BACKGROUND
Can you please provide a brief description of your company?
Ethervision makes mobile applications, websites, and content management systems. We work in enterprise and the cloud, but our bread and butter is creating native mobile applications for iPhone, iPad, and Android.
What role do you play at Ethervision?
I'm the president.
OPPORTUNITY/CHALLENGE
What was the business challenge your company was facing that initiated the need for this platform?
Our challenge was to find a great way to make immersive 2-D and 3-D simulations and games for our clients. Unity is a third-party software that excels at helping users build 2-D and 3-D environments and then deploying the application across many platforms. There's some modifications needed, but Unity works with iOS, Android, Windows, and Occulus to name a few.
SOLUTION
How does your company implement this platform or software?
We're purists here at Ethervision. We do corporate work with the exception of some high-end 2-D and 3-D development. Most of our development is native iOS and Android, but when we need great 2-D/3-D design, Unity3D, in our opinion is the most sophisticated.
In conjunction with Frozen Pepper, we made some of the first and most popular 3-D games for the iPhone and iPad. Specifically, RC Plane and RC Heli. RC Plane 2 was the No. 1 downloaded iPad app and No. 15 downloaded iPhone app for a few weeks running, which is nice. Ethervision also makes complex 3-D models and simulations for companies looking to show off functionality and fine details of products high-end products without having to cart the product in. One example is a top-of-the-line electronic hospital bed. It's amazing how crisply you can convey and show very complex products in interactive 3-D.
Was your company considering other platforms? Why this platform?
There are a bunch of competitors for Unity. I don't think many of them compare. Adobe has a solution. There's something called GameSalad. There's a bunch of smaller companies that have really tried to get into this 2-D/3-D gaming space to make it easy for companies to make games. A lot of them are lightweight and make it where you can drag and drop throughout the development process. Some of the platforms are OK for making stuff like that but once you get into real heavy-duty stuff you have to use something like Unity3D to do it. We've never really looked elsewhere because the power of the Unity engine is just superior to most platforms. The only things that compare in my opinion are companies like EA and the other big guys that have their own custom software tools and systems. For the rest of the world, Unity is pretty much head and shoulders above the competition.
On an annual or monthly basis, how much does your company spend to utilize the platform?
For iOS, it is $1,500, Android is $1,500, and Unity Pro is $1,500. I believe if you create anything in Unity, you have to get Unity Pro. It would be $4,500 for the license for the current version of Unity to create something that could go on iOS and Android. Windows is also included in Unity Pro for free.
FEATURES
Were there any software features or tools that really impressed you?
Unity has been doing this a long time. They're offering support for more new gaming and mobile platforms. Virtual reality is the next big wave. Unity takes a lot of the pain out of 3-D and game development, it just makes sense to use it in many situations.
Looking back, are there any areas of the software upon which you feel could be added or improved?
Unity comes out with many updates and, sometimes, there's little things here and there that don't work or you have to change the way you approach things with a new version of Unity. For the most part, it's pretty good and is smooth as it can be for a third-party tool.
OVERVIEW
We have a few quick questions and, for each question, we ask you to rate the software on a scale of one to five, with five being the best. What would you give the software for functionality of the features available?
Five.
What would you give the software for ease of use or ease of implementation into your business?
Four.
For support, as in responsiveness of the team or helpfulness of the resources available?
Four and a half.
For overall satisfaction with the platform?
Four and a half.
How likely are you to recommend the software to a colleague or similar business?
Four and a half. I feel if you're into heavy 3-D simulation or games, Unity is definitely a good tool to use.
