14 DAY TRIAL // Advanced Mobile Applications, also known as AMA, is one of the top game developers coming from Romania. Its smartphone apps have seen huge success, but that’s not the only thing they’re good at.
It wasn’t long ago that they also created a world-wide first – the first game for Google Glass.
It’s been several months since Google Glass reached developers, but very few outside the United States actually got access to it. AMA is one of companies that have been developing tools for the wearable device and is doing a great job at it.
Florian Gheorghe, the company’s senior Producer, has been nice enough to talk to us about Google Glass and the apps they made for it, as well as the many other tools they created for smartphone users.
Softpedia: What made you want to create a game for Google Glass and how did you come up with the idea?
Florian Gheorghe: Developing software for new technologies (in this case Google Glass) is a key strategy for AMA. We attended Glass Explorer program and we were selected by Google to be in the first developer’’ wave. Since we are game developers and, because only apps are usually developed on Glass, the first thing that we’ve tried to develop was a game. Also, the game was the first AMA tryout to discover the Glass capabilities and functions.
[admark=1]Softpedia: What do you think of the device after months of experimenting with it?
Florian Gheorghe: We cannot comment too much on this subject due to the NDA signed with Google, but I can say that the device is impressive from all perspectives and especially in terms of user interactions.
Softpedia: Many institutions and people in general have expressed an increased concern for their privacy when it comes to Google Glass. What is your opinion on this issue?
Florian Gheorghe: I don’t think that the Glass should be viewed as a privacy breaker. I don’t think people should see it as a privacy threat or, at least, no more than a regular smartphone. The Glass is not designed to be a spy hardware but more to enhance the user interaction with the web.
Softpedia: I know you’re a tech enthusiast; what do you think is a fair price for Google Glass? How much would you be willing to pay when the device becomes available worldwide?
Florian Gheorghe: This is a delicate subject since, as you said, I’m a tech enthusiast. Probably I will pay more than €500 ($683), but I hope that Google will have a selling price lower than that.
Softpedia: Did you find it more difficult to come up with apps for Glass since it is such a new device or did it actually open up a whole new range of tools that have been unavailable up until now?
Florian Gheorghe: Well, the Glass opened a new range of possibilities. Practically, we are only limited by our imagination. Now, we are exploring new opportunities, especially related to Augmented Reality.
Softpedia: Which of the apps you’ve created thus far for Google Glass was the most difficult to create and why?
Florian Gheorghe: The applications were not hard to create. The only difficulties we’ve encountered were due to the novelty of the device and the lack of a development kit. But the Glass is running Android – and we have a vast experience working on Android – so we only needed to adapt, in terms of design and graphics, the user interface.
Softpedia: There have been countless apps created for Glass already, but “Escape,” I believe, is the only game. What other types of tools would you like to see created or to create yourself for Glass in the future?
Florian Gheorghe: “Escape” is the first prototype we’ve created for Glass. In the future, we will concentrate on three directions and contracts (Work for Hire) – full games like “Escape,” while increasing the quality of the games we are creating, augment reality applications, where we will try to create educational apps like “Suboceana” but not only and companions for games, which we hope will enhance the game experience on Smartphones with different options available only for Glass. We’re also willing to propose and develop apps on Glass for companies interested in collaborations with AMA.
Softpedia: How do you think things will change with this device and the apps created for it once Glass becomes available for anyone to buy?
Florian Gheorghe: I believe that the Glass will be adopted on a large scale by smartphone users and will be a key player on the smartphone market. I think the Glass is a big step in the human – machine interface.
Softpedia: AMA has dozens of apps for various platforms. Which one is your personal favorite and why?
Florian Gheorghe: This is a tricky question. The current game we are working on is my favorite, but the game is not launched yet. I’ve worked on all apps developed by AMA so each and every one is one of my favorite.
Softpedia: There are countless developers out there, from all over the world. What do you think helps your apps be more successful than those built by other companies?
Florian Gheorghe: We are developers who focus on quality and want our products to impress through this feature. We also want and we have a very close connection with our users and we try to create applications that meet their desires.