Lucid Reality Labs

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-owner of a company that sells different products including gifts for little girls.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lucid Reality Labs?

We sell classic gifts for children, and that’s a busy market that has been around for a while. We wanted to introduce something a bit more high-tech, updated, and futuristic and combine that with the old classic gifts. For example, bringing a music box to life with AR.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Lucid Reality Labs helped us to produce and upload animated videos about 1 minute long. They then linked them to a target image, which was our product, and brought them onto our app.

When the gift recipient points their iPhone, iPad, or Android at the product, it brings it to life with an AR experience and projects it as if it was really in the room. They also developed the iOS and Android app for us, and they started from scratch; we only gave them a few graphics to help them with the UI.

One of the experiences, a dancing ballerina, was a 3D AR experience, and Lucid Reality Labs built and animated the model of that using Unity. 

What is the team composition?

I initially worked with Alex (Founder & CEO) to scope the project. I then worked with Eugene (CTO) and a project lead.

How did you come to work with Lucid Reality Labs?

I found them through a Google search and noticed some of the work on their website I thought they were the best fit with the best experience. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from October–November 2020. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app has a screen for people to sign up, so we’ve already collected over 1,000 emails. We can also see the number of downloads and we get reviews on Amazon and our website, and the feedback has been good. The customers think that it improves the quality of the gifting experience. 

How did Lucid Reality Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Our communication with our project manager was excellent. We were on a Slack channel with them, and they communicated every hour to give me updates. We also used email and Skype. Their communication was very strong. Lucid Reality Labs pushed me proactively, which was great. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their work speed and ethic were impressive. They were fast but also thorough. Lucid Reality Labs kept the project moving well on course with the goals, and the quality of their work was great. Additionally, the design of the app and graphic experiences was top-class.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we didn’t have any problems. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Go ahead and get in touch with Lucid Reality Labs. They’re a great company to work with. They will meet your needs, but if they can’t, they’ll give you an honest appraisal about what they can and can’t do.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a researcher for an educational institution.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lucid Reality Labs?

We wanted to develop an AR application for our research project that we're using to drive engagement.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created an AR application that allows us to augment objects, specifically on iPad to provide a place to engage with products before purchase. The app allows the individual to either through an iPad or through the Magic Leap glasses to augment their objects. In a retail environment, customers are typically looking for additional information about products such as reviews and social media posts.

This app allows the individual to project or augment the object in a retail store with additional digital content. Through the iPad or glasses, an individual can see reviews as well as different customization options, price comparisons, reviews, and their social media content displayed on their screen. It allows individuals to have a holistic idea of products. They built the app from scratch for iOS and Android as well as Magic Leap.

What is the team composition?

I worked initially with Alex (Founder & CEO) and Eugene (CTO). Afterward, we were connected with a team lead and his team who were working on the application.

How did you come to work with Lucid Reality Labs?

I initially drafted a proposal and posted it on Upwork. There, I got connected with Alex who sent me a demo of a previous project of theirs. I thought this would fit quite nicely especially because it was very similar to what we’re doing.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2019–October 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They did a very good job. Even though they completed the project in the summer, they continue tweaking aspects of the solution to best fit our needs.

How did Lucid Reality Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They kept in contact with us to make sure everyone was on the same page. We met with them several times over Zoom, but the majority of the communication was done via email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were proactive and happy to change things when needed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. It was quite a good relationship.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have an idea before discussing things with them. Know what your end goal is. They were very good at helping us raise the bar, but it’s better for them to know what you want at the very beginning.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Wheelhouse Media is a production company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. My official title is head of VR/AR or head of immersive technology.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lucid Reality Labs?

We needed to create a VR music album. The concept was to create 360-degree videos for different tracks. These were the very early days of VR, around 2016.

This label company was representing a music group called, and they wanted to do 10 different VR tracks, one for each song in the album, and release them as an Android and iOS app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We dove deep into the details of what would and wouldn’t be included, based on the client’s overall goal. Lucid Reality Labs made a lot of recommendations based on their development experience, in terms of what was the right platform to use, and what the right architecture was.

