Working with needle locally/no internet access?

🌵 Needle Engine
1

Is there any info if it’s possible to work with a local network?
I know It would work for desktop. problem Is on mobile and SSL certificates, right ?

Any way to create a local server generating those ?

Example: I have a AR experience for a trade show and there´s no internet/4g.
I can offer wifi and share the experience locally?

2

Yes, Manuel, it is possible to work with Needle Engine on a local network without internet access. Here is how you can set up and manage your AR experience for a local environment:

  1. Local Development Environment:

    • You can run a local development server using Needle Engine to host your AR experience. Tools like the LiveServer extension in Visual Studio Code allow you to quickly spin up a local server for testing (see index).

  2. Local Networking:

    • You can set up a local networking server using the Needle Engine networking package. This allows multiple devices to connect to the AR experience hosted on a local server, even without internet (see networking).

  3. SSL Certificates:

    • Working with AR experiences often requires SSL due to restrictions of web APIs like WebXR. You can generate self-signed certificates and install them on your mobile devices. This is critical for avoiding security warnings and ensuring all features work properly on mobile browsers (see testing).

  4. Local Network Access:

    • The server you set up can be accessed by other devices (smartphones, tablets) in the same local network using the IP address of the server machine. Use HTTPS with a self-signed certificate for full feature support (see testing).

  5. Practical Considerations:

    • Ensure your AR experience is bundled as a PWA (Progressive Web App) to provide offline access and optimal caching, benefiting from features like installability on mobile devices (see html).

  6. Testing and Deployment:

    • Test thoroughly on local devices to ensure smooth operation. Follow guides for setting up SSL certificates specifically for your operating system and device types to reduce friction for users accessing the AR experience at trade shows (see testing).

By following these steps, you can successfully run an AR experience locally, suitable for environments without internet access, such as trade shows.

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3

Hi,

The bot reply #5 is what i would suggest too - take a look at PWA’s with Needle Engine for this usecase: Frameworks, Bundlers, HTML | Needle Engine Documentation

4

I think the question is more about hosting a local server on a tradeshow and serving an app from the local Wifi, is that correct?

If so: yeah, the main challenge is the certificate; a self-signed one will show a warning message so that’s not great.

But I believe if you run a local DNS, you can use a proper certificate (e.g. from LetsEncrypt) and serve assets from “https://my-server-that-has-a-certificate.com” locally as well. Plus, you might be able to use a Wifi Captive portal so that as soon as people get into your Wifi they’re sent to your special page (saving one step – some routers have that functionality built-in).

5

Yes, exactly my idea too. This could be a nice feature to add a local DNS straight from the node server needle uses, so you can test your project on mobile devices.

6

Not sure if you mean something else, but this is already part of the default setup – the URL that’s opened in the browser can be directly accessed from mobile devices. That’s how we usually work with phones, Quest, etc., all straight from the dev server.

7

Yes, but adding ssl workaround to avoid non secure connection message

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8

If you have a good idea to work around it I’m all ears!

What you can do for develoment is to provide a root certificate, we have that documented here: Testing on local devices | Needle Engine Documentation

It works great for development, but it doesn’t really help with public installations as the root cert needs to be installed on the devices, which is by design for root certificates.

9

I do lots of Needle builds which we show at trade shows, usually we use something on windows or mac like Simple Web Server or VS Code with the Live Server extension

10

with this option, you avoid the non-private connection alert ?

11

Yep last time I used it VS Code with Live Server Extension didn’t show any trust warning on launch, try it for yourself. Here is a tutorial

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