Culex XR Studio

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the head of the Department for Education and Promotion at the Museum of Slavonia, in the city of Osijek, in the eastern part of Croatia. The Museum of Slavonia is a national museum of a general type, and at the same time it is known as a museum with the largest number of museum objects stored in collections. It was founded back in 1877, which also speaks of the long tradition of the museum profession.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Culex XR Studio, and what were your goals?

During the coronavirus pandemic, we found ourselves with a great challenge. Since museums were forced to close their doors to many visitors for a long time, these same visitors were deprived of a cultural and museum program.

Through quality cooperation, Culex has enabled museum staff to carry out numerous activities such as virtual walks, 3D modeling and online educational games, all with the aim of enabling our visitors and digital users to enjoy and explore museum content.

SOLUTION

How did you select Culex XR Studio and what were the deciding factors?

We selected Culex based on previous projects they have implemented. We were really impressed with the quality of the work but also with their accessibility and understanding of the cultural content and knowledge of the needs of the users. We talked to other bidders earlier, but Culex left the best impression, but also offered the best price-quality ratio.

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

o far, a total of 3 virtual walks have been created, of which our favorite is the bilingual virtual walk, which also enables vulnerable groups of users, such as the visually impaired, to listen to audio recordings. The virtual walk we are talking about is important because of the universal theme and the message that is important to promote globally.

How many people from the Culex XR Studio team worked with you, and what were their positions?

The director, project manager and programmer participated in the creation of the virtual walk

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Given that the digitization of museum content and enabling its use is imperative for museum staff after cooperation, we can proudly say that in a year we have created 3 virtual walks, 3 online educational games, one 3D model.

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

During the collaboration, Culex employees were extremely friendly and cooperative. We held meetings during which we determined the schedule and deadlines for the implementation of activities. In case of additional questions, we communicated by phone and video conferences.

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

The team exhibited an innovative approach to problem-solving, as well as creative suggestions. It would also emphasize the reasonableness in the price for certain services, all the more so because the museum is a public institution that does not have the budget to create virtual walks and other digital innovations.

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

So far, it has been done flawlessly and we are looking forward to future cooperation.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are NGO organization that is working with children and we are Safer Internet CEnter in Croatia

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Culex XR Studio, and what were your goals?

Creating AR characters that are explaining to the children regarding online safety.

SOLUTION

How did you select Culex XR Studio and what were the deciding factors?

We decided on Culex based on good recommendations and the idea for the project that was presented to us.

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

We needed an application that would be interesting for kids, so in cooperation with Culex, we requested a couple of ideas. After the briefing, we agreed with the application where we put our characters to life through augmented reality. After they finished with the application and backend input system for characters quotes we put it to the final test.

How many people from the Culex XR Studio team worked with you, and what were their positions?

4 people worked from the Culex XR Studio, while I worked with their CEO Mario who is the project leader. From what I know, the team that worked on the project consisted of developers and 2D/3D designers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

All I can say is that kids love the application.

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

They are easy to talk to, if there are any problems or mistakes they are instantly working on them. It was my pleasure working with them. Communication was in person or over Phone and E-mail.

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

Their creativity and desire to create were stunning. They delivered a little bit better product than expected.

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

There is room for improvement as I am sure they will catch on in near future. Nonetheless, great team to work with.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am librarian at the Bibliobus - Mobile Library of Vukovar-Sriem County. Bibliobus is Bookmobile service of the City Library Vinkovci which is the parent library of Vukovar-Sriem County, Croatia.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Culex XR Studio, and what were your goals?

The role of a bookmobile is to enable access to culture and knowledge in areas where this contet is either unavailable or minimal. That said, in collaboration with the County administration we hired Culex XR Studio for educational project called „Virtual Reality (VR) in the Bookmobile”. The goal was to offer elementary school students an interesting and innovative way of learning about our County through play.

SOLUTION

How did you select Culex XR Studio and what were the deciding factors?

Culex XR Studio already created some other project for our city and county administration. The deciding factors were their innovative use of VR tehnology in educational purposes.

