At Nova, we’re especially aware of how virtuality is shifting the ways in which we navigate the digital world. In crafting our VR experiences, we consider a number of factors. What sort of environment suits our concept best? Do we prefer abstraction? How cohesive is our environment, and is there a natural flow to the landscape?

Though world-building feels intuitive to most developers, research in game design has suggested users can only benefit from a more mindful approach. We try our best to defer to experts in psychology, design, and environmental science, while ensuring our final products are representative of our own vision. It is through world-building we are able to immerse our users and deliver on our promise for a satisfactory, sensory experience. For additional information on world-building in VR, feel free to peruse the sources we have available at the link above.

Though a lot of VR’s popularity is owed to its novelty, successful VR experiences are often defined by their UX and UI. User experience design and user interface design are aspects of the development process focused on boosting functionality. Without clear and navigable features, VR lacks the dynamism that distinguishes it from other digital mediums. To better address the functionality of our experiences, we research the types of play users find most engaging.

Implementing and playtesting features can be time-consuming, but by prioritizing immersion and allowing clients more free reign, we are able to deliver satisfying experiences. Each subset of our library will touch on functionality to some extent, but for more information on object play, object handling, immersion, and UX/UI, please look to the sources we have available at the link above!

Though many believe marketing is limited to a product’s release, marketing is an active influence on project development. Before we commit to a concept and begin working in engine, we must first confirm whether or not an audience for our experience exists in the first place. If we’re being commissioned by a client to provide a very niche service, then our efforts will be focused on meeting expectations. Otherwise, we develop marketing strategies based on concept research and existing competition.

Once we have decided on a concept, and our experience is near perfect, we refocus our efforts to ensuring our product is commercially sound. Using publicly available data, we develop in-house financial projections to assure our clients of their investment. We’ve listed more sources above for your convenience, but if you’re interested in consumer theory beyond our library we recommend perusing some of the articles available here.

Evaluating the success of our model involves developing a measure of success, ensuring our process is timely and in line with a client’s demands, as well as ensuring that our products show commercial promise. VR is far from its prime, so the economics on this can vary, but the flexibility of our tech leaves much room for growth across fields. We reference past strategies, allowing for readjustments in workflow for future development, while also looking externally for additional opportunities in VR. In a way, we hope this library serves as testament to the efficacy of our model. By uniting the visions of our clients and our dev teams with formalized research, we have ensured our approach is founded.