There was a discussion on whether we wanted to have the videos embedded into the app. Users would then need to download a large app, but the playback would be immediate. 

The alternative would be to host the videos on the cloud and stream them, but that would present a bandwidth issue for people on the road and without access to Wi-Fi, and those connections wouldn’t be suitable for a proper viewing experience. 

Lucid Reality Labs did the research to ensure that we would pick a good option. The core application was built with Unity, and the big benefit there was that we could deploy it to both stores, as per the client’s requirement. The cloud infrastructure was built on AWS.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Alex (Founder & CEO), Eugene (CTO), and a product manager. My daily or biweekly contacts were with the product manager. Every so often, I would interact directly with the developers. 

How did you come to work with Lucid Reality Labs?

I believe I initially found them on a platform for software contractors. Prior to this one, I was working on a personal project, and I found Lucid Reality Labs. I wanted to turn that into a startup, but I decided to drop it after a few months.

The work itself was great, so, when I had this request from Wheelhouse, they were my first choice. I knew they’d do a great job of delivering.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent $220,000–$230,000 on their services so far, across several projects.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started this project in January 2016. My relationship with Wheelhouse ended in February 2020, when COVID-19 started and they weren’t able to produce videos anymore. Otherwise, I have little doubt that we’d still have ongoing projects there. I still do projects with Lucid Reality Labs outside of Wheelhouse.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Lucid Reality Labs is one of the few companies I’ve worked with that has a relatively low cost without compromising quality. They have a high level of quality, delivery, and communication matched with pricing that allows me to be profitable. That’s why I keep going back to them.  

All of our deliveries have been successful. We have high levels of customer satisfaction, and there were a few instances where the project led to more business with the customer. Specifically, the candy manufacturer client deployed the application we built for them internally, to all their employees. 

The app was pushed to about 30,000 phones, as part of an internal marketing effort, and it was a big success. They’re looking to roll it out publicly now, which in itself is a testament to the quality of Lucid Reality Labs’ work. We were extremely happy with the revenue generated as a result of their work. 

How did Lucid Reality Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very organized from the onset. After scoping, they provided us with a detailed development schedule with the cost. It was easy for us to communicate that to the client, as well as to make sure that we had a large enough buffer when we priced it in order to include our own overhead.

Lucid Reality Labs has product managers responsible for every project. I always have a point person to talk to and get weekly updates from. I used to be a programmer myself, so it was relatively important for me to stay close to the technical decisions. 

They were flexible in this sense, and they were happy to accept it whenever I asked to be involved in technical discussions. Even when we had a long process of scoping out a project, the team never charged me for it.

It’s common practice to charge for this, and there were many times when Lucid Reality Labs had to scope a project that didn’t turn out to be accepted. It’s just the nature of selling. 

Being able to outsource everything to do with development, including technical scoping and creating statements of work, is good even if just one out of seven projects is accepted by the client. Lucid Reality Labs was incredibly helpful on that side.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m most impressed with the quality of content. I’ve seen companies with people that could do many things. They didn’t have specialists; they just had generalists, so the quality of individual tasks wasn’t extreme. 

With Lucid Reality Labs, if they need to do a character or environment design project, it’ll be very high quality. I gave them a project to model a camping site in the middle of a forest, and they did a beautiful job. 

Beyond the technical aspects of software development, there’s also the visual artistry of it. A lot of their team members came in from the gaming industry, and that adds a lot to it. The visual fidelity of their products is very high. I often feel I’m working with an art studio, not a software company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There are always things to improve. Lucid Reality Labs was a much smaller company in 2016, when I started working with them. I don’t know how big they are today, and I don’t want to frame this as an area of development, but one of the things that changed was that their process became more standardized.

One of the fun things about working with them when we first started was my relationship with Alex. It was fun to work together. Right now, I’m mostly working with product managers and sometimes with Eugene. That’s not really a point of improvement. I'm impressed with their delivery and cost.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I would recommend working with Lucid Reality Labs on the technical level, and trust them at the artistic level. I’ve found that they have a lot of great ideas, and, if they’re given enough rope, they’ll do great work.

