Project Inquiries
THE PROJECT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
NEED OUR HELP WITH A PROJECT?
The Visualization Studio has a team of experts that provide consultation and development for XR technologies. Since 2008 we’ve assisted nearly every school on campus and contributed to the development of over 130 unique projects. From educational tools to research – if you have a new and exciting XR project, we are here to help.
Do I need to provide a proposal?
No, but it does help! Proposals serve to outline your project goals and make the case for a funding agency to contribute their financial support. We are happy to contribute any technical knowledge needed for inclusion in your proposal submissions. All projects with us start with you contacting us to arrange a consultation, whether you already have a proposal prepared or not. In the absence of a proposal we may ask you to prepare reference images, flow diagrams or storyboards before we can commit to developing your project, as these help us determine the scope of your project.
How do we prioritize and vet projects?
Every project is unique. We consider projects on a case-by-case basis to determine if we have the developer capacity and enough lead time to complete your vision. Projects that are used in teaching or for cutting edge research are most impactful and we make every effort to take on projects that meet this criteria.
How long does XR development take?
It depends on what you are looking to do. When we consult with faculty on projects we are able to provide an accurate estimate for the time it would take to complete after a thorough review of any material you have provided. We frequently have multiple projects in development simultaneously and most XR projects are completed over the course of a semester or two.
What does it cost?
If you are looking to develop XR-based classroom tools, we don’t charge you a thing! We want to see these technologies incorporated into classes to advance the University’s XR Initiative. For funded research, we may ask you to include us as developers in your proposal so we can recoup any costs associated with developer time. Our development costs do not include the procurement of any hardware necessary to test and deploy projects but we can assist you with estimating and sourcing these items. In many instances, faculty opt to utilize existing technologies already in place in the Visualization Studio for their classes or research studies.
When can you get started?
We usually prefer a semester of lead time prior to beginning a project. This allows for planning the development with you, investigating any new technologies that will be utilized and the procurement of any necessary hardware. Many faculty opt to reach out to us early on while their project is still in the brainstorming phase and this is something we encourage. We are happy to contribute our extensive technical knowledge in this field to your proposals. If you have a set date in mind by which you would like to have the development complete (ex: anticipated class use or proposal deadlines) we will make every effort to accommodate that. If we expect we may be unable to complete development in the timeframe you have identified, this usually becomes apparent early in the discussion and it will be communicated to you prior to us accepting the project.
If we don’t have time, what else can you do?
Often it is possible to scale down a project to something more manageable for the timeframe you may be working with. We have assisted several faculty with creating XR prototypes which then allow them to pursue additional proposals and funding opportunities later on. With a working proof of concept from an experienced development team, this increases the likelihood of your project gaining further support.
In the event a project cannot be scaled back or would exceed our current capacity with a timeline that is inflexible, we are happy to recommend other development groups or assist you in sourcing student talent. We work with many student groups and classes that teach XR development and even teach some of these classes ourselves.
In some instances, we may also be able to recommend existing tools that you can leverage to achieve a similar result.