AIMPLAS — A prototype that explains itself

A 3D tablet app that accompanies a real helmet and scooter · Mobile app · Interactive 3D · Industrial R&D

Client

Aimplas — Plastics Technology Centre

Role

Mobile app development and 3D integration

Timeline

Client project

Stack

React Native, Expo.dev, Three.js, Headless CMS, API REST

Aimplas developed, together with Stimulo Design Studio, a physical helmet and scooter prototype that brings together several materials innovations. The problem with a prototype like that is that its advances can’t be seen: they are inside the material. The tablet app is the layer that makes them visible — a companion used in front of the real object, at trade fairs and demonstrations, to unfold what the eye can’t reach.

The problem: The innovation was inside the material, not in plain sight

A next-generation helmet and scooter look, at first glance, like a helmet and a scooter. The innovations are in composition, process and structure. They had to be explained to very different audiences — from a casual visitor to a materials engineer — without turning the app into a technical manual or an empty brochure.

content → tablet pipeline: Headless CMS → REST API → Expo / React Native app → Profile-based navigation → Interactive 3D model → Detail grid → Innovations list

Solution: Three reading formats over the same content

Navigation adapts to the type of user and offers the same content at three depths: interactive 3D elements to explore the object, a grid of detail images for a quick read, and a complete list of innovations for those who want the data. Each profile enters where it suits them and goes down to the level they want.

Product decisions

• my role: UX/UI · Frontend development · API integration with a headless CMS
• context: A project for Aimplas in collaboration with Stimulo Design Studio. The app complements a real physical helmet and scooter prototype.
• users: Trade-fair visitors — a quick, visual tour
  Technical profiles — the full list of innovations
  Sales team — a guided demo on the physical object
• key technical decision: All content lives in an external CMS consumed via API. Updating texts, images or innovations doesn’t require rebuilding or reinstalling the app on the tablets.

Results

• 3 — content formats over the same information
• 0 — reinstalls needed to update content
• 1 — app accompanying the physical prototype in demonstrations

"The app doesn’t replace the prototype — it accompanies it. The object is on the table; the tablet shows what’s inside the material."

What was learned

1. Decoupled content is a requirement, not a convenience. A trade-fair app gets updated the day before the event. With a headless CMS via API, the change is a content change; with hardcoded content, it’s a build-and-deploy cycle on every tablet.
2. 3D is the way in, not the destination. The interactive model attracts and orients, but whoever is after the technical data needs a list. Sustaining both formats on the same content source avoids duplicating the editorial work.
3. Expo reduced distribution friction across a fleet of tablets. Updating the app on several demo devices is a logistical task — not a technical one — and it’s best solved from the choice of stack.