About 2 years ago, we launched Vagon Computer to solve the accessing high-performance computers problem for designers, engineers, and all other creatives. Since then, we have come a long way and reached almost 100K users worldwide. We developed leading features on the way non-stop, thanks to what we have learned from our users.
Vagon is now a popular cloud desktop and streaming service today for both individual users and teams. The journey wasn’t easy, but it was definitely worth it.
Today I want to tell you about our true enlightenment story. :)
When we first started working for Vagon, we saw the main problem as “People need more powerful computers to use their graphics apps” and then we solved it. But as we continued our journey, another question has started to become obvious:
“What if desktop or graphics applications don’t ask for too much resource on the local device? What if they could run well on any device?”
It may sound crazy at first, but it will make sense trust me.
It turned out that the actual problem is not what your computer can do, rather the ridiculously high, performance requirements of the applications. Imagine Unreal Engine or Unity go through a miraculous transformation and now they occupy only a few hundred MBs of RAM in total and don’t use GPU at all. Wait, what?… That would make them work on any device.
Yes, this is achievable!
Once that was clear, our vision transformed incredibly. And we realized that there is a good way to solve this:
Let’s make the applications run in the browser through their website with Vagon’s infrastructure and streaming technology. The actual application will run on Vagon’s resources whereas users will enjoy the seamless experience on their device resource free and with low latency.
This might actually work, but it had to be quite simple — like “no-code” simple and incredibly flexible so that the best experience can be created for any application or flow.
Well, we made that happen!
We turned this idea into a product, thanks to all the experience we gained with Vagon Computer and what we learned from our users. We are happy to announce it.
Welcome Vagon Streams!
It’s truly a game-changer: You can make any desktop app work from any device via the browser with no code and only with a few clicks.
Now your users can run your application anywhere from any device: computer, mobile, or tablet! Moreover, they will run it on your website and with your own brand. The best part is you can do it in minutes, with no code.
So, how does it work?
(1) Upload your application file, (2) customize your choices and you’re ready to go! Vagon Streams is fully automated.
You can stream your application directly via its link or integrate it into your website as an iframe.
In the settings, you can choose the performance for your application, run-method, and set the coverage to worldwide or certain locations.
Vagon Streams gives you up to 4k image quality at 60 fps. Its features are fully customizable to support different application flows: create your menu, add options specific to your application, enable working with files, and more. Reveal the most suitable flow for your application.
On the other hand, if you want to get beyond predefined options, you can create your custom flow with the Vagon Streams API. It gives you flexibility in many aspects such as application-server communications and user-level session monitoring.
What about its tech?
Vagon Streams works on Vagon’s own data centers and public cloud together to provide the most reliable service to users all over the world! It’s hybrid: our streaming protocol, infrastructure tech, and custom features make the magic happen.
Who are its users?
We developed Vagon Streams so that developers and companies can make their applications device-independent for both their users and teams. Product companies, studios that develop virtual and visual experiences, agencies, design app developers, game companies, and anyone who touches performance can benefit from Vagon Streams.
It is a revolutionary service for different areas:
Virtual experiences: Real estate virtualization- “Archviz”, virtual exhibitions, concerts. Product showrooms: Retail, automotive. Design on the web: CAD, 3D, CG. Education and training. Meta, gaming, entertainment, virtual assistance, and more.
We already onboarded multiple applications to Vagon Streams: before launching it :)
Let me tell you about two of those:
The first one is a virtual exhibition experience developed by Syll, where 10k users all over the world attended during the event days on their website. They built their application in Unreal Engine for multiple brands. The attendees joined the experience from all end devices: mobile, tablets, and corporate Lenovo notebooks.
Another one is an Archviz experience company. They create real estate sales flows with Unity where they realized lighting and scenery require incredible GPU performance. Hence, they use Vagon Streams to create device-free user engagement. They’re serving all their clients with Vagon.
What can you do with Vagon Streams?
Let’s look at some use cases together:
1- Make your desktop app device independent.
Move your app to the web with a few simple steps and make your users run it seamlessly from any device. Choose what features and tools your application requires and create the best streaming flow in the safest way.
2- Offer instant online trials on your website.
Faster user engagement: no downloads, no setup files. Provide faster product testing and user onboarding. Allow your users to try your product with a single click without the need for large file downloads and installations.
3- Deliver virtual experience apps to improve your sales: proptech, retail.
Improve your sales performance by offering interactive virtual product experiences to your audience. All apps supported: Unity, Unreal Engine, and others.
4- Add Figma-level collaborative features to your desktop app and make it remote-ready.
CAD, 3D, CG: Add collaborative features to your design apps. It’s the best for teamwork and you can add this feature to your app with no code.
5- Provide your design applications to your team or employees without professional workstation requirements.
The remote is here to stay. Stream your applications on the web for your team and employees and eliminate the need for costly pro workstations. And get rid of computer maintenance issues as a bonus.
6- Expand the audience for your virtual event.
Virtual meetings, concerts, events, exhibitions… Let your users join your experience from anywhere, on any device.
7- Online training and education.
Bring training with apps online. Trainers and participants can work from anywhere together.
Share your project with your clients or project managers in minutes without the hassle of file transfer or application installation.
These are just some examples of use cases, and of course, your imagination is the limit!
We believe that Vagon Streams will provide great convenience to application and visual experience developers. This is just the start for it and the road ahead is fascinating with all its challenges.
We’re looking for your feedback and ideas to add new features to Vagon Streams.
Try it & tell us what you think!
info@vagon.io
Originally published at https://vagon.io on March 22, 2022.