How much does the development of a VR Training application cost?
If you are reading this then you most likely already know the benefits of VR Training. Just in case you don’t, check out my other article for a quick run down of the Benefits of VR Training — coming soon.
I am often asked — “How much does it cost to create a VR training module?” This isn’t something which you can give a straight answer to without additional information, there are too many variables to take into account. Do you want a simple passive experience where the user is guided through an environment and given information from a virtual tour guide? Do you want to explore that environment and interact with it? Do you want something that will be AAA production quality? Do you want a mobile solution? The list goes on.
So, how much does it cost to build a VR training application? In this article I will break down the process that we take with our clients at Digitalnauts when scoping a project, provide you with an approximate cost breakdown for each step in development process and outline some of the key factors which affect the overall cost and ways in which you can offset some of these costs.
The Process
The purpose of this article is not to go into detail of the entire development process, for that I will write another article, but instead to outline the average time spent on each of the stages and from that derive a breakdown of cost.
The Content Digest to Proposal
The very first thing to happen is a content digest, typically this is a meeting with the client, their content specialist, a project manager and an instructional designer. Depending on the content and the size of the project the studio may need to take this information back to the office to fully digest it.
The process of digesting the content typically involves looking at what is being taught, what are the primary learning objectives and how can this be split into workable scenarios. This information is then put into an outline storyboard which informs a project scope detailing time, effort and what external resources may be required. If the outcomes are simple, and low complexity scenarios are required, or if the client has a limited budget, then it may well be that the learning outcomes are not best suited to be taught in VR and may recommend a more traditional eLearning approach such as video or a web / classroom based training. If, however the scenario would benefit from interaction with the real world then an alternative immersive solution such as Augmented or Mixed Reality may be more suitable, depending on the learning objectives and scenario environment.
The outline scoping process can sometimes be done over a round table discussion with the client but for more complex scenario’s may take a day or two. If the client is happy with what is being proposed then a more formal proposal will be written up which will outline the detailed scope of the project, describe the development journey along with time lines and project deliverable’s. Depending on the scale of the project this often takes from 3 to 10 days.
Design and Development
The remaining phases are where the development costs come in, as they take up the majority of the time.
The importance of the consultation stage cannot be overstated. It is important for the developers to fully understand exactly what the learning outcomes are for their particular client so that they can properly design a learning tool that can mimic real life and produce real outcomes.
The more complex the desired outcome is, the more intricate the coding and progression needs to be, requiring more time and increasing the overall cost of the project. To help understand how this time might be broken down, let’s invent a client scenario.
Let’s imagine we have created a storyboard and identified 3 learning outcomes for a Fire Safety scenario.
In this scenario, the learner will be situated within an office environment when a fire breaks out in a random location.
- First, the learner must locate the fire and identify the type of fire (electrical, combustible, gas, etc.)
- Once they have identified the type of fire, they will then need to locate the fire extinguishers and select the correct one for the type of fire (water, foam, powder, CO2.)
- When they have picked up the extinguisher they must then use it correctly by removing the pin, aiming the nozzle at the base of the fire and releasing the extinguishing agent while making sweeping motions.
- The time and efficiency of the user will be tracked which will finally provide them with a set of scores alongside feedback, helping the learner to understand how effective they were at each individual attempt.
We have decided with the client that the most suitable hardware option for their needs is the Samsung Gear VR with Motion Controller.
Breaking Down the Time
Now that we have outlined our scope, let’s have a look at table with the percentage of time against each process.
I have included an extra column titled “With a Framework” to demonstrate the development time (and in turn — money) which will be saved by working with a studio who already have the assets and tools in place for developing immersive training content. Such as having a framework like our Apollo framework.
As can be seen in the table, the majority of time spent is in the development and testing phase. This is where all the assets that have been created get pulled together, the interactions, behaviours and mechanics get built and the actual project begins to come to realisation. This is an iterative process, you implement a feature, you test it, you get user feedback and then you respond. Times here can vary greatly and the studio will be aware of this when producing a quote.
Factors that Will Affect Cost
There are many considerations that you should take into account when choosing a studio to develop your content. The most significant aspect is almost always the cost. Though important to manage budget constraints, it is not recommended to select the cheapest option purely to keep costs down, this could be detrimental to achieving the vision you may have for your product. As my Grandmother always tells me — “You only get what you pay for”.
Always look at the experience of the studio and if they are the right fit for you. The costs of poor quality are tangible; they will cost you customers and money, and ultimately affect the success of your business.
I will outline some of the most significant factors which will affect the overall cost.
