Gunfire

Client–OEM–developer partnership

airsoft

smart electronics

IoT

mobile development

project workshops

application architecture

design

Gunfire is one of the biggest retailers and distributors of airsoft guns (ASGs) in Europe. With over 15 years on the market, thousands of items in stock, and a presence in multiple EU countries, they have won Airsoft Players’ Choice Award for the best retailer for Europe 12 times in a row. Deeply passionate about their business, they’re pushing the envelope on airsoft technology, not only offering but actively creating new trends.

To that end, Gunfire partnered with Gorrion to design and develop a mobile application that allows airsoft gun users to remotely manage their replicas for better experience and, ultimately, more fun!

How does Gunfire innovate?

The Internet of Things (IoT) revolution is everywhere – and that includes airsoft as well! With the advancements in electronics, the industry entered a new era of automatic electronic guns (AEGs) and embraced the opportunity to go digital. Now that the replicas are geared with chips and sensors, why not make the best of it?

Gunfire used the opportunity to effectively turn the AEGs into “wearable” technology. They decided to equip replicas manufactured by Specna Arms with a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) module, similar to what you can find in your smartwatch. By pairing that with a mobile app, players can now remotely configure and calibrate their airsoft guns, change their settings (e.g. select the fire option), and in the future – also monitor telemetric data about the replica’s performance.

Solutions that were available on the market before only allowed players to pair their airsoft guns with mobiles using a compatible external device, such as a USB or Bluetooth dongle. Gunfire’s solution is more comfortable and secure, taking the technology up another notch for an even better game experience.

How did Gorrion help?

To develop the electronic components for the replicas, Gunfire partnered with AIUT, a Polish original equipment manufacturer (OEM). But the project was missing a crucial player – someone who would develop the application that would allow players to remotely control the replicas. Having previously worked with Gorrion on a different project, AIUT recommended us to Gunfire as a trustworthy partner.

Before we could start the actual development, our delivery team run workshops with Gunfire. That's a necessary step for us to establish what the client needs and, more importantly, build trust and solid foundations for future cooperation. As a result, after the workshops we already had a customer journey map, lo-fi wireframes, MoSCoW analysis, outline of the software architecture, and the tech stack we would use for future development.

Having that foundation, we could easily build an entire mobile app that would delight both our client and their users. Starting from architecture, through design, to back- and front-end development, all this was done by Gorrion's delivery team.

We took care of the entire delivery process, from research to development.

Let’s see if we can develop your mobile app as well!

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Project highlights

Coming up with a plan

Gunfire was a perfect client for workshopping ideas, because for them airsoft is not just a business, it’s a lifelong passion. So they had plenty of great ideas for how the app should work and they also had a user base that we could interview to confirm we're creating something that the users will truly love.

During the workshops we helped Gunfire clarify their ideas, but we also had a chance to better understand their needs. On the other hand, we could explain the software-related side of things, the limitations of BLE and threats they faced, and discuss potential workarounds. As a result we’ve come up with a sound plan for going forward with the project.

Localization

Because the application is available globally, in development we had to make sure it would be easy to localize for different markets. And in this case it didn’t only mean your run-off-the-mill translations into different languages.

Depending on the country you’re in, the rules of airsoft are different, which also means the gun settings will be different. For example, in Germany it's illegal for airsoft guns to have a fully automatic shooting mode. This means we had to develop settings that would allow distributors to disable that feature upfront for all the devices in that country. We also had to design the architecture of the app in such a way that it would be easy to later ship it to new markets, that is upload local translations and presets.

Multiple account types

Initially, Gunfire wanted to create not one, but two mobile apps – one for players, and one for distributors. Since replicas in different countries have different presets, the distributors needed a way to enforce these – hence a separate app.

However, when we dug deeper into this idea, it turned out these two apps would work pretty much the same and just have a different user base. So, having understood our client’s need, we agreed on a neater solution: one app with different account types for players and distributors. This saved the users a lot of confusion about which app to choose, saved Gunfire a lot of resources, and us – a lot of development time!

Working with OEM

The project could never have been successful without a close partnership between Gunfire, AIUT, and Gorrion. With embedded devices, such as the replicas’ electronic systems developed by AIUT, it’s crucial for the manufacturer to work closely with the software development team.

Embedded devices are optimized for power and memory consumption, so that they won’t lag or drain the battery despite their tiny size. This requires using technologies such as BLE that are incredibly efficient, yet very restrictive for the developers. We had to overcome these limitations to ensure superior user experience, such as reliable software-over-the-air (SOTA) updates and efficient connectivity.