of the vehicles that will be on display in the application.”

While the university course is providing a solid foundation, much of the 3D modelling work Luka is doing at Gooii is self-taught – a testament to the power of their curiosity and drive to learn independently. In their spare time during university, Luka would model, texture and configure assets for a game called VRChat using Blender, Substance Painter and Unity. They would then sell those creations. These early projects not only brought in some extra cash but also paved the way for mastering tools that are essential in the professional realm.

An unwavering interest in Virtual Reality

If there’s one thing that truly excites Luka, it’s Virtual Reality. This passion isn’t just professional, it’s personal. Whether it’s hanging out with friends in VRChat or experimenting with the latest VR hardware, Luka is always immersed in the world of VR.

“I have been using VR for years now and have always been interested in the technology. I cannot wait to see what new hardware innovations in the VR space can drive new software experiences. I truly think it is an absolute game changer within our field.”

A love for retro tech and gaming

When not working on cutting-edge VR projects, Luka has a real interest in retro electronics and gaming. “I mess around with retro electronics. I love to collect and maintain older hardware because I find them very interesting. It’s important to keep it all working for history.”

In addition to preserving vintage tech, gaming remains a central hobby, especially playing older video games that hold a special place in their heart.

As Gooii continues to innovate in the world of VR, AR and beyond, we are excited to see our newest team member develop. Their passion for technology, creativity, and coding will really contribute to the team. With a bright future ahead, we know Luka will be a driving force behind some of our most exciting projects yet. Welcome aboard!

Using Augmented Reality in education offers innovative solutions for inclusive learning

Finding ways for digital technology and creativity to enhance people’s lives is one of the reasons we do what we do. We understand Augmented Reality’s power to transform learning experiences by making them more interactive and engaging, particularly when it comes to education. 

Gooii Director Phil recently visited Fountaindale School in Mansfield to talk about his work as a co-founder of a digital agency. The National Careers Week initiative enabled the students to learn about the variety of professions and industries that are on offer. 

Putting Augmented Reality in education into practise

Fountaindale School is a school for 3-18-year-olds who have profound and multiple learning needs, as well as complex physical, medical and sensory needs. Phil was invited by Fountaindale teacher Majella Robson to give a presentation on XR technology. 

During the session Phil talked to a group of 6-16-year-olds about the Extended Reality experiences he has created at Gooii. He then gave them Hololens 2 headsets so they could try out our ‘Robin Hood: An Arrow Through Time’ holographic film. 

When the user puts on the AR headset, a holographic interactive film about Robin Hood is projected into the room in front of them. This creates a reimagined, augmented reality – digital content laid over the moving landscape in front of you. This makes you feel like you are part of the movie, enabling you to interact with the film and its characters.

The teachers were blown away by how engrossed the children were with the experience. The children had previously experienced a Virtual Reality magic carpet ride, but had never tried using Augmented Reality. 

Majella at Fountaindale School said: “Phil started the session by delivering a presentation about Gooii and what they do. The pupils had the opportunity to ask questions and the presentation was interactive. Phil was engaging and he was able to link his work to things that the pupils would be familiar with. For example certain films and brands. 

“This created lots of excitement and anticipation for what was to come! Phil took the time to tell each pupil what was going to happen and what to look out for when wearing the AR headset. This time was crucial and our pupils felt at ease and keen to participate as a result. It was wonderful to see our pupils so enthusiastic and immersed in the AR activities. For them to be able to interact with the scene, by holding out their hand for a bird to land on it, really was priceless.”

The benefits of using Extended Reality for children with SEN

AR can make learning a more fun, interactive experience. It has the ability to capture the attention of children with SEN more effectively than traditional methods. Some children with SEN struggle with understanding abstract concepts. AR can provide concrete, visual representations that can often be easier to grasp, particularly when taught step by step.  

VR can often be overwhelming and almost too immersive. In contrast, AR projects digital content into the safe, familiar environment around you.

Creating a totally new, virtual space could be disorienting, particularly for children with SEN. Whereas AR enables them to remain connected to their physical surroundings while engaging with augmented content.

The ability to make AR experiences multisensory can be beneficial for children with SEN, as it could cater to preferred learning styles and needs. Using AR, we can create visual, auditory and sometimes tactile experiences that can help with information retention and engagement. These levels of stimulation can also be managed to avoid sensory overload for certain children. AR can also be an accessible learning tool for children with visual and hearing impairments. This is the headsets can be adapted to suit the user’s physical abilities. 

AR experiences can also encourage social interaction in a classroom setting or therapy session. As multiple children can interact with the same augmented content while still being aware of and communicating with each other. 

Using AR to further improve the education of children with SEN

If we can create XR experiences that are specifically linked to the curriculum, it might enable students to engage with topics in a way that is more suited to their learning style. Imagine interacting with virtual zoos, enchanted forests and ‘visiting’ different countries. Or creating settings to inspire creative writing and storytelling, pointing and counting objects, or bursting balloons to develop counting skills. The world is your oyster when it comes to creating learning experiences with AR. Which makes it an incredibly exciting and rewarding space in which to work.

If you’d like to create an engaging learning experience using cutting-edge technology, please get in touch. 

Document management systems are designed to enhance our clients’ productivity and efficiency

Gooii is working with the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) in America to design a new bespoke document management system (DMS). 

NABP is an international non-profit organisation whose members are the boards of pharmacy. It has a diverse range of programmes that help protect public health across America. One of its offerings is a subscription service that provides access to a database of state pharmacy laws. The resource is intended to help licensees and stakeholders maintain compliance with state requirements.

