Balti Virtual

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of software and design for a media production company. We create interactive videos, comics, and other training materials for corporations, the military, and the government.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Balti Virtual?

We were developing interactive graphic novels for a military center.  One of the client’s requests was to have some 3D and AR animations of their vehicles, so we needed a partner to build them.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially had a kickoff meeting with Balti Virtual and our client. We went over the goals and decided on the 5–7 vehicles they’d create for us. The team researched them, developed the 3D animations, and delivered the draft videos. Then, we gave them feedback and received the final AR object.

We wrapped the deliverables into an application that Balti Virtual helped provide. Ultimately, we made the transition to the remote experience.

What is the team composition?

We worked with the owner, the COO, a business development specialist, a project manager, and engineers.

How did you come to work with Balti Virtual?

We found them through a recommendation.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $75,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in March 2019, and they completed the work in December 2019. However, we went back for more work in 2020 and 2021 for a final modification.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We don’t have any individual metrics about the project’s usage. However, the client came back to work with Balti Virtual, so we got repeated business from it.

How did Balti Virtual perform from a project management standpoint?

They delivered everything on time and within budget. We had no overruns or delays. Moreover, we had nice brainstorming sessions, and they were receptive to them.

We didn’t use any communication tools other than email and video conferencing. Nonetheless, it was easy to get in touch with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their service was a bang for our buck. We got a lot of great work for a good value. Moreover, everything looked great and was delivered on time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think there’s anything to improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just be collaborative; they’re excellent communicators and collaborators.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of digital strategy and innovation for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Balti Virtual?

We had a specific idea in mind to create an AR experience that would provide some fun for our fans and add another aspect to our gameday in-stadium experience. This would be a big differentiator in getting fans to come to the games, rather than just watching on TV.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started out by explaining what we wanted and then they started building the software to power it. A media person shot our players to power the content, and then our in-house designers created the initial UI, which we passed along to Balti for tweaks and connection to the actual software. Balti then partnered with a manufacturer to deliver the functional hardware (kiosk).

The activation kiosk for the experience is a giant touch-screen TV that people can walk up to and pose to have their photo taken. They can then choose their favorite player and have that player’s image added to the photo.

We’d seen this type of product in practice elsewhere, so we sent Balti the video we’d seen to show them what we were looking for. They provided their input on what was feasible and what the budget would need to be. It’s been a very smooth process.

If we ever have any questions, they answer them and fix the issue. We’ve also been adding new features ever since delivery, so they keep the software updated.

What is the team composition?

We’ve interfaced with about five people, including the CEO, an account manager, a video lead, and a business development specialist.

How did you come to work with Balti Virtual?

We’d had conversations in the past with them about our technology, so I was confident that they could help us out. They’re local to us here in Baltimore, and someone in our marketing department met them at a conference many years ago. We had a few conversations with them over the years about potential activation projects with us and we finally found a good opportunity to work together. They were really the only company we talked to.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost has been just over $100,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since May 2021. Our initial one-year agreement was extended for another year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

When we launched the product at the beginning of last season, we saw that it was very popular with our fans, so we actually ordered a second kiosk halfway through the season. On a normal gameday, there’s usually a very long line of fans waiting to use the experience; we normally see around 240 users throughout the course of a game — about one minute per user on average. We’ve maximized it’s productivity. Other departments in our organization have even requested to use it.

How did Balti Virtual perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve definitely stayed on budget and worked according to our timeline. There’s been great communication between us in terms of setting up expectations and providing regular updates. Everyone knows what’s going on. We mainly communicate over email and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication is great. Rather than just handing the finished project to us walking away, then ensured that the experience was what we wanted for our fans and that we didn’t have any glitches. When we did run into a few technical hiccups, Balti was quick to address them.

