VR Game Increases Awareness

Background

When Symphony Solutions opened an office in Krakow, it had no market presence and no awareness. This was an issue, because the company needed to hire multiple software developers within one year in an industry where demand for engineers outpaces supply.

Challenge

How to establish presence in Krakow and create quality awareness for Symphony Solutions among primary target prospects quickly and effectively. 

The issue was how to establish presence in a new market, create quality awareness for Symphony Solutions among primary target prospects, and do so in a short amount of time. 

SIZING UP THE SITUATION 

The first and most obvious decision was to introduce the company to the market by participating in a number of technology events in Krakow. These events attracted 1,200 to over 2,000 engineers in the prime target hiring group, and Symphony Solutions needed to get noticed among dozens of exhibitors, some with huge exhibition booths.  

The idea was to showcase the unique culture of Symphony Solutions in a magnetic fashion to attract target visitors to the booth. Most exhibitors use giveaways and expensive raffle items. As such, Symphony Solutions would have been just another anonymous free-gift stop along the wide exhibition halls.  

At that point, we evaluated our assets. As a Dutch company, we had several distinguishing features: 

• A very cool office inspired by the Dutch town Zaanse Schans, where green Dutch-themed buildings used for meeting rooms form the perimeter of a big, open, green park setting, one which everyone loves, 
• Two life-size Dutch Friesian cow replicas, 
• A highly popular mascot pair called Mr. and Mrs. Cannabis, in recognition of the liberal cannabis practices in The Netherlands. These mascots are loved and adored internally and by others. 

The objective was to leverage these assets in a creative way that would bring the visitors closer to the warm and welcoming cultural experience that defines Symphony Solutions. 

Solution

The solution was to develop a VR game called the VR Quest, set in the open park of the Symphony Solutions office and the adjoining Amsterdam Café, where players with VR headsets ‘catch’ as many strategically placed Mr. and Mrs. Cannabis figures as they can. They had one month to develop, refine, and test this prior to the first event in Krakow. 

HOW THIS WAS DONE 

• The headset was HTC Vive. 
• A 3D model of the office was made in Archicad. 
• 3D Max was used to prepare texture, correct geometry, and export the unwrapped 3D model to UE4 to develop the game.

The VR quest was developed in UE4, and Blueprints Visual Scripting was used to set up scene dynamics, controllers, and interaction. 

The 3D model from Symphony architects was used as base for the quest environment, where Mr. and Mrs. Cannabis moved throughout the park and café, playing cat and mouse with the player, ‘catch me if you can.’ It took each player about 7 minutes to complete the game. 

Result

The VR Quest game was hugely popular with visitors who formed a long queue to participate: 

50 – 70 people per day played the game with 100 watching on a screen.

Pre- and Post-event awareness showed increases for Symphony Solutions: 

• Unaided Awareness: from 0% to 6%. 
• Aided Awareness: from 36% to 50%.   

80 engineers were hired in Krakow in 9 months’ time. 

The next level VR Quest is in development to showcase more extended and advanced graphics to heighten user experience and increase user engagement.