What makes an effective document management system?

An efficient DMS is essential for organisations aiming to streamline their document handling and improve accessibility. Creating a bespoke system enables our clients to focus on managing documents for their subscribers and allowing them to search within their database. A good DMS needs to have an intuitive user interface, robust search functionality, efficient document indexing and effective integration capabilities. They also need to have regular, built-in data backups and a robust disaster recovery plan.

Why NABP approached Gooii to develop a bespoke DMS

Gooii is well versed in handling large data sets and helping our clients present them in a clear, concise way. We develop streamlined, intuitive User Interfaces (UI) that can be understood by both researchers and laymen. They also enable users to quickly search for specific terms and documents. 

NABP’s existing document management system lacked certain functionalities, which required  manual, time-consuming processes.

Having seen our software development first hand with the Archives Hub system we developed for Jisc, NABP got in touch to discuss the possibilities of Gooii developing a system with similar functionality. They particularly liked the hierarchy viewer on the right hand side of the Archives Hub system, because of how easy it is to use and navigate. It helps users to visualise the hierarchical nature of the data.

Read about our work for Jisc’s Archives Hub

The brief

NABP asked our team of developers to build a bespoke document management system that will enable them to effectively manage and organise the thousands of legal documents in their database and for users to easily find the information they need. 

We are building both the internal and front-end systems for its 90 single and multi-user subscribers. This will allow users to search and download documents, organise them into collections and share them as links. 

NABP also needs to ensure that when an administrator uploads a new document, the contents of the document are indexed and downloadable PDF versions are created. 

How we’re going to create the new document management system

Using a CIIM to index documents

Gooii is working with Knowledge Integration and their Collections Information Integration Middleware (CIIM). 

CIIM is a middleware solution – software that works between an operating system and the applications running on it. The CIIM can extract, collect and synchronise data from back-office systems and present it to users in the super quick Elasticsearch database. We used CIIM and Elasticsearch for Jisc’s Archives Hub and knew it would work perfectly for NABP. This is due to its ability to index documents and publish them to Elasticsearch, as well as its capability to create PDF versions of uploaded documents.  

Working with our clients’ cloud technology 

NABP uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud technology, so we’re developing the project using different AWS elements, such as Amazon Cognito. Amazon Cognito is an identity platform for web and mobile apps. It will help us add user authentication to NABP’s system. Amazon Cognito enables you to authenticate and authorise users from the built-in user directory, your own organisation’s directory or consumer identity providers like Google and Facebook. Developing these access control functions and other essential security features are crucial for document security. 

We’re also using Amazon Lambda. When a new document is uploaded, or an amendment is made to a document, a Lambda function will be triggered and will tell the CIIM, causing it to re-index the new document’s contents. 

Gooii is also working closely with NABP using the following pieces of software:

• Re-frame to help manage UI state and side effects on the client side.
• ClojureScript to transcode Clojurescript into javascript. 
• User interface builder REACT 18 to build reusable UI components,
• We’re using the Tailwind css framework with shadcn/ui library to build the front-end website.
• Amazon’s DynamoDB database to develop user-generated content such as collections of documents.

NABP is currently developing Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that we’ll be able to integrate with the front-end website and back-office system. While this is being worked on, our team of developers are working hard on the admin dashboard and functionality to upload documents to an AWS cloud storage platform. We’re also working on making the search function available to subscribers, as well as an admin user interface that enables files and folders to be manipulated.  

We’re proud to be part of a project that makes data more accessible and we’re excited to create a new bespoke system that will improve the way our client documents its data. 

DMS play a vital role in modernising document-related processes and enhancing the efficiency of a business. They are especially crucial in industries and sectors where document-intensive workflows are prevalent. If you’d like to discuss Gooii creating a DMS for your business, please get in touch. 

Keep up to date with news on the project on our social media – LinkedIn, X, Facebook and Instagram. 

Article by
Franz Evert

Franz is a Technical Director at Gooii and has over 20 years’ experience developing commercial and open source database driven software in many languages. Franz’s other skills include project management and client liaison and he’s passionate about high web standards and internet security.

Follow Franz on LinkedIn

Creating a virtual AR garden to engage with delegates on digital sustainability

An Augmented Reality exhibition that appears before your very eyes

Jisc’s (e)co garden was a collaborative Augmented Reality (AR) learning experience. By putting on AR headsets, visitors were able to cultivate a virtual garden that appears in a real-world exhibition space at Digifest, Jisc’s flagship event for education, research and innovation.

In this article, we’re going to dive into the project and…

• Define AR and VR and explain why they’re different
• Outline key features of the (e)co garden project
• Explain how we used AR holographic films to create the virtual exhibition
• Explore the benefits of using AR for exhibitions
• Why we use AR for education technology
• Think about how to use this technology in your industry

Let’s remind ourselves of the key definitions of AR and VR…

What is Augmented Reality?

Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR) technologies are often referred to as ‘Xtended Reality’ (XR). They unite the physical and virtual worlds.

AR enables us to blur the lines between cinema, live events and gaming experiences. It is a type of ‘immersive media’ that creates a reimagined reality. We enhance the real world with digital content such as data, CGI or moving images. For example, an AR device, such as a smartphone or a headset, enables you to see digital content laid over the reality in front of you. It’s the difference between watching a film or being in one. But it’s unlike VR, which virtually takes you to a different location.