Their deployment of technology really stands out. I’ve seen other activations like ours, but none of them are on the same level, and that’s thanks to Balti. Our experience feels much more realistic and first-class.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We were in a unique situation as, even though they were confident they could delivery, they’d neve built something like this before. Meaning, we both learned a lot during this process.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Try to get ahead of things and allow for as much time as possible for the project. They were great at delivering for us in a somewhat compressed timeline, but obviously, it’s best to give them as much time as possible. They were also upfront with us about what we could realistically achieve on our timeline.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of a company building systems in healthcare to measure and promote health

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Balti Virtual, and what were your goals?

We needed VR experiences to measure and recruit motion of patients to support AI data analytics to prescribe and recruit the best pathways to recovery. The VR experiences had to be fun and immersive.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We needed a vendor who had some experience in building strong VR experiences as well as skilled in non-conventional back end work to use and track vectors of motion within the application.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We had an existing VR framework with 2 simple experiences to use as a model. The challenge was to build a new experience that used the existing framework. The new experience had to record data and use data to inform the new VR game experience and be fun and engaging. We used Oculus hardware and UNity.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with a team of 5-6 people from Balti. This ranged from one of the principles of the company, to VR engineer, to artists supporting the VR deployment.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

While we're still fine tuning the final deployed version, we were able to deploy a runnable version of the application to the Oculus store for broad distribution and use. We're hoping this will be the start of several VR experiences developed using the same platform.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

The release were fairly structured, although once the project commenced, we did not have much engagement with Balti until the final phases. We did have a few 'previews' along the way before the final product was released. Scheduled project milestones were generally respected along the way.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Balti Virtual offered flexibility as we ideated through the final product outline. They were willing to have faith the project would progress without hyper defining the final product.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Perhaps better communication or milestones to refine the outcome along the way.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of products and partnerships for a marketing technology company. In my service line, we specialize in promotions and loyalty solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Balti Virtual?

They provide AR services for various projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Balti Virtual develops AR experiences that integrate with our promotion programs. They participate in the ideation and creative processes with our teams, and we define the scope of the AR experience in terms of look and feel, duration, gameplay, and so on. Then, they develop the 3D assets and hand them over to us for the actual hosting and integration of the experience for consumers.

They use various third-party software; they frequently integrate 8th Wall. Most of the projects are built from scratch, but Balti Virtual also has some experiences and games that can be re-skinned, which is especially useful for clients with smaller budgets.

Most AR requires users to have an app. The experiences we put into market allow customers to interact with the fun, engaging AR experience through their web browser. We often employ a couple of functionalities or features. One is face filters, and the others are games of perceived skill where people have to make a basket, drive a car around an obstacle course, shoot a target, etc.

Finally, Balti Virtual has done some 2D work for us, and if we need changes to any of their code, they can provide maintenance.

What is the team composition?

We have about 10 people on the team, including a project manager for our delivery teams. Our main point of contact is Will (Founder & CEO).

How did you come to work with Balti Virtual?

Another partner of ours recommended them several years ago.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $500,000–$1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in March 2019, and it’s an ongoing partnership.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We can’t share specific metrics, but we have definitely seen a massive increase in both the time spent on the engagements and return visits from the same consumers. Therefore, not only are people spending more time, but they are also coming back and reengaging with the experience. All in all, Balti Virtual has exceeded our expectations.

How did Balti Virtual perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is excellent. Our Project Managers love working with their team. They have really engaged with and participated in our agile development process. Moreover, they’re an extension of our team. Before COVID-19, they would fly in and participate in our roadmapping sessions in person as well. Overall, our team loves working with them, and they have been great across the board.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Balti Virtual is on the cutting edge of AR in every development project, and they have fantastic ideas. When we come to them with a big vision, they help us narrow it down to something that fits the program. Also, they can work within budgets — they can do something big and expensive or small and scalable.

Overall, they’re great partners. They’ve integrated well with our team, and we’re at a point where we can bring them to the table with the client if we need to.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there isn’t anything from my standpoint. We don’t have anything bad to say about them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just call them; they will bring your XR ideas to life!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work at Stanley Black & Decker (SBD), a company that manufactures power tools, hand tools, storage solutions, and beyond. SBD includes DeWalt, Craftsman, Irwin, Lenox, Stanley, Porter Cable, Black & Decker, MAC Tools, Bostitch and more. As an E-Commerce Content Strategy Lead, I help ideate, strategize, and manage projects in the experiential content space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Balti Virtual?