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

To implement the project a smartphone-based, educational-entertainment application is needed, as well as a virtual reality headset which displays and simulates a world in the width of the user's field of view. The production of the educational-entertainment application and procurement of the devices was done by the Culex XR Studio in cooperation with the librarians of the City Library Vinkovci who have prepared the contents required for the application and which follow the curriculum.

VR technology in this project simulates the native contents of the Vukovar-Srijem County in an innovative and interesting way in 14 scenes adapted for younger elementary school students.

Along with the creation and acquisition of the application, 20 VR headsets and smartphones have been procured. The application is installed on smartphones which are inserted into the headset and by starting up the app and looking through the VR glasses, students enter a virtual museum in which objects representing notable objects of our County can be found.

The project is performed through educational workshops in the mobile library (bookmobile) and schools with the use of VR technology. The project is implemented by the cooperation of the Bookmobile librarians with elementary school teachers and librarians of those places where there are Bookmobile stops. By doing this, cross-curricular learning from various school subjects is combined with an interesting method of learning in a novel way that is interesting for the students.

This service is excellent in correlation with many school subjects: Croatian language and literature, History, Art, Music, Physical Education, Science, Chemistry, Biology, Geography etc.

The head of the workshop, a librarian, introduces the technology of virtual reality and its many advantages in education to the children, as well as the contents they will see in the workshops, distributes VR headsets and teaches them how to navigate in virtual space, scene-by-scene. The workshop lasts 45 minutes.

In addition, 8 Oculus Quest have bean procured in 2020 and 5 new scenes were created for it. The goal for virtual world in project is to be more interactive so the elementary school students can perform some tasks like moving or combining objects in VR to complete assignments.

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

5 people worked with us. Project manager, level designer, 3D designer, Graphic designer, and two programmers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The Virtual Reality in the Bookmobile workshops were exceptionally well received since the very start. The project was first presented at a press conference in November 2018 in the City Library Vinkovci as well as the mobile library, followed by professional school librarian assemblies, elementary school principal assemblies, and the invitation for participation was sent out to all schools in the County.

Between November 2018 and end of the 2019 there have been 27 virtual reality workshops with 440 third- and fourth-graders, 28 teachers and 8 school librarian participants. Unfortunately, the Covid pandemic prevented us from maintaining workshops in 2020 but the project is ongoing and is continued in 2021.

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

We mostly communicated through e-mail and in-person meetings. From the beginning to the end of the project, all important tasks were held in person in a meeting. From idea, prototype, and all the major updates. Everything else was communicated through email.

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

The creativity of Culex XR Studio employees is amazing. Not only software developers but artist participate in creation of an inovative virtual world.

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

The Project „Virtual Reality (VR) in the Bookmobile” is ongoing, evolving project. Application of new scenes for Oculus Quest devices is in plan as well as new virtual assingments for students.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm an assistant professor on Faculty of Humanities and Social Science in Osijek, Croatia

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Culex XR Studio, and what were your goals?

They provide us with VR animation for inducing fear from spiders and snakes for scientific purposes.

SOLUTION

How did you select Culex XR Studio and what were the deciding factors?

Culex had a couple of VR projects that we found interesting, so we found them over the internet and arranged the cooperation.

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

We gave the instructions what we need and they complete it in two months without any delays and issues.

How many people from the Culex XR Studio team worked with you, and what were their positions?

I do not know that information.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were quite satisfied with the animation and over cooperation with them.

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

It was very easy going without any delays and mistakes. They delivered the animation before the deadline.

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

Their accuracy and time management stood out in the collaboration.

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

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the marketing manager for one of the biggest meat industries in Croatia. Talking care of communication, packaging, product positioning and more.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Culex XR Studio, and what were your goals?

Considering a challenging year behind us, we wanted to give our employees a fun and interesting gift in form of an AR greeting card with a video message from our CEO.

SOLUTION

How did you select Culex XR Studio and what were the deciding factors?

They are the biggest AR company I know of in our city (Osijek) and were my first and only choice.

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

They created an AR platform that showed a greeting card for our employees.

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

One, the company CEO.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The general feedback was positive, everyone (over 300 employees) was delighted with the novelty of the AR. There were no measurable outcomes.

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

They were very professional and available for our questions daily, during the process. We communicated through email and Viber.

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

The high-level of professionalism, innovative ideas and commitment to the project.

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

No