I’ve recommended them to a friend that develops VR meeting spaces, and they designed all the environments and avatars for those. My friend had a clear idea of what he wanted, and, when he let Lucid Reality Labs run with their own ideas, they came back with much better suggestions and designs.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of an advertising agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lucid Reality Labs?

We’re always looking at new technologies, and we were recommended to talk to them because we wanted to do an augmented reality project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

One of our clients wanted to do something with augmented reality using 5G cellular technology. We came up with an idea to create an avatar using AR capabilities. We wanted to transport full-body animation over cellular networks in real-time to a location anywhere in the world. For example, if you're on your cell phone walking around and you want to have a live DJ or live dancer in front of you that's being driven in real-time, you can do that. 

Lucid Reality Labs built all of the technology for this project. This included a mobile application for iOS and Android, a cloud application, and a host application which was connected to the human models we used. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with a team of about six people. 

How did you come to work with Lucid Reality Labs?

I did some research, and they were mentioned several times. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $148,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2019, and we launched the product in June 2019. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was very successful. We’re talking about working together again on more projects. They delivered a cutting edge solution. 

How did Lucid Reality Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Their performance was excellent. They were always on top of things and were easy to communicate with. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re comfortable with cutting edge technologies. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, that’s why we’re going to keep working with them. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t be afraid to ask for the impossible because they’ll come up with an answer. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a digital products firm that does mobile applications, virtual reality, augmented reality, video production, and photography.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lucid Reality Labs?

We were looking for a partner to help us with a virtual reality project for a neurosurgeon.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We were creating a virtual environment in the HTC VIVE eye-tracking headset to help neurosurgeons understand how their patients how their patient’s vision is while the back of their head is cut open, and they’re performing surgery to remove a tumor that could be affecting their vision.

It allowed us to replicate a physical world device that wouldn’t be possible to put on the person’s face while surgery was happening. They provided project management, product design, and consultation. They also provided development for the computer interface for the application and the VR application itself.

What is the team composition?

We worked with five people from their team.

How did you come to work with Lucid Reality Labs?

We came across them online and they had excellent reviews. We checked a couple of different references, and I met with Eugene (CTO) in person. He really knows the digital and virtual reality space well and he’s an excellent partner.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent less than $10,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2019, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The biggest thing for us is accountability and setting expectations. Lucid always deliver on time, if not early. When they discover something in the code, they’re very proactive and work to make your product even better. We’ve had doctors and patients say that what we’ve created using VR is the exact replica of a $500,000 machine that weighs 250 lbs., and stands four feet tall.

How did Lucid Reality Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re an 11 out of 10. Our main modes of communication are Slack and Zoom. The team is very open to calls and conversations, which helps us get that personalized touch. They’re true professionals.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very good at what they do. There’s a whole process that we go through with them when we start projects with them, and that kind of think-tank possibilities exploration is where we feel like we have a true partner.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to share your vision with them and explore the possibilities of what’s possible.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’ve been working for L’Oréal Ukraine for more than five years, and I’m currently a brand director for a local luxury salon brand. I’m responsible for the marketing, education, and commercial parts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lucid Reality Labs?

We’ve been in the Ukrainian market for more than 13 years, and we understand that the age of our audience is above 35 years.

The more important audience for us is younger people 25–35 years old, because they spend more money on beauty. We went to Lucid Reality Labs in order to give our brand a more creative and younger look.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our first project with Lucid Reality was for a franchise we launched in 2019. They created an AR presentation through which people could play with and read about our new products, as well as experience being in our new salon. The software also allowed us to collect data that we could use for future products.

We created an Instagram campaign with them in 2020, for a new launch.

What is the team composition?

I worked with three people from Lucid Reality: a creative manager, a project manager, and a global director.

How did you come to work with Lucid Reality Labs?