Jisc’s (e)co garden project summary: A collaborative and educational Augmented Reality exhibition

In 2022, Jisc commissioned Gooii to create a virtual exhibition for its Digifest programme at the Birmingham ICC arena. We worked closely to develop an exhibition that featured an AR experience that would contribute to the development of education technology.

Consequently, Gooii created a huge 18x9m virtual exhibition stand entirely in AR. Using AR headsets, part of the experience enabled visitors to walk around and interact in a virtual garden.

Phil Hasted, Director at Gooii, said: “This Augmented Reality exhibition allowed us to create a project that just wouldn’t be possible via traditional means. It was amazing to see people walking around together, interacting with the exhibits and collaborating to create a unique and living virtual garden.”

The client

Jisc is the UK digital, data and technology agency focused on tertiary education, research and innovation. Its mission is to improve lives through the digital transformation of education and research.

Gooii is a chosen supplier for Jisc’s VR and AR supplier framework, which aims to help Higher and Further Education institutions use the technologies to create learning environments for use in the classroom.

Ben Goodway, Head of Brand and Creative at Jisc, said: “Gooii consistently finds a way to bring our ambitious challenges to life and I am pleased we collaborated with them on this project. The result was an immersive, networked AR environment that was so popular at our event we had a queue of people waiting to try it out. Not only was it fun and innovative, Gooii completely understood the purpose behind the project and brought it to life in an engaging way. We ended up donating over £1500 to our rewilding partners because of delegates engaging with and learning from the environment.”

The brief

Jisc asked us to create an e(co) garden exhibition entirely in Augmented Reality with a variety of different virtual areas. Its purpose was twofold; to engage with delegates on how we can use technology in a much more sustainable way, and to showcase how AR can be an engaging and collaborative learning and teaching tool. To greater enhance the feeling of connectedness, all the headsets needed to be linked, so whatever one person was doing in the garden was visible in realtime for everyone else in the garden.

Key deliverables

• An interactive Mixed Reality app
• Gooii consulted on the production and visual style of the holographic films, which Jisc commissioned Suited and Booted Studios to create.

A shared learning experience via a full-scale Augmented Reality exhibition

Cultivate a virtual garden

Visitors could generate seeds and plant them as part of a collaborative activity. The seeds would grow over the course of the event and people could return to see their collaborative efforts, how their seeds had grown and into which plants and trees. In addition, as the garden grew, wildlife such as rabbits, birds and butterflies would return to the garden. This was a magical experience that could only be achieved using our advanced Augmented Reality technologies. For every seed planted by delegates, Jisc donated to Trees for Life to support their rewilding project in Scotland’s Highlands.

Virtually clean up the rivers and waterfalls

We also built an AR waterfall and a polluted rock pool. Visitors would walk around picking up litter, such as plastic and glass bottles, and put the waste into recycling bins. As they cleared the pool’s pollution, the aquatic wildlife would return, with fish swimming around you in AR. The waste would slowly return and the wildlife would disappear. This helped demonstrate the ongoing effort required to protect our oceans and sea life.

Feel the wind of a virtual turbine

The ‘Wind Farm’ area featured a wind turbine. When a button was pressed, the turbine would start spinning, an AR battery would fill up with energy and power surrounding virtual street lamps. Because everyone’s headsets were networked, everyone would see and hear the generator when it started up. Additionally, as visitors were also wearing a Subpac subwoofer bass backpack, they could feel the vibrations of the wind turbine.

Watch futuristic holographic films about sustainability

Each ‘area’ contained a holographic educational film about technology’s impact on the environment. They provided information on ecology, technology and how our habits can impact both. Filmed in a futuristic ‘Blade Runner’ style, each video ended with an interactive quiz in enabling visitors to test what they’d learned. You can watch the (e)co garden’s holographic films created by Suited and Booted Studios on Jisc’s YouTube channel.

How we developed the Jisc (e)co garden using 5G and AR

Front and back end app development for the Augmented Reality exhibition

Renders of the physical area where Gooii placed the AR experience:

The project was developed using a mix of 3D models and video using real-time development platform Unity. Our in-house team designed, developed and built the AR experience at our offices in Nottingham. This work included both the front end app development that you see in the headset, as well as the backend work that stores the locations of the planted seeds so they can be shared across the AR headsets.

A sketch of the layout for the Augmented Reality exhibition space:

Design sheet for the ‘seed’ button:

Using the HoloLens 2 headset to bring the exhibition to life

The HoloLens 2 projects holograms into real world space. This is very different from VR, where everything is in a digital space. The location can then be used to provide Mixed Reality environments. As the headset projects holograms, this is different to how people use the Meta Quest devices or Apple Vision Pro, which require the user to look through a screen or camera.

Headset networking using 5G

The headsets were networked using a 5G set up created by Cradlepoint. Using 5G enabled us to share the delegates’ experiences across the devices. This meant they could see the collaborative horticultural efforts of planting digital seeds in the garden, clearing the rock pool and starting the wind turbine.

We then ‘rebuilt’ the stand for Digifest at the ICC Birmingham. Therefore, when the stand builders were putting up their physical stands, we were there constructing a virtual exhibition space in what was the largest physical stand at the conference.

Benefits of using AR experiences for exhibitions

Augmented Reality exhibitions offer a dynamic way to engage visitors, amplify educational experiences and bring a new level of interactivity and excitement to the world of exhibitions.

Enhanced visitor engagement

AR exhibitions captivate visitors by providing interactive and immersive experiences. They enable you to fully immerse your visitor in your brand. This heightened engagement can lead to a more memorable, long-lasting and impactful visit. This is exactly why Augmented Reality is a brilliant technology to use for the leisure and tourism industries.

