Virtual Verse Studio

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

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder, CEO of Nova Slides

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

3D presentation platform for industrial training and sales

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Virtual Verse Studio to accomplish?

• Develop Unity features
• Develop 3D web features in Babylon

SOLUTION

How did you find Virtual Verse Studio?

Online Search

Why did you select Virtual Verse Studio over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Virtual Verse Studio were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Brought the Virtual Verse team to build out several key Unity and Babylon features, such as 3D model CI/CD upload to our backend, auto-configuration for addressables, a 3d modeling labeling system, Babylon scene graphics, lighting, and post-processing, a 3D web model explosion system, and among other features.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Virtual Verse was tasked with building out each feature, from intial scope and architectural design, to developing the first version, to iterating based on feedback, and finally shipping the feature with documentation.

Every feature was a huge success because they went above and beyond with considering not only correct implementation but the integration process, and actively prioritized ease of integration into the rest of the app.

Every feature made it into our production apps.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Proactive communication, and available at all times over whatsapp. Client satisfaction was of the highest importance for them. They maintained flexibility and perspective, and always made themselves available to ensure that the project was on time while being built properly.

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?

An incredible balance of professionalism, big-picture thinking, and attention to detail. In addition to very high quality work, they are also a lot of fun to work with. I never felt like an inconvenience asking for minor changes, and they showed up to every project eager to exceed expectations.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Principal of The Gouge

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Distilling complex technology advising companies to help translate the intricacies of engineering and high tech.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Virtual Verse Studio to accomplish?

• Revolutionize employee onboarding through immersive and generative AI experiences.
• Empower organizations with engaging, futuristic onboarding platforms tailored for new hires.
• Increasing companies retention rates with an unforgettable 3D Employee Onboarding Experience!

SOLUTION

How did you find Virtual Verse Studio?

Other, Work Spatial found Virtual Verse

Why did you select Virtual Verse Studio over others?

Capability to Deliver and Talent

How many teammates from Virtual Verse Studio were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Work Spatial is harnessing the power of cutting-edge technologies such as Spatial Computing, Generative AI, and Gaming to revolutionize how large enterprises welcome and integrate new team members and increase new hire retention rates.  The Gouge advised Work Spatial on this project.  Work Spatial engaged with Virtual Verse in building the onboarding capability

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Employee Engagement Rate: Measured by time spent actively participating in the onboarding experience.

Return on Investment (ROI): Value delivered compared to development and implementation costs.

Collaboration Metrics: Number of interactions or collaborative sessions held in the immersive environment.

Scalability: The system's ability to accommodate a growing number of users or onboarding programs.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Mohamed and Mazen were excellent to work with.  Both are very innovative and capable.  They are very knowledgeable in spatial computing technologies and how to translate that knowledge and capability into tangible development and positive outcomes.

What was your primary form of communication with Virtual Verse Studio?

Virtual Meeting

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

Mohamed is a strong technical and business leader who engages in a very strong and partnering way.  He and his team, in this particular case Mazen and others that contribued were collaborative and capable.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Virtual Verse Studio could have done differently?

No, I definitely recommend Virtual Verse for spatial computing work and collaboration

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Artist of an arts, entertainment & music company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

It does art.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Virtual Verse Studio to accomplish?
To create a interactive version of my 3D model

SOLUTION

How did you find Virtual Verse Studio?

Online Search

Why did you select Virtual Verse Studio over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget

How many teammates from Virtual Verse Studio were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Create a Unity build to allow my 3D character to interact with the data from a webcam.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The Unity build worked.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Very responsive and fast at delivering.

What was your primary form of communication with Virtual Verse Studio?

Email or Messaging App

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

They were very easy to work with.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Virtual Verse Studio could have done differently?

No improvements needed.