Lucid Reality was recommended to us by one of our digital agencies, which described them as a young team that understood the business. We gave them a try and decided that we’d like to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

The first project cost €16,000–€17,000 (approximately $19,000–$20,000 USD), and the work in 2020 cost €3,000 (approximately $3,500 USD). I think we would’ve spent €10,000–€15,000 (approximately $11,000–$17,000 USD) had it not been for the pandemic.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our first project with them in February 2019. We’d like to work on more innovative projects with them, but our marketing budget has been restricted due to the COVID situation.

I’ve also referred them to other divisions within our company.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everyone in my team is satisfied with Lucid Reality’s work. We collected 30% more data than we planned. There were more than 500 people that spent time with the AR software during our event, which is more than we were expecting.   

How did Lucid Reality Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

I was very satisfied working with them. Lucid Reality is really creative, they understood our products and brand needs, and they worked very fast. We usually communicated through email, and we also had meetings, which were in person in 2019 and online in 2020. 

Their administrative manager followed up with us at each step, which made it very easy to work with them. The team proposed good ideas, and we had no misunderstandings. The communication was easy and clear, and they were able to work autonomously, without having us go over every detail of what they were doing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I don’t have experience working with this kind of company, but I can see why people referred Lucid Reality to me. They’re creative, modern, and fast, and they understand what the client needs.

Lucid Reality understood our mindset and needs from the first meeting. They delivered everything quickly and with good quality.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think so. Everyone in my team was satisfied with the results, and we’ll continue working with Lucid Reality.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I’ve referred them to other people in the L’Oréal company.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a manufacturing AR development firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lucid Reality Labs?

We needed to do some proof of concepts for AR technology. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Lucid Reality Labs provided AR development services, working in Unity, ARKit, Euphoria, open C, and more. Additionally, the team integrated various network APIs.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 5-6 people over the course of the engagement.

How did you come to work with Lucid Reality Labs?

We found them on Upwork. They showed us they possessed the necessary level of expertise and skills we required for the project when we interviewed them as well as showing us their past work.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July 2019 – February 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Lucid Reality Labs was able to assemble technology combinations faster than we could’ve done it on our own. They solved issues and were a complement to our internal team’s development know-how.

How did Lucid Reality Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication was very good. They stayed within the timelines and solved issues that arose.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are good technologically. They don’t just follow directions, but they question you, offering different, and better, approaches.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing I could comment on.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior marketing manager for Europe and Eastern Africa at a respiratory and monitoring solutions company. Our solutions are used in critical care and anesthesiology

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lucid Reality Labs?

We hired them to create an immersive virtual reality environment.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created a virtual reality environment where we could use one of our focus products, which is a video laryngoscope. We wanted to give clinicians and anesthesiologists the ability to perform intubation in virtual reality for training.

What is the team composition?

We worked with eight people from their team.

How did you come to work with Lucid Reality Labs?

We were looking for a company that really stood out in their capabilities of developing virtual reality. The project was first made in the US with a different supplier, and it was by no means as immersive as what Lucid Reality Labs developed. They were a small, very advanced company.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2018, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The team is very agile, adaptive, and has creative out-of-the-box thinkers. The quality of their work is outstanding. When you step into that virtual reality environment, you’re in a different world; it’s almost like you’re bringing the OR to the customer. People were waiting in line to try out this product at our trade shows and they were very eager about it. They saw the real benefit in it, to the point that some physicians requested to have it in their facilities. We also had lead and demand generation, so overall it’s been a great addition to what we offer.

How did Lucid Reality Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Most times, they were done before their deadlines. The team was also very agile and quick while developing. There was never a moment where we were delayed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

When we started working with them, I don’t believe they were familiar with the medical device world. They took the time to immerse themselves, learn very quickly, and ask the right questions. Whatever was required to display the right information was there.

They were also very quick in making changes. Whenever we asked for an adjustment, they would do it overnight. The team was always there and eager to help. They didn’t just do what we asked, they thought with us on how to use their technology to the highest level.

Are there any areas they could improve?

In the beginning, we had a bit of a language barrier, but that quickly resolved itself. Other than that, nothing could be improved.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a digital agency specializing in digital experiences based in augmented and virtual reality applications. We also do a lot of 3D animations and virtual exhibition applications. I am the general manager and founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lucid Reality Labs?