Create new digital activities that aren’t limited to physical space

AR can transform a physical space by adding digital layers that blend seamlessly with the environment, creating a surreal and visually stunning experience. AR exhibitions allow us to do things that aren’t normally possible with a physical stand. These include planting, speeding up time, creating water areas, having wildlife and adding a large, loud wind turbine.

Limited cost or complex logistics

Virtual exhibitions can be created without the cost or complex logistics associated with most exhibition stands. Not only would it be almost impossible to create the (e)co garden physically, it would require a huge budget to do so. With AR we make dreams a reality at a fraction of the cost.

Adaptable content that can be reset

For the (e)co garden, we created shared experiences that could easily be reset. Using AR to display the information allowed us to create dynamic and easily updatable content. Exhibitions can be adjusted, expanded or modified without the need for physical changes, keeping the content fresh and relevant.

Sustainability

There is less waste at the end of a virtual exhibition, as the majority of the stand is digitaland, and any physical structures used as part of the garden were hired in and either returned to storage or were to be re-used after the event. There is also no requirement for storage, other than on a server, and the stand can be rebuilt in new locations.

Augmented Reality gamification

AR ‘gamification’ marketing combines games and gaming elements with AR to bring fun to non-gaming contexts. It is designed to attract, engage and retain customers. It increases engagement rates by motivating visitors to achieve a goal or complete a task. Visitors are encouraged to actively participate rather than passively observe. Interactive elements, challenges and quizzes make the experience more engaging and educational.

Storytelling

AR can bring narratives to life through animations, re-enactments and visualisations, making the exhibition more captivating. We can also capture digital actors who are always on time, are never sick and always deliver the perfect performance.

Using AR to transform education technology

Augmented Reality has the potential to revolutionise education technology by enhancing traditional learning methods and creating immersive and interactive learning experiences.

In contrast to conventional learning approaches, the use of VR and AR technology to build training environments brings about better user engagement, immersion, enthusiasm and safety for learners. Pupils have the opportunity to explore the interior of an ancient pyramid or receive training in operating intricate machinery or medical apparatus. The range of potential real-world applications is vast and diverse. Using AR we are able to deliver AI educational experiences and demonstrate the educational establishments of the future.

How we used AR headsets for Jisc’s other educational projects

Magic Leap Augmented Reality headset:

As part of Jisc’s VR and AR supplier framework, in 2020 we also developed content for the ‘Magic Leap Augmented Reality Headset’. It looks like a VR headset, but you can use it to interact with 3D figures projected in front of you. This headset maps your room like The Matrix so that it understands the structure of the room, enabling you to interact with it. This creates a platform for projecting anything you want before your very eyes.

As part of this initiative, we also worked with Jisc on its Education 4.0 project. We developed an AR student dashboard, featuring Nigel the AI chatbot, a fully immersive experience from the perspective of a history and geography undergraduate of the future.

Here’s an example of what the student experience could look like:

We then created the interface for the headset, enabling users to communicate with holograms of their tutors (a bit like wearing Iron Man’s helmet). It also enables students to check their heart rate, watch video messages and check the weather. Utilising the power of AR, our weather app simulated the real-world weather, so if it was raining outside, we made it rain in AR. We also incorporated a wellbeing app, including calming sounds and projections of clouds to help regulate breathing.

How to use AR exhibitions in your industry – bring your brand to life

The events industry is becoming more and more competitive, so exhibitors need to stand out from the crowd. Creative Augmented Reality exhibitions create eye-catching and memorable experiences and are designed for a variety of different industries. Think about how you can build an immersive experience around your customers’ wants, needs or problems.

In-store marketing and advertising AR experiences can enable virtual product or service demonstrations and create a pipeline of new leads of people who have virtually tested it. Manufacturers can transform expensive large-scale exhibitions into interactive and full-scale product demos.

It also enables you to demonstrate your business process, manufacturing line or customer journey. You can step away from the flowcharts and diagrams and create something that your customers can immerse themselves in.

Get in touch if you’d like to discuss how we could develop an Augmented Reality exhibition for your next event. Discover some of Gooii’s Augmented Reality projects.

The Cambridgeshire Open RAN Ecosystem (CORE) project: developing emerging technologies to improve mobile capacity for UK’s 5G Open RAN project

Gooii is proud to be part of the government’s £88 million investment in innovative open 5G connectivity solutions across the UK. 

We have been invited to take part in one of 19 projects that will benefit from the funding, which has come from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). The Cambridgeshire Open RAN Ecosystem (CORE) project will be led by digital connectivity programme Connecting Cambridgeshire, on behalf of Cambridgeshire County Council. 

Gooii will work with a consortium of partners to develop emerging technologies that will improve mobile capacity in busy areas of the UK, or ‘High Demand Density’ locations.

What are High Demand Density (HDD) locations?

Areas of high-density data usage are often referred to as High Demand Density (HDD) locations. 

Busy areas where many people use their devices at the same time present challenges for mobile networks. The funding hopes to develop new innovative solutions that will contribute to the connectivity of HDD locations and the overall connectivity of the UK. 

Sporting venues and tourism organisations within the 19 areas will be used as a testbed for new mobile technology. The project aims to develop 5G Open Radio Access Networks (RAN) across these HDD areas. 

Let’s have a quick look at what these terms mean and how we’ll be using them to develop the technology.

What is a RAN?