This specific project revolves around our newest battery technology from DeWalt. The PowerStack battery utilizes new pouch cell technology that makes the battery more powerful, more compact, and lighter than previous power tool batteries. Because the battery isn't available in stores yet, we wanted to create an experience that would allow potential customers to manipulate the battery in their own space, interrogate the technology, and learn about the battery's features.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Balti Virtual completed all of the AR development for us. They had created similar visuals in the past, but we asked them to take it a step further by giving the assets interactivity, which made this an experiential piece of content.

We began by providing the team with 3D models and renderings. We also put together a brief that Balti Virtual could use for creative direction. They used their own proprietary software and delivered a web-based augmented reality experience. 
Users could click on the tool to reveal the inner workings, access hotspots with product copy, and see the product in their space.

What is the team composition?

We worked closely with Will (Founder) and Zoë (Senior Business Development Specialist) before meeting the project/tech team of Thom and David, who we had weekly status calls with. 

How did you come to work with Balti Virtual?

We did quite a bit of research on agencies and partners in the 3D/AR space. Balti Virtual's recent work and expertise made the decision to work with their team pretty easy.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from September–October 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We've shared the experience with a few different groups internally. It’s a technology that is completely new to our company, so it caused reasonable excitement over its potential uses for both e-commerce and omnichannel marketing.

We're looking forward to getting some data on real users' interactions with the models so we can evaluate its effectiveness in the real world.

How did Balti Virtual perform from a project management standpoint?

Despite our constraints with the timeline, we were able to collaborate well. We had a weekly status meeting between our project team and Balti Virtual where we completed reviews and provided feedback on progress. We stayed in contact through email and ad hoc calls when necessary. Balti Virtual just ran with whatever we threw their way. It was a fantastic experience working with this group.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What really stood out with our engagement with Balti Virtual was how they were able to quickly educate us on the AR/VR landscape. This was a completely new thing for our company at the time so it was valuable that they showed us, at various points throughout the project, how far we could push the technology. They really brought us along throughout the development.

Balti Virtual provided us with the knowledge we needed and accepted the challenge when we threw additional functionality or accessibility at them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Our biggest obstacle has been accessibility compliance of the experiences we design and build, but Balti Virtual did everything that they could to make the experience accessible. In future iterations and projects, we plan to continue pushing the envelope as SBD moves towards more and more accessible content.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Balti Virtual is equipped with a team of experts. Their input is extremely valuable and they are very capable team players who take feedback really well. 

We were confident in Balti Virtual and, on many occasions, let them take the wheel.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the manager of the Innovation Showcase Program at PayPal. This is a program where we provide live experiential demonstrations of our products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Balti Virtual?

From both an innovation and an experiential standpoint, my goal was to create engaging experiences for the people coming to our showcases or the on-the-road experiences we provide. It was key for my position to create something that was engaging for potential partners, industry leaders, and media to better understand the customer and merchant experiences of our products.

When working with innovations, we’re oftentimes creating things that don’t fully exist yet or that can’t convey what our products and solutions will look like in six, 12, or 24 months. Thus, we brought Balti Virtual to project into the future, define our objectives, and deliver something amazing that could excite potential PayPal partners, even if those products weren’t on the market yet.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I’ve done a few projects with Balti Virtual over the years, but the one that really encapsulates the experience with them was when we took a number of our solutions on the road for a mid-market engagement.

We expected over a hundred clients at a 2–3 day event that we were sponsoring. On it, we had the presence of guest speakers and some of our leaders, and we held Q&A sessions. I was responsible for creating and leading the demos for our guests to come and engage with our products at certain periods during the event.

We were looking for a solution to project our products five years into the future, so we brainstormed with Will (Founder & CEO) and Shawn (Co-Founder & Senior Business Development Specialist), and we came up with new ideas.

