Taiwan startup Mind & Idea Fly (Mifly) has rolled out an AR editing tool, dubbed MakAR, to help users create their own AR content within 5-10 minutes, which, coupled with a subscription system, targets the emerging enterprise web AR market, according to company founder and CEO Roger Lu.
Lu said that despite the availability of dozens of VR development platforms worldwide, only a few of them are B2C platforms that can simultaneously support AR and VR applications. This has inspired Mifly to develop MakAR that can support AR, VR and even MR content development.
Lu continued that enterprises can now use AR services on Facebook and Snapchat to promote their products, but consequent web traffic will all stay on the platforms of the two service providers.
Accordingly, helping enterprises create traffic on their own webs has become a selling point for Mifly's MakAR. Through the tool and the subscription system, AR function can be embedded into the enterprises' websites or apps, a way to encourage long-term subscriptions, according to Lu.
Lu disclosed that enterprises usually subscribe to app-based AR services for one month or one quarter, but most of them are willing to extend to one-year subscription for web AR service provided by MakAR.
Lu stressed that web AR service will become the top-choice marketing tool for enterprise clients and only through the support of more and more long-term paid subscribers can his company sharpen its competitiveness in the new niche segment.
Mifly saw MakAR platform contribute 50% of its total revenues for 2018, and the contribution ratio also reached 40% in the first half of 2019.
Lu revealed that Google's ARCore and Apple's AEKit have lowered the threshold for AR application development, but developers of AR apps still have to develop Android and iOS versions respectively to serve users. He added that Mifly's mobile AR/VR application software can support both versions for use in PCs and mobile devices and the company will support ARCore and ARKit solutions on MakAR by the end of the year.
Mifly will also tap the education-use AR application segment, allowing teachers to use MakAR to design their own AR-based teaching materials.
