AR/VR Dev for Creative Education Company
- AR/VR Development
- Confidential
- Feb. 2023 - Ongoing
- Quality
- 3.0
- Schedule
- 3.0
- Cost
- 3.0
- Willing to Refer
- n/a
"They respond quickly and always follow up with me in a timely manner."
- Arts, entertainment & music
- Atlanta, Georgia
- 1-10 Employees
- Online Review
- Verified
Virtual Verse Studio develops a VR app for a creative education company. The team handles the app's UI design and frontend development and submits the app for review on the Meta Quest platform.
Virtual Verse Studio's work is released early on the Meta Quest app store, meeting the client's expectations. The team communicates well via email, messaging apps, and virtual meetings. They respond quickly to the client's questions and follow up promptly.
The client submitted this review online.
BACKGROUND
Introduce your business and what you do there.:
Immersive Exposure, designed for Meta Quest, redefines creative education by integrating Virtual & Mixed Reality, offering hands-on learning experiences that rival in-person workshops with industry experts
OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE
What challenge were you trying to address?
We initially engaged Virtual Verse Studio to develop and maintain "Immersive Exposure," a VR/MR educational platform for Meta Quest. The goal was to create a high-fidelity, hands-on learning experience. Over our 3-year relationship, we invested over $19,240 to scale the application and ensure a seamless user experience for our students.
SOLUTION
What was the scope of their involvement and team dynamic?
The team, led by Mohamed Essam and Mazen Amr, was responsible for full-stack development, backend management via AWS/Linode, and most recently, a Unity engine upgrade. While the relationship was historically positive, the final phase valued at $9,100 was plagued by a 60-day period of ghosting and unfulfilled promises while the team prioritized other clients.
What's the status of this engagement?
Terminated. The project was abandoned by the developers after a 3-year relationship. Following three years of consistent work and over $19,240 in total investment, including $10,140 through Upwork, the team ceased communication for 60 days. After a dispute was initiated regarding the final incomplete milestone, the team used administrative backdoors to sabotage the live application and take all services offline. The engagement is now the subject of a criminal investigation under Egypt's Law 175.
RESULTS & FEEDBACK
How did your relationship with your partner evolve?
After three years of trust, the relationship suffered a catastrophic breakdown. Following two months of non-responsiveness, the team unilaterally "stepped off" the project with the work incomplete. When a chargeback was initiated for the undelivered milestone, the team retaliated by using a backend "backdoor" to intentionally take my live business assets offline. This is currently being addressed as a criminal matter under Egypt's Law 175.
In what ways can they improve?
Professionalism and ethics are paramount in development. A team should never weaponize administrative access to sabotage a client’s business during a financial dispute. They must respect legal boundaries, adhere to platform dispute resolution protocols (like those on Upwork), and prioritize the security and integrity of their clients' infrastructure over retaliatory tactics.
What advice do you have for clients with similar needs to yours?
Based on a 3-year engagement that resulted in a total investment of over $19,240, my primary advice is to never let a long-term relationship replace strict security protocols. You must maintain total control of your infrastructure.
Own Your Infrastructure: Ensure you are the sole "Root" owner of your AWS, Linode, and domain accounts. Never allow a developer to be the primary billing or administrative contact.
Audit Access Regularly: Rotate SSH keys and IAM roles immediately if a project stalls or communication breaks down.
Document Everything: Maintain precise logs of all logins and system changes. We were able to identify the specific IP address and location (Cairo, Egypt) used to sabotage our backend, which is critical for the criminal reports we have filed.
Know Your Legal Levers: If you face sabotage, understand that cyber-crimes are global. We utilized Egypt’s Law 175 of 2018 (Article 18) and the FBI’s IC3 division to address the unauthorized interruption of our business services.
UPDATED REVIEW
Corey Reese
Founder, Immersive ExposureArts, entertainment & music
Atlanta, Georgia
1-10
Feb 2023 - Ongoing
$10,000 to $49,999
Verified
Project summary
Virtual Verse Studio develops a VR app for a creative education company. The team handles the app's UI design and frontend development and submits the app for review on the Meta Quest platform.
Feedback summary
Virtual Verse Studio's work is released early on the Meta Quest app store, meeting the client's expectations. The team communicates well via email, messaging apps, and virtual meetings. They respond quickly to the client's questions and follow up promptly.
BACKGROUND
Please describe your company and position.
I am the Founder of Immersive Exposure
Describe what your company does in a single sentence.
Immersive Exposure, designed for Meta Quest, redefines creative education by integrating Virtual & Mixed Reality, offering hands-on learning experiences that rival in-person workshops with industry experts
OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE
What specific goals or objectives did you hire Virtual Verse Studio to accomplish?
Build App for Meta Quest Platform
SOLUTION
How did you find Virtual Verse Studio?
Upwork
Why did you select Virtual Verse Studio over others?
- Company values aligned
- Other
Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.
Final Oculus App User Interface * Final Front-end web app * Submitting App for review in the Meta Store * Testing User Scenarios * Stress Testing application load. User Interface with Hand Tracking: Photon Multiplayer Dedicated Server: Setup Voice Call: Change Images of the Room from the Server Side: Ready-Player Avatar Setup: Teleportation:
RESULTS & FEEDBACK
What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?
Application now availbale in Early Access on the Meta Quest Application store.
Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?
Communications have been strong from the start of the project and continue to be so as we tackle ongoing development. Whenever I have questions, they respond quickly and always follow up with me in a timely manner.
What was your primary form of communication with Virtual Verse Studio?
- Virtual Meeting
- Email or Messaging App
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
Communications, the quality of service, and the willingness to work within the set parameters and timeline have been handled with excellence.
Are there any areas for improvement or something Virtual Verse Studio could have done differently?
So far I don't have anything.
Overall rating: 5.0
Quality: 5.0
Cost: 5.0
Schedule: 5.0
Willing to refer: 5.0
RATINGS
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Quality
3.0Service & Deliverables
-
Schedule
3.0On time / deadlines
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Cost
3.0Value / within estimates
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Willing to Refer
n/aNPS
