formula D

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of special projects at a science museum in Florida. When I worked with Formula D, I was the VP of exhibitions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Formula D?

We needed their expertise in interactive AR production.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?\

Formula D produced a large-scare production mapping and a digital interactive experience tool using AR technology. We had a brainstorming session to discuss our initial concepts, and their team helped us refine and finalize our ideas. Upon concluding that phase, Formula D then designed the AR characters, managed the software, and worked with another company in charge of installing the equipment.

Their team gave us exclusive rights to the product content and software. One of the AR tools detected movements of the audience and projected these onto the screen as if they were interacting with objects from outer space. Their movements and the AR-designed objects and characters were projected on the four walls of our museum, creating an immersive digital experience.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a team of 5 resources, including a project manager, developers, and designers.

How did you come to work with Formula D?

Our CEO visited South Africa and encountered Formula D's work at an aquarium convention. He was interested enough to look for their online portfolio, and he then contacted their team to take on this AR development project.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested over $2 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from January 2015–May 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Formula D generated superior AR and software design that blew us away — they were able to bring our complex ideas to life, and everyone commended their top-notch production skills. I'm a firm believer that nothing in the world is perfect, but their work was so close to being that.

How did Formula D perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated via email and phone calls. Formula D collaborated seamlessly with our team and eagerly met our deadlines. They dealt with any quality or timeline-related issues with ease and had a dedicated project manager who helped us every step of the way.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Formula D clearly understood what we wanted to achieve and worked closely with us to exceed our expectations.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could consider refining their after-service support. We were expecting to still be in touch with them after the product's completion in case we needed maintenance or repair, but it was hard to get a hold of them after we settled the last payment.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Outline a clear scope of work and maximize your communication channels with their team to ensure that they're working towards your goals.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing director of a wine estate and an edutainment center for children in South Africa. We have many different offerings in our estate. One is an edutainment center for children between the ages of 5–13 years old, in which they learn while playing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Formula D?

We had the idea of creating an interactive exhibit for our edutainment center, but we needed someone to design, develop it and bring the ideas to life.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

With the help of Formula D, we developed the concept and the technology behind our idea. 

It's an interactive edutainment centre, where education and entertainment are seamlessly integrated for a holistic, sensory-rich and wonderous experience. It consists of multiple high-tech interactive learning zones that were designed to cover all learning areas of the CAPS curriculum and an outside play area built to develop both fine- and gross motor skills.

This project included, among other things, conducting educational research, developing of the content, creating the animated characters, designing the activity stations and exhibits, developing a registration system and integrating it with the ticketing system. 

When a child comes into the center, they register and get a bracelet with a chip in it. They then can activate the stations with this bracelet. The first time they get to a station, one of the five characters appears on the screen and then accompanies them throughout their activities.

Formula D helped us create animated characters for our virtual stations; they brought them to life. For this, they created some sketches and worked with us until we developed together the character that we had in mind. Those characters represent the elements required to grow plants and create life: the sun, the earth, the water, the air, and the love and care.

The registration process includes getting all the details of the child and the parent who is in charge. One of the most important elements of this experience is the security and safety of the kids. We gather all the information from the parent or guardian, as well as from the person coming to pick the kids up at the end of the experience.

When they finish the experience, the person fetching them receives an SMS to their phone letting them know the child is ready to be collected. When they check out at the end of the activities, the parent gets an email summarizing the activities that the kid completed. If they still have other activities to complete, they can experience them on the next visit.

Formula D continues to work with us. We’re now working on some changes to optimize the experience, based on the feedback from our employees and the visitors. 

FormulaD has a customer service line, through which our teams communicate when various issues arise. They also provide maintenance services to the software used for our exhibits.

What is the team composition?

I work directly with Formula D’s manager and the head of the technical team. I don’t know how many people work in the technical team.

How did you come to work with Formula D?

We started working on this idea with another company, but they were based outside of South Africa. They were very good, but we were about the future interaction with an overseas company.

We decided to look online for local companies that could execute such a project. There’s an aquarium in our area, and Formula D had designed an exhibit there, so we contacted them and told them what we had in mind. They showed us their portfolio, and we continued from there.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from June 2018–June 2019 to create the exhibit. However, our relationship continues, and we have a maintenance service agreement in place.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The whole exhibit is working well. We’re now looking into opening another branch. We want to continue working with Formula D on future projects as well.

How did Formula D perform from a project management standpoint?

We’re happy with Formula D’s project management capabilities, and this is why we’re still working with them. There are systems in place for our ongoing work, and they work very well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Formula D is very creative; both with content development and with solutions for technological challenges. We started with an idea and a concept in mind, but they helped us develop it and bring it to life.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing specific.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s very important to manage your expectations from the beginning. Be very clear about what you would like to achieve and test the product thoroughly prior to going live.