We had a request for a special kind of technology module for an augmented reality application. The app itself serves as a kind of tinder for car rims, where you can point your camera at your car and the application will layer new rims on top of your existing rims to help you visualize how they will look.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The component that their team built was the automatic rim detection so that you do not have to manually designate the position and size of your car’s rims within the camera frame. It was based off of a tracking model with analytics to detect car rims in 3D space, so we used an AR kit on iOS technology, based on the framework from Unity 3D.

What was the team composition?

I’m not exactly sure how many of their team members were working behind the scenes, but as far as the ones I interacted with there were a few project managers and as many as 4–5 coders depending on the part of the project.

How did you come to work with Lucid Reality Labs?

We screened a few companies on Upwork, and Lucid Reality impressed us the most with their proposal and early interviews. We were convinced that they had the capabilities to handle most of the development independently of us giving them every direction for each individual milestone.

How much have you invested with them?

In total, we spent around $13,000–$14,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from August 2019–January 2020, but we have continued to make periodic changes as needed since then.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The code itself that they delivered to us was very well written and passed all of the tests that we used to evaluate it, which is quite rare for third-party work. Throughout the process, they provided consistent updates via images and screen captures of their work without us even having to ask them for updates, which made it much easier to track all of our projects.

How did Lucid Reality Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication between the teams of developers was excellent. Usually, when you have a question about the status or a specific feature in the product, the response from them takes about 15-20 minutes, whether it’s coming from a developer or one of their executives.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Last week I got a request from of our programmers explaining an issue with the component that was impeding an upgrade we wanted to make. Our team took that to their team, and two hours later everything was sorted out and we were able to make the update without any additional cost.

Their service is incredible and really demonstrates the level of commitment that they have to their customers. Not only that, however, but they have an incredible depth of technical understanding in this area. Their combination of technical skill and dedication made it incredibly enjoyable to work with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I really don’t have any complaints; we are very happy with them and plan to bring them on again as soon as we have another project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a global leader in medical technology, services, and solutions. We collaborate with others to take on healthcare's greatest challenges.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Lucid Reality Labs?

For our innovative technology for hysteroscopic procedures, Lucid Reality Labs developed a procedure simulation in 3D.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal was to showcase the value of our technology and demonstrate the simplicity and safety. We are using this tool at congresses and workshops. Right now we are working on some exciting extensions of the existing modules, which will enable us to even go one step further and use it for training.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I have seen the amazing procedure simulation that Lucid Reality Labs have created for another Medtronic business unit. And I immediately knew: this is the way to go!

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Lucid Reality Labs developed a simulation of two different hysteroscopic procedures in 3D. This interactive tool offers the opportunity to get familiar with our equipment, and learn the technique to remove pathologies. It is very realistic, and we get excellent feedback from everyone trying it.

What was the team composition?

Within Medtronic, 2 people were directly involved in the procedure development. And we also got support from our customers: We wanted to make sure that the simulation is as realistic as possible, so Lucid Reality Labs and our team spent two days in a hospital, studying the procedure setup and every single step.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

When the surgeon, who initially invented our product portfolio 15 years ago, sat down to try the VR simulation, and was more than impressed by this tool, we knew that we had accomplished something meaningful. It´s an excellent way to draw more attention to our booth, start conversations with potential new customers, and explain the value of our technology not only through words, but through a realistic and playful experience. We immediately received lots of requests for other Gyn events wordwide, which shows how much interest we could generate.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

When Lucid Reality Labs presented their plans and timeline in the beginning, I thought it was very ambitious. But they kept their promises.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

From the first conversation until the final product it took less than seven months, which is very impressive, especially when you consider that they didn´t have any expertise in gynecology in the beginning. I 100% trust them, because they did not only stick to their ambitious timeline, but they also have a deep understanding of how human beings think, learn, work and have fun. They are able to combine all of that, and therefor create a unique experience for our audience. The final product was much better than I had initially thought.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No areas for improvement. 5 stars and a huge "Thank you!"