Launching AR mobile app: GMoney, a currency converter in AR technology
Tags: ar, ios, startup, technology
Published: 2019-01-15 19:45:58

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layout: post
title: "Launching AR mobile app: GMoney, a currency converter in AR technology"
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tags: ar, ios, startup, technology
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Today AR app development is gaining high popularity. More and more AR startups and initiatives are appearing on the market. But to get success and bring income they must add value to the users, that is - solve their problems or facilitate their life. 

<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id1430788405">GMoney</a> is a new iOS application based on Augmented Reality. When focusing the camera on the banknote, the app automatically shows a current exchange rate of the currency you need. Sounds amazing, isn’t it? Just imagine, how it can be useful for travelers and businessmen!



<h3>GMoney features:</h3>

1. calculation of the exchange rate by focusing a camera on the banknote
2. banknote recognition
3. automatic conversion
4. support for many currencies
5. updating courses
6. Siri shortcuts
7. voice dictation
8. can work offline
9. AR banknotes frames



The app was <a href="https://www.producthunt.com/posts/gmoney">launched on Product Hunt</a>: now it has about 250 upvotes! And the number is growing.) On the occasion of GMoney release, here is a short interview with the project owner, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sashakhotiashov/">Sasha Khotiashov</a>.



<b>Sasha, why did you decided to create GMoney?</b> 

The idea came into mind when my friend came to Belarus and had difficulties with the local currency when he had to pay in cash. 

At some point, I thought that I could build an application that would allow users to avoid calculations. How easy it is to hover a smartphone over a banknote and instantly see the result! 



<b>How does the product work?</b>  

The app instantly recognizes currency and speaks the denomination, allowing people experiencing visual impairments or blindness to easily identify and count bills. Point the camera of your smartphone at a bill and the application will tell you the denomination in real-time.



<b>Who developed the app? How much time was spent on it?</b> 

I’m an iOS developer, so there was no need in looking for someone else - I created the app myself. The design was made by my sister. The entire project development took 2 months. Now the goal is to attract users and collect feedback.



<b>AR app development is a hot topic. What technologies did you use?</b>  

I wrote GMoney in Swift and used text to speech. To implement the app in AR, I developed it on <a href="https://developer.apple.com/arkit/">Apple ARKit</a> SDK. I worked with it before and can say that it’s one of the best tools for building AR applications. 

Supporting iOS 11 and 12, it requires a device camera, motion sensors, and hardware to enable product functionality. The framework also supports 2-dimensional image detection, 2D image tracking, and object detection and tracking. 



<b>What currencies does the mobile app support?</b>  

Now GMoney supports 10 currencies: the US Dollar, Australian Dollar, Belarusian Ruble, British Pound, Canadian Dollar, Euro, Japanese Yen, Mexican Peso, New Zealand Dollar, Russian Ruble, and Singapore Dollar.



<b>Where can users find GMoney?</b>  

The app <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id1430788405">lives on the App Store</a> - it’s available for free. You can also find it <a href="https://www.producthunt.com/posts/gmoney">on Product Hunt</a>. By the way, now got almost 250 upvotes. Perhaps, while you’re reading the article, the number is already higher.)

Try the app out and share your thoughts and comments on PH, it would be great! Also, you’re welcome to contact me regarding the product, AR, and the app promotion on Product Hunt!