Firebase vs. Hololink

Firebase should be your first choice if your platform is mobile first. Firebase's mobile platform support for client-side applications is second to none, and I cannot think of a comparable cross-platform toolkit. Firebase also integrates well with your server-side solution, meaning that you can plug Firebase into your existing app architecture with minimal effort.

Firebase lags behind on the desktop, however. Although macOS support is rapidly catching up, full Windows support is a glaring omission for most Firebase features. This means that if your platform targets Windows, you will need to implement the client functionality manually using Firebase's web APIs and wrappers, or look for another solution.

Incentivized

On the commercial side, Hololink is perfect for implementing extra information in existing materials. Why make an entire catalog, when you can just have one page with a Hololink on it. It doesn't require an app. Everyone who has a smartphone will be able to see the AR overlay. I have recommended Hololink to many of my colleagues at other institutions, who have made brilliant commercial AR experiences in other systems, but struggle with getting potential new students to download an app, in order to see it. I cannot emphasize enough how great it is to be able to skip the download-an-app part. Hololink also has a great potential for geocaching-like experiences and games. One way this could be achieved would be to make it possible for users to make a username, and then give them points when they use a Hololink in a certain way, or reward them for finding Hololinks in the wild. It would be interesting if the Hololink tracker could look for more images simultaneously, appealing to the more exploratory aspects of people. These are functionalities that I hope might come in the future.

• Extremely robust. Has about any tool you can think of under one roof making it extremely useful as a backup platform for data analytics or small teams that need something quickly.
• Intuitive and easy UI/UX. Being made and owned by Google, you expect nothing less. Very easy to use for anyone that has any marketing or analytical experience especially in Google Analytics (which I just assume all marketers do).
• Safe, secure, and sturdy. Never need to worry about downtimes or misinformation as it's as clean and safe as it is being run by Google.
• FREE! What else is there to say. Unless you're an extremely large application handling hundreds of thousands to millions of users, this pay as you go plan will stay free.

Incentivized

• As opposed to all other AR creation tools that I know, Hololink does not require consumers to download an app, thereby bypassing the primary problem of creating AR experiences, which is getting people to download an app. Let it be known that native apps are going away, the future is web-based because it is easier.
• The Hololink image-tracking, which enables AR elements to be projected upon real-world objects and images is exceptionally good compared to other AR projects that also use image-tracking. In Hololink your buttons, 3D models, and videos do not sail away from the objects that they're supposed to be attached to.
• The people working on Hololink are very focused on UX, and the few times that I have had suggestions, they have been very attentive.

• Firebase/Firestore has very limited support for querying more complicated items; for example, performing a simple string search is not possible.
• While upfront costs are low, costs can grow quickly if you're not careful about what you are being billed for.
• Dashboards have at times shown different information to what is billed, and support from Google is less than stellar and not as effective as that from Amazon or Microsoft.

Incentivized

• Hololink comes pre-packed with a lot of 3D models there are cases where I would like to write text on models directly, instead of using the annotation function which Hololink provides. It would be easier than having to upload my own 3D models, which is also possible.

I don't use the Firebase UI much, but rather connect it to GA4. GA4 has a great event model but the GA4 UI and analysis capabilities are limited. It's harder to measure product usage type of engagement but if you have the time and resources to leverage the GA4 to BiqQuery export you'll have all the raw event data you'll need for deep analysis, segmentation, and audience activation.

Incentivized

Our analytics folks handled the majority of the communication when it came to customer service, but as far as I was aware, the support we got was pretty good. When we had an issue, we were able to reach out and get support in a timely fashion. Firebase was easy to reach and reasonably available to assist when needed.

Incentivized

Before using Firebase, we exclusively used self hosted database services. Using Firebase has allowed us to reduce reliance on single points of failure and systems that are difficult to scale. Additionally, Firebase is much easier to set up and use than any sort of self hosted database. This simplicity has allowed us to try features that we might not have based on the amount of work they required in the past.

Incentivized

A long time ago I use Aurasma. As I recall it was quite heavy because you had to transfer the Aura from your computer to the student's smartphones through signup on the internet and making them connect to your user with an invitational code, and if it didn´t work it was hard to figure out why. Hololink is just a scan away and you don´t have to connect to any user accounts to see other student products.

• Firebase has been able to help us understand reliably, the drop-off in our user flows with their funnel feature. This has made it easy for us to be able to pinpoint weaknesses in our funnel and test and optimize with data as the dependent variable.
• From an economic standpoint, we don't pay for Firebase which is great, but as the saying goes "You get what you pay for" also holds true in this context. As we looked to grow and scale, we looked for a paid solution.
• From a developer resource standpoint, Firebase has been extremely easy to integrate into our app. Whether it be the event tracking, dynamic links or crash reporting we have not had to waste too much developer time thanks to their well-organized developer docs.

Incentivized

• AR is hot right now and thus helps attract people. In the future, the AR-excitement might lessen, but it has clear affordances in terms of communication that will continue to be relevant as long as people have smartphones or google-glasses or the likes.