We created a way of demonstrating how we would leverage VR to scan physical products in a store or brochures and replicate the experience of a PayPal checkout. We worked around different ideas and mocked up some of them that were really conceptual.

When we were preparing everything for the event, we built in an experience that included scanning an ad for a pair of shoes in a magazine, creating a checkout experience supported by VR through a mobile device.

After the event was over, we started seeing other ways to explore this and build that experience further. Although this is just one of the projects, it took about half a dozen different approaches, and Balti Virtual helped us conceptualize and bring to life these experiences every step of the way.

What is the team composition?

Will and Shawn are my two main points of contact.

How did you come to work with Balti Virtual?

We have offices in Timonium, Maryland. A team member of ours was doing some local work, looking for potential vendors that could help. This person came across Balti Virtual, but they weren’t the right fit for that project. However, they recommended them to me because I was working with these innovations.

At the time, they were building some in-store VR engagements for a local company. This person passed their information to me, we set up calls, and everything evolved from there.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around April 2017, and the mid-market event I described went live in September 2017. However, our engagement is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Balti Virtual has been able to give our experiences a wow factor. If guests come to Silicon Valley and visit all those big enterprises, they’re probably going to see great presentations and videos. However, Balti Virtual has helped us create engaging experiences for our visitors to leave amazed.

For example, we’re corporate sponsors and partners for the Phoenix Suns. During one of our presentations, the team was there, and we showed them one of our VR experiences. They were so impressed with the demonstration that they engaged with Balti Virtual to create a VR experience of their mascot for their fans.

How did Balti Virtual perform from a project management standpoint?

Balti Virtual’s performance is incredible; they’re virtually flawless. I deal almost exclusively with Will and Shawn, and their communication is excellent. They reach out to me constantly to help or just talk.

I’ve never hesitated to jump on a call with either or both of them because we’re always exploring new professional opportunities. They’re incredible and very relatable.

What did you find most impressive about them?

In the technology industry, companies come up with incredible experiences on a daily basis, so this is a very competitive market. However, Balti Virtual is able to deliver the wow factor without a doubt. They’re excellent at delivering myriad experiences with VR.

Additionally, they’re very pleasurable to talk to, engage with, and brainstorm with. They are fluid and responsive, take input and come back with new ideas, and are very amenable to new ideas and directions to explore innovation. They always pursue whatever will work best for our projects.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’d love to see Balti Virtual have more resources to do more of these types of innovative engagement experiences.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work as a senior director of product design and research scientist for the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety. Our company is responsible for testing and building products and materials for natural hazards — we also do a lot of outreach and education work on mitigating the impact of severe weather and natural disasters.

My work is mostly focused on developing materials and content to help explain our science and engineering.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Balti Virtual?

We hired Balti to initially develop a VR goggle piece of information on how to communicate wildfire hazards. The project turned into a mobile device and mixed reality app that explains the threat of wildfires caused by homes. It’s essentially an educational app designed to be a unique visual experience.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their work is basically to develop the full app using our vision and our expert information as scientists and engineers. They launched the app for us and they’re currently tracking the download data. We initially worked together on the design elements of the app, but they did all the backend work and ported it over to the App Store and Google Play Store.

What is the team composition?

We work with most of their design team so about 4–5 people. They’re a relatively small company, and we also primarily work with their CEO and project manager.

How did you come to work with Balti Virtual?

I turned to Google and the internet to look for developers, and we went through a couple of different groups. I really liked the fact that Balti Virtual was a small company, but they’ve done some really big projects. As a small company ourselves, we wanted to be able to communicate easily and not have too many layers of back and forth that we have to work through.

We also wanted more dynamic storytelling and quality that a company like Balti has done in the past, so once we met up with their team, we ended up really liking them — they’re really responsive, easygoing, and very easy to work with. Additionally, they were very cost-effective at the time, but I wouldn’t say that they were vastly cheaper than anyone else.

They viewed this project as their first step into doing something that had an educational public service aspect, and we really liked that they gravitated towards that — that’s why we went that route.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested somewhere between $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2020, and our partnership is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We’ve had a lot of feedback from our clients who’ve reached out wanting opportunities to help co-brand, and essentially amplify this app to their policyholders. In addition, we saw more engagement from our members than what IBHS had done in the past.

