Using virtual reality in your business is one of the wisest decisions to take at this time. This technology meets the needs of the changing world. By 2020 the virtual reality market is forecast to reach $30 billion. Moreover, more than 500 million VR headsets are expected to be sold by 2025. These projections are impressive. However, if you are reading this article, you must already know what benefits VR might bring to your business.
In healthcare, advanced virtual reality solutions are used for treating PTSD and anxiety disorders. They help patients reduce stress and pain, speed up recovery. In education, it’s used to help students experience things they can’t possibly try in real life so it makes learning really interactive and, as a result, more effective. For instance, people from around the world may observe operations performed by professional surgeons. The most progressive hoteliers boost their sales demonstrating VR vacations demos. As you see, virtual reality technology has immense possibilities in different spheres. Apparently, your business can take advantage of it too but first, you need to find experienced virtual reality developers.
How to choose VR developers?
Whether you want to work directly with individual developers or with a company, there are several things to consider before signing a contract. Here are 5 tips that will help you choose the best virtual reality specialists for your project.
1. Consider the team with game development experience
If the developers have solid experience in making games, they’ll most probably know the technologies and nuances of the VR sphere. Virtual reality solutions are created using the same tech stack as in game development. You’ll need the specialists in a game engine like Unity, Unreal or Photon, the artists who have experience in 3ds Max, Zbrush, Substance Painter, Substance Designer, Photoshop, and a VR environment design specialist who’ll think over all the details of the experience you want to produce and make sure they feel great in VR. This is all game developers’ area of expertise, so they were the first who actively started building VR solutions and they are the ones who have the most experience in the sphere.
Whether you need VR content for the advertisement, interactive education, healthcare or gaming choosing a company with vast expertise in game development will be a big plus.
2. Think about the device and content interaction
VR development is tightly intertwined with VR headsets available on the market. Recent releases of new versions of Oculus and HTC Vive have greatly improved user experience in virtual reality. Besides, the developers have more possibilities and can build more realistic environments with these new advancements.
Many users consider HTC Vive to be a leader on the list of the best VR headsets. With two motion controllers, a headset, and two motion tracking base stations, this device provides a new level of immersion. Meanwhile, Oculus Rift is way lighter and has slightly better visual quality but the lack of hand tracking controllers is definitely the downside.
The developers you are looking for should know about all the latest technologies and releases, they should understand how the content they create will be perceived on different devices. They need to understand which platform is most suitable for your case. Virtual reality is not possible without a headset, so this is one of the primary things to consider before starting development.
3. Consider outsourcing VR development
Since virtual reality is a rather new sphere, there might be a lack of talent on the market. And those VR studios that have already built considerable expertise in this technology usually have the rates that can burn holes in your pockets. Therefore, it’s worth considering outsourcing some or even all of your VR development. You may actually find great VR and game development teams in Eastern Europe that have a lot of experience in VR art production, Unity, Unreal and other major virtual reality technologies.
Outsourcing gives you more flexibility – you may hire specialists on a temporary basis and you don’t have to worry about finding enough staff for your project – the outsourcing provider will take care of that. What’s more, you don’t have to buy development application licenses and all the headsets necessary for testing. So you can get access to the most skilled employees for a reasonable amount of money.
4. Look for specialists who can provide active support
First, you choose a company to work with. At the next stage, you work together, creating high-quality content. Then you may enjoy the results of your collaboration for a moment but the work doesn’t end here. At this stage, your project may need some installations, updates, and fixes. When you need new assets and features for upgrading your VR experience, the team should be there for you. So it’s important to have a VR development partner that will have enough resources and can provide seamless support.
5. Take into account proof of concept
You can hardly find a VR development studio that has a lot of projects in their portfolio. Naturally, the situation is different from web or mobile where developers can impress you with a great number of projects they’ve delivered. You can try looking for companies with rich VR portfolios, of course, but there’s also another way to get proof of concept. Try searching for teams that have developed some good visually attractive games, check how much experience they have in the technologies necessary to build your solution. If you have a huge project, you might ask them to provide you with a basic prototype to check how motivated they are to work on your product. Finally, when you contact the developers to discuss your requirements and maybe even have a discovery session, you will understand whether the company is professional enough and can maintain good communication.
To sum up, it may be challenging to find experienced virtual reality developers who have many solutions in their portfolio, expertise in VR tech stack you need, and enough resources to provide clients with ongoing support. Yet we hope that these 5 tips will help you hire the best development provider.
