AR Omnium prototype for KIA – a new dimension of interaction

Business context

For years, KIA has built its competitive edge through the rapid implementation of innovation in design, manufacturing and sales. In 2015, the brand turned to augmented reality as a tool that could strengthen the customer experience and differentiate its offering in the automotive sector.

The business objective was to validate the potential of AR in pre-sales and marketing – from presenting models and technologies to engaging supporting content. The project was intended to serve as a proof of concept, making it easier to decide on a broader rollout.

The pilot assumed distribution among selected employees in Germany in order to quickly gather qualitative feedback. It was crucial to deliver a solution that operated reliably on the target platforms and was easy to demonstrate in event and showroom settings.

Challenge

The challenge was to create an AR application prototype that would naturally increase user engagement. The application needed to recognise the camera image and, based on it, place virtual elements in space – video, text messages, 3D objects and photo galleries – while ensuring smooth performance and high-quality rendering.

It was necessary to provide a consistent experience across multiple platforms, a simple and intuitive interface, and reliable marker and surface tracking. It was also important to prepare the solution in an extensible way so that new content types and usage scenarios could be added easily in the future.

Solution

We used Metaio AR technology and Metaio AR SDK as the foundation for building the AR Omnium application for Windows and iOS/macOS platforms. Based on the ready-made SDK, we added features that had not previously been implemented in this ecosystem, expanding image recognition and content presentation capabilities.

We implemented the full pipeline: image detection, precise tracking, video overlay, 3D object rendering, display of messages and galleries. We placed strong emphasis on performance – optimising resources, asset size and format, and responsive navigation gestures to ensure smooth demonstrations in real-world conditions.

We carried out the work iteratively, regularly testing intermediate versions with KIA teams. The prototype was made available to approximately 100 employees in Germany, which enabled us to quickly gather positive feedback and identify directions for the application's further development with a view to broader deployment.