How did Balti Virtual perform from a project management standpoint?

From a project management perspective, they work even faster than I’ve even envisioned — we’re impressed by how they can turn around our feedback quickly. At some point, we were struggling to hold up our end of the line to make sure we were getting our correct teams, but they always communicated, and they’re easy to get ahold of.

We’re not always able to hop to and turn things around quickly, but they’ve been very patient with us, and they understand that we were dealing with multiple things — including the hurricane season of last year. That consumed a lot of our time and they understood that.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed with their flexibility, and their way of communication. They make the process very simple, they're upfront with us, and they’re very easy to deal with. Balti Virtual brought our vision to life, which isn’t an easy thing to do in terms of communicating science and engineering knowledge.

They took things that would take us pages and pages of documents and turned them into these very simple app visuals that are really powerful — they took a complex subject and made it very digestible.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only improvement I would suggest is to look at more feedback, as it would help us know what we’re dealing with on a buffer. However, everything went smoothly and they were just very good to work with.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior director for global engagement and UVA clubs in the Office of Engagement at the University of Virginia, which is one of the flagship public institutions of higher education in the United States.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Balti Virtual?

We were trying to figure out how to leverage emerging technology for alumni relations. The University of Virginia has 250,000+ alumni spread out worldwide, and we wanted to create a tool that could bring the university to where people live.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Balti Virtual provided a demonstration of their AR work and how fast they were at iteration. I immediately thought of our school mascot called Cavman and how we might be able to turn him into a 3D mascot using AI and AR and bring that mascot home to people. 

We had a demo for the project and product in the summer of 2017. Balti Virtual developed a mascot with an application and made a great update to Cavman. They added a basketball in his hand that could spin and dribble. We were ready to go for a game in December 2017, but we decided to wait until March Madness 2018 to roll out our AR Cavman. 

Over the last 36 months, we’ve been using Balti Virtual’s AR technology. They’ve gone from being app-based to web-based, which is easier for the users. That’s something they’ve developed along the line for their entire customer base.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact is a project manager. I don't know how many software developers have been working on the backend, but they have 2–3 people interfacing with me directly as we move through the first product development and launch.

How did you come to work with Balti Virtual?

One of our alumni was part of the Balti Virtual team. They came in and did demonstrations at the University of Virginia, and I took a look at what they were working on. From the beginning of the meeting to its end, I had the product design, marketing program, and PR launch set in my mind. I immediately told my boss that I knew how I wanted to use their technology. It was unbelievable and instantaneous.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $25,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Balti Virtual in June 2017, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The University of Virginia is part of the international organization called CASE, which is our professional industry group, and it’s focused on advancement around the world — it’s a premium organization. We won four CASE awards with the Balti Virtual AR Cavman. Three of them were district awards, and the other one was a global award for best practices in digital communications. It was huge that we won an international CASE Platinum award for that. This tool was recognized globally by our industry as being one of the best digital alumni relations programs of the year. We did exceptionally well from a marketing, relations, and communication process.

During March Madness, we had over 16,000 Cavman’s scans in one week, and 56% of our users came back to use our mascot and posted images on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. One of our big targets was international alumni, and we had students participating, taking photographs of themselves with Cavman, and sharing those photos from places all over the world, such as Hong Kong, Indonesia, the UAE, Australia, and Jamaica. It was truly unbelievable and amazing. We reached the people we wanted, regardless of where they were, with a product that represented the University of Virginia in a way that we had never imagined. We couldn’t have done it without the partnership and technology that Balti Virtual did for us.

Balti Virtual was also fantastic with the product development. They did an enhancement that was a true benefit to the University of Virginia. They were an amazing partner. The application benefited our alumni base. When we started using it, our youngest guests at events knew how to interact with the platform. We only had to teach older alumni how to use our AR product. Now, the platforms have a multichannel approach for any age, and all our alumni, including their grandchildren, interacting with Cavman.

