A researcher from Politeknik Elektronika Negeri Surabaya coauthored a 2023 study on outdoor AR navigation with MGM, a research coauthorship rather than an institutional agreement.
A 2023 study comparing how smartphones handle augmented reality navigation apps put researchers from MGM and Politeknik Elektronika Negeri Surabaya, commonly known as PENS, on the same author list.
The paper, "An Investigation of Running Load Comparisons of ARCore on Native Android and Unity for Outdoor Navigation System Using Smartphone," was presented at the 2023 International Conference on Vocational Education and Electrical Engineering, held in Surabaya that October. Its authors include MGM's Komang Candra Brata as corresponding author, PENS researcher Sritrusta Sukaridhoto, Nobuo Funabiki, Evianita Dewi Fajrianti, and Mustika Mentari.
The study built the same outdoor navigation prototype twice, once directly in native Android and once in the Unity game engine, both using Google's ARCore toolkit to place directional markers over the real world as seen through a phone's camera. The team then measured which approach ran lighter and faster outdoors. Native Android came out ahead on raw performance and resource use in outdoor conditions, while Unity kept its usual advantages for teams that need to support multiple platforms or build with complex 3D assets. The result is a practical guide for developers choosing between the two approaches, rather than a verdict that one is simply better.
It is worth stating plainly what this relationship is and is not. Sukaridhoto's contribution reflects one researcher joining a specific study alongside Brata and collaborators, not a cooperation agreement between PENS and MGM as institutions. PENS itself is a state polytechnic in Surabaya focused on electronics and informatics engineering education, distinct from and located in a different city than MGM's home at Universitas Brawijaya in Malang.
Small studies like this one rarely make headlines, but they are how a lab's research network actually grows in practice, one shared technical problem and one visiting coauthor at a time, well short of any formal institutional tie.