A Radio Access Network (RAN) provides access to and coordinates the management of resources across the radio sites. It is the RAN that sends signals to a device when it connects to a network.  

Traditional RAN solutions tend to work with one supplier across one location, which can often cause a barrier for smaller emerging companies to break into the mobile network market.

What is Open RAN technology? 

Open RAN is to do with the ‘openness’ of mobile networks. It diversifies the market of mobile connectivity providers by increasing the amount of different suppliers that can enter into the RAN ecosystem. 

Enabling lots of different companies to work together makes the network a lot more flexible. It also encourages innovation and can lead to the adoption of new technologies more rapidly than traditional, closed networks. Here is a helpful Open RAN guide for more information. 

Using Open RAN to improve connectivity in busy locations

The overall project aims to show how Open RAN can help build mobile networks to deliver reliable connectivity in very busy locations.

It will also encourage lots of different companies to work together to achieve the same goal across the UK. The 19 different projects will showcase the resilience of Open RAN technologies by initiating trials of open 5G networks in major urban centres. These will include Glasgow, Cambridge, Liverpool, Bath, and the City of London, as well as seaside resorts Blackpool and Worthing. 

Iconic sports and entertainment venues such as Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, the National eSport Arena, Shelsley Walsh motorsport venue and Cambridge Corn Exchange will also take part.

Cambridgeshire Open RAN Ecosystem (CORE) project

Gooii is proud to be working alongside a range of partners on the CORE project including:

• Connecting Cambridgeshire
• Department for Science, Innovation & Technology
• Gooii
• AWTG
• Benetel
• Ontix
• Wolfram
• University of Surrey
• University of Cambridge

The above project team has been tasked with developing a 5G Open RAN platform in Cambridgeshire. Together we will work alongside mobile network operators and develop hardware and software that will seamlessly interconnect.

The new hardware and software will test the capabilities of the new Open RAN network and encourage new companies into the UK market. Some partners will introduce radio units. Others, like ourselves, will develop community-oriented products. These will aim to support the local tourism industry and test how well the network can handle different amounts of data. 

Gooii will develop Extended Reality technologies at Cambridge’s Corn Exchange

Image credit: Cambridge Corn Exchange

Gooii’s role will be to explore the capabilities of Open RAN at Cambridge’s Corn Exchange, a theatre and concert venue that hosts bands and comedians. 

We’ll be delivering Extended Reality (XR) prototypes to test this 5G Open RAN network and explore how it can benefit the entertainment and tourism industry. 

Currently in the Research and Development stage of the project, we’re researching new XR technologies. These will focus on Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality experiences.

What’s particularly exciting about this is that we’ve been afforded the freedom to experiment with these new technologies. We’re enjoying creating and testing prototypes and pushing our creative ideas even further. 

We’re proud to be part of a project that strives to diversify the supply chain of the UK’s Open RAN network and are excited to see how the scheme develops. 

Keep up to date with news on the project on our social media – LinkedIn, X, Facebook and Instagram. 

Committed to sustainable design

Gooii’s Environmental Management System (EMS) has been certified by Green Small Business. 

As technology drives global progress, its impact on the environment must be minimised. It is essential for technology businesses to consider the carbon emissions of network infrastructures and the overall energy consumption of the whole internet ecosystem. 

Companies that are paving the way for innovation within the tech industry must consider how they can reduce their environmental impact and ensure energy-efficient design and ethical supply chains. 

How Gooii will reduce its environmental impact

We are committed to building energy-efficient digital solutions in order to minimise their emissions. We are committed to reducing the impact of our projects and are always considering the environment when purchasing equipment. 

Amongst many other commitments, we will:

• Review the environmental performance of the providers we use for web hosting and other cloud services.
• Ensure we only use providers using 100% renewable-powered data centres with a clear commitment to carbon net zero.
• Adopt and implement a data retention policy to avoid unnecessary data storage. 

We’re continually improving our environmental performance as an integral part of our organisational strategy and operating methods, with regular review points. We’re looking forward to finding new ways to make Gooii a better, greener business. 

Madrí Art Experience: An in-store activity to promote Madrí Excepcional beer to British shoppers

In May, commerce marketers The Mars Agency asked Gooii to develop a cross-platform art experience to promote Madrí Excepcional Spanish lager, which is made in collaboration with Molson Coors. The solution needed to enable supermarket shoppers to create digital artwork using a touch-screen PC or tablet.

The cross-platform experience that we designed enables shoppers in Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Tesco stores across the UK to create digital artwork. They’re able to use a palette inspired by the colours, patterns and shapes of Madrí’s iconic branding.

Hoping to immerse the shopper in the vibrancy, warmth and spirit of Madrid, customers can create unique street art scenes. Consequently, they should be able to imagine themselves walking the streets of Madrid with a bottle of Madrí. The art experience brings the cultural energy of Madrid to supermarket aisles and inspires shoppers to buy the Madrí beer on the nearby shelves.

It creates a memorable, immersive shopping experience for Madrí’s customers and aims to increase footfall around their in-store displays. 

The new initiative comes after Madrí Excepcional’s recent marketing campaign. It celebrated “El alma de Madrid” or “The Soul of Madrid”, and saw street art installations in Manchester, London and Birmingham. 

Madrí Excepcional marketing: how the in-store digital solution works

The Mars Agency asked us to create a fast and easy-to-use experience that would work on a touch-screen PC or iPad without any special plugins or browsers. 

