Contracted Research & Development
User Experience
Any successful app must have a user-friendly interface. UI/UX design is an inevitable part of any of our projects. We can provide user experience testing and design also as a separate service.
Mobile Applications & LBS
We design and develop mobile applications. We can deal with location-based services, conversational interfaces, web backend & frontend development and other related tasks.
Computer Vision & Augmented Reality
Our researchers are skilled in image processing, machine learning and other technologies that create a basis for advanced applications such as augmented reality solutions.
User Experience Design
Information System QI
Information system QI is developed by QI Group, company located in Czechia. The QI is an ERP solution that has been used in multiple European countries. The QI information system covers many enterprise requirements from accounting and HR management to process management and production control. Spatial Hub collaborates with QI Group on the design of the information system from 2015. The collaboration started as user experience testing focused on the identification of key issues in the current generation of the information system and followed by the design of a completely new generation of the QI which will be available in the following years.
Further information about the QI you can find on the company web pages.
User Experience Design, Mobile Applications
Gisella:Mobile GIS
Gisella is a unique application developed with Envipartner company. The aim was to create a user-friendly mobile GIS that allows fast and easy inventory of virtually anything from nests and birds to public property such as benches or lights. It can be interconnected with Wegas, a web GIS mostly for municipalities. Gisella supports common files like KML and ESRI Shapefile as well as storing measured data into Google Drive. It has both free and commercial licence. Moreover, the application is completely free for educational purposes! Just contact the Envipartner company.
Our team designed the whole application and developed the Android version of the application.
User Experience Design, Mobile Applications, Chatbots
Smart Migration: Mobile Assistant for Migrants
This application is a result of a project with the Technological Agency of the Czech Republic, Ministry of Social Affairs and other partners. One of the key outcomes is to provide effective support to immigrants in the Czech Republic who find themselves in difficult personal situations through the development and testing of new mobile and web applications “Smart Migration” with personalized support for immigrants from the former Soviet Union and other countries who are dealing with serious problems during their stay in the Czech Republic. User-friendly applications should help them in complex life situations (e.g. job loss, illness, work injury), but also facilitate their integration in the Czech Republic.
The application consists of a chatbot that is able to help with key issues, tutorials that lead the user through key problems, task module and contacts module. The key value of this system is that we developed a web administration that is able to maintain the content of the mobile application and the chatbot at once. Without the necessity to train the chatbot in a separate administration or part of an administration. This substantially simplifies the maintenance of the data.
See project web pages for further information.
User Experience Design, Mobile Applications, Web Applications
My MENDELU: LBS for Students and Employees
My MENDELU is a mobile application for iOS and Android that will (or at least should) simplify your life at the university. It was designed from the scratch not by some information system developers, but by the students and teachers for the students and employees of the university. The functions are based on many interviews and user experince research. It comprises timetable of the student or teacher with notifications, indoor map with search (No more asking questions like where is Q01.23!), frequently asked questions, tasks, canteen menu with filtering based on allergens, emergency messaging system for situations like pandemic and other functions. Behind this project is also substantial enterprise-grade backed that delivers the data and web administration. Other parts of the system are e.g. smart information panels and environmental sensors. The application has already thousands of active users.
Mobile Applications
Brno-North Guide (Průvodce Severem)
Even just a city district can easily start with “smart city” solutions. The Brno-North is proof of it.
We designed and developed a mobile application for iOS and Android for the citizens of the Brno-North city district. The goal of the app is quite simple. To provide information about different properties (playgrounds, stadiums, etc.) and organizations that are available for the citizens. The users have advanced search and filtration options. They can e.g. search just for the playground that is wheelchair accessible and provides shade on sunny days. The citizens finally have some simple list of all different points of interest. They finally realized that many organizations are providing services for them.
However, another important aspect of this project was a thorough inventory of the city property. Even the city district had all the information in many different databases and some of the information was out of date. The inventory (made by the students of the course Geographical Information Systems) harmonized information into a single database. This substantially simplifies the maintenance of the city property.
