Getting Started with AR Toolbox: Your First Scan

You have installed AR Toolbox and you are ready to see it in action. The good news is that there is almost no setup required. The app is designed to be useful within seconds of opening it for the first time. In this walkthrough, we will cover everything from your very first camera scan to saving detected tools into a newly created container. By the end, you will have a working inventory entry and a clear understanding of the core workflow that makes AR Toolbox so effective in the field.

Opening the App and Your First Detection

When you launch AR Toolbox for the first time, the app will ask for camera permission. Grant it, and you will land directly on the scan screen. There is no account creation, no cloud sign-in, and no onboarding wizard standing between you and your first scan. The camera feed fills the screen with a minimal interface layered on top.

Now, point your phone at some tools. Lay a few items on a workbench or open a toolbox lid so the contents are visible. Within a fraction of a second, you will see bounding boxes appear around detected tools, each labeled with the tool name and a confidence percentage. The detection happens in real time as the camera processes each frame through the on-device YOLO model. Move your phone slowly across the surface to give the model a clear view of each item. Tools that are partially obscured or overlapping may still be detected, but spreading them out slightly will improve accuracy on your first try.

Each detected tool gets an AR overlay that hovers over the real object on screen. The overlay shows the tool name, its category indicated by color, and the confidence score. If the model detects a claw hammer, for example, you will see "Claw Hammer" in the hand tools color floating right above the hammer in your camera view.

Reviewing and Confirming Detections

After the initial detection pass, tap the review button at the bottom of the screen. This brings up a list view of everything the model found in the current frame. Each entry shows the tool name, category, and confidence level. This is your chance to verify the results before committing anything to your inventory.

If the model identified a tool incorrectly, you can tap the entry to correct it. A searchable list of all 130+ supported tool types appears, and you can select the right one. These corrections are valuable because they help you build an accurate inventory from the start. If a tool was missed entirely, you can add it manually from the same screen. Conversely, if the model detected something that is not actually a tool, such as a piece of hardware or a random object, you can dismiss that entry with a swipe.

For most scans, especially in good lighting, the majority of detections will be correct and the review step takes only a few seconds. As you become familiar with the app, this step becomes second nature.

Your first scan does not need to be perfect. AR Toolbox is designed for iterative use. Scan now, correct as needed, and rescan later to catch anything you missed. Building your inventory is a process, not a one-time event.

Creating Your First Container and Saving

Before saving your detected tools, you will want to assign them to a container. A container in AR Toolbox represents any real-world storage unit: a toolbox, a tool bag, a drawer, a shelf, or a compartment in your truck. Tap the container selector at the top of the review screen. Since this is your first time, you will see an option to create a new container.

Give your container a descriptive name, something like "Red Toolbox" or "Van - Left Compartment" or "Main Workbench." You can also assign a type from a preset list, which helps with organization later. Once the container is created, it becomes the active target for your scan results.

Now tap "Save" and everything in your reviewed detection list is committed to your local inventory under that container. Each tool entry records the tool type, category, quantity, the container it belongs to, and the timestamp of when it was scanned. You have just created your first inventory record. You can view it immediately by navigating to the inventory screen and selecting your new container.

From here, the workflow repeats naturally. Open a different toolbox, scan its contents, create a container for it, review, and save. Within minutes, you can have a comprehensive digital inventory of every tool in your shop, truck, or job site kit. The speed of the process is what sets AR Toolbox apart from manual entry methods that require typing each item one by one.

What's Next

Now that you have completed your first scan and created your first container, you are ready to explore deeper features. In future posts, we will cover how to use voice commands for hands-free scanning, how to set expected items per container so the app can alert you to missing tools, and how the detection model works under the hood. For now, try scanning a few more containers and get comfortable with the review and save workflow. The more you use AR Toolbox, the more complete and valuable your tool inventory becomes.