Using an interface that works with both touch and mouse controls, shoppers can drag and drop different graphics onto a digital canvas to create their very own street art scenes. The artwork can then be saved and shared to social media.

To accommodate the Madrí Art Experience running on touch-screen PCs and iPads, we used a cross-platform coding language that allowed us to target both mobile and desktop devices. 

Screen shots of the Madrí Excepcional’s marketing experience:

Key project deliverables 

• Touch-screen PC and iPad deployment that works without any special plugins or browsers
• A drag-and-drop touch-screen and mouse interface coded to work across different platforms
• Flexible image sharing to social media and via email

How could this drag-and-drop cross-platform marketing experience be used in other industries?

Gooii’s technologies could be used for other drinks brands wanting to create digital experiences that enable customers to create their own art pieces using public computers or tablets. Clothing and fashion retailers as well as food companies could also adopt it. Anything where users are able to create works of digital art. It could also be used in art galleries for exhibitions and installations, as well as games and children’s activities.

If you’re interested in using Gooii’s technologies to develop your consumer marketing experience, please get in touch. 

Article by
Phil Hasted

Phil is Director at Gooii and has worked in the design and media industries for more than 20 years. Gooii is an app and web development agency specialising in mobile ticketing, Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality as well as apps and websites for commercial, education and heritage.

Follow Phil on LinkedIn

App development: a wireless app-controlled smoke detector system for warehouses 

Project summary

The Fire Beam BLUE app enables engineers to control conventional beam detectors using an app on an iPhone, iPad or Android phone or tablet. The Fire Beam is an optical beam smoke detector that’s often used in warehouses or buildings with high ceilings. Once installed, the location of the beam detectors makes them very difficult to reach. The new Fire Beam BLUE app eliminates this restriction by connecting with a smoke detector via Bluetooth, which enables engineers to set up and configure the device (similar to how we connect to NEST and Hive thermostats using ‘smart home apps’). 

The smoke detector sends an infrared beam to a prism at the opposite end of a room. If the beam is broken by smoke, it triggers a fire alarm, which can be managed via the app.

Fire Beam BLUE is the only smoke detector of its kind to have an app controller. Previously, commissioning engineers would need to use a cherry picker to set up and make any adjustments via a hard-wired unit. With Fire Beam BLUE this can be done entirely using the app, which was designed and developed in-house at Gooii. 

The client

The Fire Beam Company makes optical smoke detectors for engineers to install, configure and operate in large commercial buildings such as warehouses. 

The app development brief

The client asked us to create an app to replace the existing wired method of connecting to the smoke detector. They wanted to be able to set up and commission the Fire Beam unit entirely via an app, which would modernise the installation and operation of the system. Engineers also needed to be able to control, customise and manage the detectors via the app.

It was essential for us to retain the wired controller’s incredibly complex functions. The engineers were very familiar with the old system, so we had to ensure that moving to an app wouldn’t be too much of a big departure. This meant that the app’s user experience (UX) was key as we had to innovate and provide familiarity. 

Key Gooii deliverables:

• An app that connects to new Bluetooth hardware and firmware built by Touché Technology.
• A user-friendly interface that graphically represents the status of the Fire Beam device. 

Project status

The Fire Beam BLUE app has been launched and is in use. We’re developing new updates, including the ability to passcode the Fire Beam unit from within the app to provide additional security.

Project partners and consultants

We worked for consultants Converge PD Ltd, which managed the process and specified the requirements for Fire Beam.

Jon Ben, Director at ConvergePD Ltd, said: “ConvergePD Ltd provides a complete product development service to its clients in life-safety and industrial product markets. To be able to succeed, we partner with high quality and reliable specialist suppliers in the fields of electronics and software development. 

“We have been working closely with Gooii over the last 2-3 years on one such project and relied upon their deep experience and knowledge in app development to produce an app for multiple platforms that has complex functionality, engaging design and high reliability. 

“For future app development and associated support, we would not hesitate to approach Gooii.”

We also worked with Touché Technology who developed the bluetooth hardware. Additionally, Touché helped us learn and understand the new firmware they developed for Fire Beam BLUE.

Our app development procees for the Fire Beam BLUE using Bluetooth technology

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the network of connected devices and the technology that enables them to communicate. We connect our apps to physical devices via Bluetooth, NFC or WiFi.

We used Bluetooth technology to wirelessly connect the app to the Fire Beam BLUE device. 

In order to communicate with the device, we had to learn the new Bluetooth protocols. This included reading the device and displaying its values in the app, sending data back to the device, adjusting its settings and managing its smoke alarms.

Benefits of Fire Beam BLUE and app-controlled smoke detectors

No need for WiFi or mobile networks 

One of the key benefits is the use of Bluetooth to connect directly to the units. This means engineers don’t have to worry about using wifi or mobile networks, which can be particularly tricky in retail and warehouse environments. Commissioning is now faster and easier than ever before as it can be done on the ground and not using a wired unit.

User-friendly app interface

The Fire Beam BLUE app has a more user-friendly interface compared to the wired unit. It had a small black and white LCD screen that could only display alphanumeric characters and had a limited number of buttons. This has been replaced by a full colour and intuitive graphical user interface.

No special hardware required

Without an app, any changes that are needed after installation require an engineer to use a cherry picker to get to the units. This used to be a very complex and time-consuming process. Now the device can be commissioned at any time and directly from the ground.

One app to control all detectors

Previously, engineers had a different controller for every smoke detector. The Fire Beam BLUE enables them to control and commission every single detector from one app. This is achieved by the Fire Beam BLUE app searching for all compatible devices in the location.

