Michigan’s augmented and virtual reality industry has a ton going on. The industry is changing the way we engage with customers, train manufacturing employers, interact with cars and so much more. We caught up with some of our friends in the industry to talk about what they’ve been working on. As we approach the early application deadline for our Unity3D bootcamp, we want students to get a real understanding of what’s possible with this technology. Check out this amazing work:
Five Michigan Companies Developing in Unity
Chameleon Power
Chameleon Power specializes in using visualization software for businesses and consumers in manufacturers and retailers. From web tools to mobile apps, the company offers an array of services to companies such as Angie’s List, Empire Today, The Home Depot and more.
Chameleon Power uses Unity to develop an array of projects, including a commercial VR application that allows users to configure an environment with different combinations of materials. Users can select glass types, flooring, wall colors, railings, staircases and other products, customizing various features, materials and colors.
Deep Canvas
Located in Clawson, MI, Deep Canvas is a “boutique experience design firm for any reality.” Whether clients want a web presence or something created completed in VR, the team can help. Deep Canvas has worked with brands like Chevy, TechTown and Business Leaders for Michigan.
Using Unity, the Deep Canvas made Tiny TechTown. Tiny TechTown allows you to explore the seven TechTown districts and the small businesses they help grow across the city of Detroit. With “free play mode,” you can create an original world and fill it with buildings, roads, vehicles and more, then give it life with poseable characters, tell a story with custom speech bubbles and then take in-game photo captures that can be shared with friends on Facebook.
Fast Effect
Nowadays, unique customer engagement can have a huge impact on your company’s bottom line. Located in Royal Oak, Fast Effect creates interactive experiences through motion graphics, AR, VR, storytelling 3D animation and more.
This company, based in Royal Oak, rolled out the Dodge Ram Simulator, a mobile AR application they developed in Unity for Chrysler. It allows the user to point a phone or tablet at a Dodge Ram van (or even a photo or model) and see in 3 dimensions how different upfit packages would look, or how other versions of the vehicle compare in size.
Vectorform
Vectorform
, also located in Royal Oak, has worked with big name clients such as Google, adidas and Microsoft. The company strives to push businesses into solutions designed for the future, becoming a “digital partner” for their customers.
With client DTE Energy, Vectorform developed VR safety training. Their Working at Heights experience helps workers learn safety procedures while experiencing heights, without exposing them to danger.
Learners take the training in a full-immersion, room based Virtual Reality experience; this allows them to move around as they would in real life. DTE workers learn to make repairs at heights, follow safety procedures, and remove fall hazards to protect themselves and others around them.
SpellBound AR
SpellBound provides therapeutic tools for children in hospitals, giving them moments of joy and wonder during their treatment. When the SpellBound app is pointed at their cards or books, a magical world of 3D characters, animals, and scenes emerges, so children can use tablets or phones the hospital and their family already owns to experience a new dimension of interaction–developed with guidance from specialists so that these interactions provide effective distraction therapy and motor skill rehabilitation.
Thank you to Deep Canvas, Vectorform, Fast Effect, Chameleon Power and SpellBound for taking the time to tell us about your projects! We’re excited to see what you develop next!
Want to learn more about why we developed a bootcamp teaching Unity? Read my blog Learning Augmented and Virtual Reality: Unity3D Bootcamp