Augmented Reality, Industry 4.0
AR Controlled Just-in-time Production
For the Media Efekt company, we developed an augmented reality service that can provide information about the state of the production machines in the production hall. The application is able to identify the machine on the basis of 3D printed code that is placed within the visible area of the machine. The key advantage of the AR solution is that the information is available even to devices without the screens or even in case the screen is off (e.g. under maintenance or in an error state).
The solution is based on augmented reality glasses that are connected to a cloud service providing information about the machines. The interface of the glasses must be readable even in complex lighting conditions of the production hall and certainly, it must not interfere with the worker’s vision. Therefore we have chosen HoloLens 2 as a major deployment platform. Nevertheless, the whole solution is based on web technologies that can be easily used with virtually any AR glasses that support common web standards. The project was supported by the European Union.
Augmented Reality, Industry 4.0
Digital Twin Development
The Czech furniture manufacturer NADOP – VÝROBA NÁBYTKU a.s. has been operating on the furniture market since 1990. The main activity of the company consists of the production, delivery, installation and comprehensive service in the field of kitchens, home furniture, office furniture and custom-made furniture in the country and abroad.
A significant competitive advantage of the company is the possibility of a complex solution of furniture unit from one source and in the same style. A large part of the furniture is delivered including assembly, installation and wiring directly at the customer’s premises. NADOP also produces atypical elements or special custom furniture and accessories and has quite extensive production facilities, which consist of separate buildings located in several production areas.
The aim of the project is the transfer of essential information from the creation of a digital twin of the selected production nodes to the specific environment of the manufacturing company and the design of the adaptation of the software tools to the actual conditions, including the implications in the field of personnel management. The main activity of the project will be the improvement of production processes through their digitalization by means of automated data collection. This will eliminate the human factor in the current method of data entry into the company’s control system, reduce errors and shorten production times. A secondary effect will be the possibility of improving business processes, including product certification processes, by having a workflow in digital form that will enable the contemplated adoption of a DMS document management system as the basis for future ISO 9001 certification.
How to start collaboration with the university
Maybe you are not sure about the collaboration with the university. It will take time and effort… Maybe you even tried it, had some lectures and it was without any meaningful results. Here are some tips on what can be done (or improved).
Lectures and Semminars
If you want to promote your company, you can start with a lecture. You must find a suitable course and convince the lecturer that you are capable to deliver some interesting topics. Certainly, you mention your company or research, however, remember that you do not have a headhunting speech! The lecture must be about the promised topic. Such a lecture can advertise other forms of cooperation (thesis, praxis, joint project…).
Final thesis and/or praxis
Another way to promote your company is to offer a praxis for the bachelor or master level students. Paxis is free for your company and it is a good way how to test your future employees. You can offer praxis on your invited lecture and for the good students, you can later offer a thesis topic.
But beware, the students choose their thesis twice a year. The period for the solution is between 6 to 12 months. Therefore, you should not propose a topic you need to solve fast. The thesis is useful for R&D topics you want to explore in the future. Frankly, we hate when the company loses interest in a student because it takes too much time.
Joint research and development
Do you need some larger support from the university or do you need some special equipment/labs? That’s the moment when you should think about some joint projects.
It’s really simple. We have a draft of the agreement that can be extended to your needs. Then we are just another company that makes some work for you. Even more, the R&D spendings are deductible from the taxes.
With the long term partners, we even have joined Ph.D. thesis topics.
Deadly Sins of Collaboration
Sometimes it’s doomed from the start…
Do it for us
We have great experience working with different companies within their development teams. Side-by-side (although mostly virtually), aiming at the same goal. On the other hand, we have very bad experiences with an attitude like "we are paying you, just do it and don't bother us". That's not our cup of tea.
We do not have time
Many times companies come when their team is out of time (or even money). They need it right now, tomorrow is OK, yesterday would be great. Usually, we are not able to start a project immediately. Larger projects are usually planned at least one year in advance. Although some initial steps can certainly start quite quickly.