Save on installation time

Large warehouses have multiple smoke detectors and controllers. With the Fire Beam BLUE app, engineers no longer need to spend time accessing hard to reach controllers. We’re also able to update the app to provide new features and improvements without the need to update the hardware. Additionally, when new hardware is released we can ensure all Fire Beam BLUE devices within the range are supported by the one app.

How to use app-controlled electronic devices in your industry

Using this Bluetooth technology, Gooii is able to develop apps for any electronic device that is controlled manually, via remote control or a built-in control. Gooii can build bespoke solutions that allow companies and end users to manage and control their devices remotely using an iOS or Android app. 

These can be developed for a variety of industries. The technology can be adapted to control thermostats, boilers and heating equipment, kitchen appliances, security devices and audio equipment. The possibilities are endless. We’re proud to be at the forefront of developing the Internet of Things devices and are constantly working hard to develop new technologies that enable business to operate more efficiently. 

If you’d like to discuss an app-controlled device for your business, please get in touch. Head to our app webpage to discover more of our app development projects. 

An in-store Augmented Reality retail experience to promote Coors beer in British supermarkets

When commerce marketers The Mars Agency asked us to design the solution for the multinational drinks brand Molson Coors, we were excited to develop our creative ideas for an Extended Reality (XR) experience. 

Immersive, interactive customer experiences using Augmented Reality

The cross-platform experience we designed enables shoppers to virtually try on ski clothes. It is situated in 25 Sainsbury’s and over 50 Tesco stores across the UK. 

Customers can photos of themselves wearing ski jackets, hats and goggles. They can then imagine themselves hitting the ski slopes with a ‘mountain cold’ Coors beer in hand. 

‘Coors AR’ was designed to create a memorable, immersive shopping experience for Coors’ customers. It also needed to increase footfall around their in-store displays. 

Supermarket AR experiences using touch-screen PCs and iPads

The Mars Agency asked us to create a fast and easy-to-use experience that would work on a touch-screen PC and an iPad without any special plugins or browsers. Shoppers also needed to be able to share the images to their social media pages, increasing the reach of the concept. 

The pathway through the app: The photo booth, the countdown after the camera button is pressed and the image ready for sharing.

How we developed a retail solution using WebXR

In order to run the experience on both Windows PC and Apple iPad, we used Web-Based Extended Reality (‘WebAR’ or ‘WebXR’) technologies. This allows shoppers to interact with the AR experience using a mobile or web browser, without the need for an app or any special equipment. 

Gooii developed ‘Coors AR’ entirely in-house using WebXR technology. Unlike other AR and VR experiences, the customer doesn’t need to download an app or wear a headset. A camera scans their face and brings it into a web browser. They then ‘try on’ hats, jackets, glasses and ski goggles in full AR. All apparel was 3D modelled in house and features Coors’ branding.

Using device-sharing technology, the photos can be sent to any eligible app installed on your device. This can include Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and can also be shared via email.

Different outfits as they’d be seen on screen:

Key project deliverables 

• Touch-screen PC and iPad deployment that works without any special plugins or browsers
• An Augmented Reality app that scans faces and overlays them with images of clothing
• 3D modelling of ski apparel
• Flexible image sharing to social media and via email

How could WebXR technology be used in other industries?

Any retailer or person with a phone, tablet or computer can use WebXR solutions, which makes it a very accessible marketing tool. It enables retailers to create better in-store experiences by matching rising consumer expectations and making physical shopping more digital. It drives footfall and creates engaging, personalised experiences. These can then create new reasons for consumers to shop in-store rather than online. 

This WebXR technology could be used by any brands selling items that can be tried on or viewed ahead of purchase (or just for fun). This could be other drinks brands, clothing and fashion retailers, make-up companies – the list is endless. 

Almost any experiences that use app-based AR, VR or Mixed Reality can use a web browser or phone instead. Shopping and entertainment experiences that use traditional AR and VR with headsets and apps can benefit from this technology. This could also include those that are used in the culture and heritage sector, even theme parks. WebAR and XR can be used as an accompanying piece to an attraction, or as the main app and attraction itself.

If you’re interested in using WebXR, AR, VR and Mixed Reality to develop your retail experience, please get in touch. 

Article by
Phil Hasted

Phil is a Director at Gooii and has worked in the design and media industries for more than 20 years. Gooii is an app and web development agency specialising in mobile ticketing, Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality as well as apps and websites for commercial, education and heritage.

Learn how Gooii works collaboratively with its clients to deliver successful websites that help organisations meet their business objectives

A well-functioning and beautiful website can be one of your business’s most powerful marketing tools. Not only are websites an insight into how your business operates, they enable you to reach thousands of potential customers.

Bespoke websites are sites that have been designed and built from scratch by a website developer for a specific business or purpose. Many businesses may be tempted to create websites using pre-designed templates with generic layouts, but crafting a bespoke website to suit your clients’ exact needs can be much more beneficial for your business.

In this blog post, we speak to one of Gooii’s website developers and directors, Nicky Johnson, who has developed outstanding websites for our clients including the RAF, Manx National Heritage Library & Archives and the The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales.

She will outline the step-by-step website design process and explain how our team of expert developers builds bespoke sites for our clients. She’ll show you how we work together to create a functional and beautiful website that meets the needs of your target audience and increases your business sales or enquiries.

10 steps to our website design process

1. The client meeting

Understanding your vision and business objectives

The initial client meeting is one of the most important stages of a website design project. Building a website is a collaborative process and requires the developer and client to work closely together.

