We are honored to have been part of the development of the Swiss platform LUUCY from the beginning. This web application serves to display and build interactive spatial zoning plans and real estate development projects. LUUCY offers an expanding collection of information from global and Swiss information sources—3D models of current buildings and forests, terrain, a wide variety of maps, and visualized data about specific features of given territories. Leveraging more than a hundred features, users can view plans for construction changes, compare options, model new structures, combine different ideas, and evaluate these designs within economic, landscape, legal, and quality-of-life contexts—such as through shadow visualization and various camera views.

The success of the project is evidenced not only by growing market interest but also by the fact that LUUCY is now taught as a subject at some Swiss universities. LUUCY is primarily aimed at three user categories: architects and designers, who most appreciate features for presenting ideas in context, modeling tools, and importing 3D models in various standardized formats (DAE, OBJ, SHP, DXF, 3DS, IFC2x3, IFC4, IFC4x3); municipalities, who value presentation features that allow planned construction projects to be shared with the general public and communities; and developers and investors, who benefit from the application’s marketplace and datasets for feasibility studies in 3D. The application includes its own SDK, allowing other companies, not just Zen Systems, to create apps for LUUCY, thus expanding it with their data and calculations.

LUUCY is a technological challenge—as a browser-based application, it can efficiently handle large volumes of graphical data while remaining responsive. We chose a microservices architecture with a backend in Java Kotlin, frontend in Angular, and the Cesium library, building the application on modern yet proven technologies to ensure stability. CesiumJS, an open-source library, significantly reduces licensing costs compared to the commonly used ArcGIS 3D, while still providing sufficient functionality and data. The Swiss tech market is unique in its approach to open information—demonstrated, for example, by a new law mandating that government IT projects should be open source, along with a large amount of available digital land data, which we integrate. Although LUUCY is primarily a powerful tool for Swiss territories, it’s also valuable for other countries, including the Czech Republic, as demonstrated by the implementation of a module for the city of Klatovy.

In addition to suitable library integration and logic, LUUCY also includes many custom modules requiring mathematical formulae and processes, linear algebra, and calculations on capable graphics machines.

Zen Systems has long served a diverse range of clients in architecture and planning. For the development company DECO, we develop websites and internal applications for planned development projects. We also manage the infrastructure for architectural firms, handling networks, web hosting, mailing, and backups via Veeam for firms including Projektil architekti, Ivan Kroupa architekti, Roman Brychta architekti, Norm-a architekti, Architektura Srdcem, Bíza architekti, PO architekti, and Deco.

Zen Systems develops applications for companies within the Crocodille group: Bageterie Boulevard and Pizza360. For both fast-food chains, we have developed a mobile app, a web e-shop, a KDS (kitchen display system), and a CDS (customer display system). Our solutions integrate with parts managed by Bageterie Boulevard itself as well as with solutions from other suppliers. We provide long-term support to Bageterie Boulevard and Pizza360 in technological solutions—not only through software development but also through consulting on IT network setup and DevOps.

We built the mobile app and website on modern, responsive open-source technologies to accelerate development and facilitate easy scalability. We used the monorepo build system Turborepo, the React Native Web framework for the frontend, typed API tRPC, and Google’s Firebase cloud database. For animations, we use the Framer Motion framework. Our solution is capable of serving thousands of hungry customers every day.

We also developed an app that supports kitchen staff, serving personnel, and couriers from the other side. The ordering system integrates orders made through the web, mobile app, drive-thru boards, and large ordering screens directly in restaurants, on which we also collaborated. Integrated orders appear on monitors in the kitchens, allowing branch employees to know what to prepare, for whom, and how to serve the food.

The long-term development of applications brings many interesting challenges and features. Over the past year, for instance, we implemented digital loyalty cards, a function for delivering baguettes directly to gates at Prague Airport using GPS, and the integration of a new module for Bageterie's own courier, with route planning logic powered by the Graphhopper library. Customers now have an improved option to track where their food delivery is located.

In all the mentioned projects, integration with third-party technological solutions plays an important role—we adapt to Bageterie’s API, various promotional offers, and combinations. For online payments, we also integrated the ČSOB payment gateway into the apps. We integrated SAML single sign-on and login options through Facebook, Google, and Apple—modern products typically support multiple login options, and from other projects, we also have experience with bank identity integration and NIA.

We look forward to more challenges with our clients in the future. Over time, artificial intelligence may also play a larger role; we already use it in other projects, such as for the automatic recognition and categorization of invoices.