How did Balti Virtual perform from a project management standpoint?

From a project management perspective, Balti Virtual is absolutely fantastic. We had one project manager working on our product for a year, but she was promoted into a new role. Another project manager stepped into her place, picked up right where we had left off, and kept us moving forward. They are very responsive.

We communicate via email and conference calls because the project’s scope isn’t large enough to use any external tools. We also had regular meetings. 

In the beginning, we were working with our sales and account representative. They showed us drafts of what the project would look like, but we also had one of the Balti Virtual CEOs on a call to make sure we were in the right direction. We were the first university they were working with. We thought about alumni relations as a new area to be able to use AR, so we were pushing the envelope in what it was being used for. Balti Virtual was on target for the deliverable.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Balti Virtual is always looking to the future, and that’s the key. They figure out what their customers need before the customer even knows themselves. Their team always asks phenomenal questions and drives a process forward to take us somewhere we didn’t know we needed to go. 

The Balti Virtual team is a partner in the work we do. To me, that’s incredibly important because I know I’m more than a customer. I’m their partner, and that’s what makes all the difference.

Are there any areas they could improve?

For the University of Virginia, Balti Virtual delivered exactly what we needed within the time frame. It was very successful. As a result, I don’t have anything I would change from their team. They’ve been moving into an arena of alumni relations, which is customer relations as well. That’s the key for any company, whether they’re a nonprofit or for profit.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be open to Balti Virtual's ideas because they’re seeing what’s coming down the road with technology. If you’re open to new ideas, you’ll push yourself and get into places you haven’t imagined. They’re creative in their marketing concepts, product developments, and customers’ work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the director of digital and social media for the Nashville Predators. We are continuously looking at ways to engage with our fanbase and utilize new technologies. A virtual photo booth helped achieve both of those goals.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Balti Virtual, and what were your goals?

We wanted to create a VR solution to connect fans with our players and gather new data about those attending Bridgestone Arena. We wanted a unique experience that was fun and engaging, while also building the Preds social media brand.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

I knew of a contact at the Baltimore Ravens who spoke highly about Balti Virtual. After reviewing their proposal, it was clear their kiosk and technology would help all of our needs.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

They created a virtual reality portal for fans to select one of nine Preds players and/or the mascot to take a photo with. The user would then take the photo and send the image either via email or phone. To execute that, we had to shoot the 10 subjects on a large green screen for 10 minutes at a time. From there the software was developed and we received test builds while the physical kiosk was created.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Three individuals from the vendor's team worked with our team. We had two producers and one assisting with contracts and other startup items.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We have received wonderful outcomes to start averaging more than 45 users per game. A game is typically two and a half hours and if one removes game play, that's about a user every two minutes utilizing the station.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Timeliness was great. We had to complete the project in six weeks and it was executed as described. Balti Virtual sent a rep as well to assist with the video production to help us get the exact shots we needed for the kiosk.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Attention to detail and their commitment to providing a high-quality product. Everything they outlined in their proposal was exactly as they said.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

We would have started the process more quickly but had to wait until legal signed off on the agreement. The extra time would have allowed us to try a few things differently with the setup.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Director, Accounts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Balti Virtual, and what were your goals?

Create an Engaging at Home experience that drove traffic to instore displays, and online sweepstakes.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

FaZe Clan Photobooth where consumers could scan a QR code and be led to an experience to take a holiday picture with their favorite FaZe clan team member.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

End to End AR development, Content Shoot, Account Management, Creative & Product Reviews, Product Delivery and Execution for three week live program.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

5 Team Members. Business Development, CEO, Developers, Account Management

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

One of the highest engaged sweepstakes entry numbers for our clients, given the AR experience, national reach, and prizing.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

The Project management style was very smooth, and collaborative. A few times there couldve been more project updates and a timeline to track a back in delivery date. Overall the project management was great.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I was impressed with their communication style and willingness to solve inevitable hurdles that came with the project.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Manage expectations on potential or occuring tech/development problems to help arm key clients with the information needed as a solve is found.