During the first meeting, it’s important to go back to basics so that we can really understand what your website needs to deliver. We’ll ask lots of questions and listen to your requirements. It will help us to set your expectations of the kind of website that will be delivered at the end of the project.

Some of the questions we might ask are:

“What is the site’s functionality?”

What do you want the website to do? How does it need to be structured? Does it need to have an e-commerce function? Are there any other platforms it needs to integrate with?

The website we designed for the Royal Armouries

A good example of a website that has many different functions is one we developed for The Royal Armouries. They required a website that was fit for their great history but was also focused on modern web users and devices. Utilising a mobile-first approach, Gooii designed and coded the site entirely in-house. Features included a full content management system, events planner and ticket purchasing system, blog, advanced search filtering and seamless integration with ‘Collections Online’, which we also developed.

“How do you want your website to look and feel?”

This will inform the ‘design brief’. If you have examples of other sites you like the look of, we can use those as inspiration. At this stage we’d also require your brand guidelines to ensure the design fits in with any design rules, colours and fonts.

“Who is the target audience?”

How will your target audience be accessing the site? Will it predominantly be on a phone, desktop or tablet?

“What is the budget?”

This is an important question that will help us ascertain the kind of solution that we’ll use to create your website and whether we can break the project into phases to meet any budget restrictions.

2. Design Brief

Your website should be an online representation of your business and it’s essential that it fits with your existing branding. We’ll look at your colour palette, typography, imagery, and overall style. If you’re happy with your branding, we’ll have this in mind at every stage of the design process. If you’d like it updating, we have plenty of experience in developing branding for our clients. For the charity Volunteer Global Health, we designed a new logo alongside a new website.

The website we designed for Volunteer Global Health

3. Research

It’s important for us to understand where your business sits within your industry and we’ll look at other businesses’ websites to ascertain what works and what doesn’t. We’ll undertake extensive research, which will include competitor analysis, industry trends and user expectations when it comes to navigation, content, design and functionality.

4. Project Specification

We’ll work out an agreed project specification that is designed to meet your design brief and budget. We’ll decide if you require a bespoke site or a customised WordPress site (again dependent on budget and functionality) and explore different templates and whether they need to be customised.

An example of a website wireframe

Before delving into the visual design, for larger, bespoke projects we often provide the client with wireframes, which are illustrations that outline how the content will be arranged. This enables the client to get a feel for how the website will function, as well as the ‘user journey’, which is to do with how their target audience will navigate their website. These steps ensure that the website’s functionality and user experience are well thought-out before investing time in detailed design work.

These concepts are then signed off before we progress to the design phase.

How we communicate with our clients during the website design process

An example of how we use Basecamp for our clients

Project management and all project communication is conducted through Basecamp. Various project phases will have been agreed in the specification and will coincide with payment milestones.

5. Visual design stage

This is when we start transforming concepts into a real design. We’ll carefully craft a bespoke website that aligns with your existing branding. But it’s crucial that we design a beautiful interface that is also going to function properly.

We’ll present a variety of different homepage designs (the number of designs is dependent on budget). These designs will be amended based on your feedback and our advice, until a desired solution is reached. We’ll also work on internal page templates. These will then be signed off by the client as we progress.

Whilst we’re working with you to develop the design, we’ll set up a ‘staging site’, which will look identical to the live website and will enable us to test changes and fix bugs during the build process.

6. Front-end development and bespoke coding

Our expert coders will begin constructing templates and bespoke functionality in WordPress. This involves writing HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code to transform the design into a functional website.

They will develop bespoke coding that ensures your website is responsive and accessible on a variety of devices. We’ll also look at cross-browser compatibility, which means your website will be compatible for a variety of different internet browsers including Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Safari.

The website we designed for Patrick Goff

The website we designed for award-winning artist Patrick Goff had to adapt to mobiles, tablets and desktop so that his stunning artwork could be displayed across a range of devices.

Integrating databases into your website

If your organisation has a database or collection that needs integrating, we’ll request a sample that will enable us to seamlessly include it in the website. If we are developing a new database, work will begin on that during the front-end development.

7. Populating the website with content

It will be up to you to supply or generate content for your website. We’ll slot this into the design so that you can see your website come to life with your business information and tone of voice. If you’re still working on it, we’ll use latin text as a place holder.

8. Test, test and test again

Stringent testing takes place throughout the life of the project. Rigorous website testing and quality assurance to fix any bugs or usability concerns are integral steps before we ‘go live’ with your site. Clients sometimes carry out their own focus group testing as well.

Before we launch the site, we often go through an extensive live beta phase, which enables genuine real-world testing. We invite users to give feedback so that we can improve it.

9. Website launch day

Once all content is in place and the client is happy, the site is launched.

10. Training

We provide training for you to manage your website when we’ve finished the design.

WordPress and our bespoke websites are fantastic solutions for business owners who wish to be self-sufficient. Full training is provided to enable you to update your website with confidence. The WordPress platform has lots of fantastic standard plugins that can be used to give users advanced features at a low cost – we also install Yoast for search engine optimisation.

If your organisation requires us to update your site on a regular basis, we are happy to provide a bespoke quotation based on your individual requirements.

Our team of web developers and designers work collaboratively with clients to produce great-performing and eye-catching websites. The simple 10-step website design process enables us to immerse ourselves in your brand, taking time to get to know your business at the beginning, as well as supporting you in the long-term.

Get in touch with our team to enquire about a new website for your organisation.