Assets - Creation vs Curation
Assets are the visual and audio content for VR. Depending on your needs and the resources you have available, it is always going to be cheaper to use an existing asset than to have a studio build one. Take a 3D model of an office as an example. If the client would like to model their own office exactly as it is, it will cost a lot more as the studio will have to create the model from scratch. The alternative would be to buy an asset from an online store and use that. The studio will be able to assist you in selecting assets that best fit your needs. If your organisation is part of the an industry such as construction or architecture, then you may already have the models of a building available to you. It will then be down to the studio to take these models and optimise them to work within an immersive platform.
Development Methodology
Most companies will use the Agile methodology (or a variant) when it comes to project management. This method assists teams in responding to the unpredictability of constructing software. It uses incremental, iterative work sequences that are commonly known as sprints. Enabling quick response to change and usually involves the feedback and decision making from the client. Any significant changes may increase development time which will incur additional charges. As I stated previously however, an experienced studio will take this into account when quoting an initial time scale.
Type of Experience
Depending on the type of experience you are looking for, the development time will change based on the expertise of the studio. There is a plethora of devices available and the studio will help you reach the decision of which is the best fit for your project.
Many factors will need to be taken into consideration to help you to decide which device is best suited to your needs — cost, portability, longevity, level of immersion, type of experience, etc.
The most important thing to remember is that the learning is the critical factor when creating any training solution.
If the training is equally as effective on a mobile VR solution as it is on the Hololens then it makes good business sense to use the more cost effective mobile solution. Though the cost of development may be similar, the difference in device cost can be drastic — £10 Google Cardboard vs. £3,000 Microsoft Hololens.
Resources Available
The resources available to a studio will also affect the final price. If a studio does not have their own team of 3D artists or voice over artists, for example, then they must source them from elsewhere. This can affect the quality and increase development time and can create friction within the development process as the studio will have less control over the asset creation process.
At Digitalnauts, our greatest resource is the Apollo framework which we have been working hard to develop for the past year. As we touched on earlier, it’s a Swiss army knife of tools which enable us to rapidly develop training content. Some of the features include cross platform, complex interaction systems, objective tracking, authorisation, achievement and progress tracking to name but a few. This enables us to provide you with a feature rich solution without the additional development time — drastically reducing cost.
Post-Production
There is always a post-production phase to software development. The length of time for post-production is dependent on the studio. At Digitalnauts all of our solutions come with a 12 month warranty, if any bugs managed to slip past our testing then we will fix them for free. There may also come a time when you would like to make some progressive enhancements to your solution, this could involve the addition of new features, porting to another platform or basic content changes. Depending on the time and asset requirements these will come at an additional cost.
Things to Look Out For
Here be dragons.
I would like to stress the importance of experience and specialisation. Be aware of the Creative Agencies who have a wealth of experience crafting experiences for the mobile or web and have decided to jump on the VR band wagon. Often (but not always) these studio’s make the claim that they can produce VR training content. This may be true for the simplest of experiences but when it comes to effective learning there is a much larger understanding of learning theory and experience required in crafting an effective VR training solution.
On that note, also be aware of the VR companies who claim to be able to produce training solutions. When it comes to training —
the technology is a mechanism that delivers the content, it assists in how the learner receives the content. VR is simply a tool, not the instruction.
It’s important when delivering training that the company developing your training truly understands instructional design. At the end of the day, it’s the effectiveness of the learning outcomes that are important. You could have the flashiest and fanciest VR demo in the world but it’s no good if your learners walk away without actually learning what they are supposed to. If the learner can provide evidence of their learning and metrics to support their progress then this will even further acknowledge the effectiveness of the training content.
When looking for a company to provide VR training it’s important to find one which has a strong understanding of the technology and learning theories.
The Final Cost
So far we’ve only discussed the time frames for a project and the factors which have the largest affect on cost. Using the Fire Safety project breakdown table above we can quite easily calculate a cost against the studios rates. I wanted to provide you with some examples of costing based on the average rates of different countries.
However, I have read many articles searching for figures on the costing of VR development around the globe. Some of which state figures for average daily rates (ranging from £200 to £2,000) without providing any sources to support these claims. With this in mind, I have purposefully chosen not to provide any figures. If you are interested in working with a studio then I would strongly encourage you contact them directly to find out what sort of rates they can offer you for your project.
Closing Remarks
We have touched on the development process from an idea all the way to the product delivery. Discussed which areas take up the most time in the process and what factors to be aware of when it comes to varying costs. I used Digitalnauts as an example for variations of pricing depending upon what the studio can provide and identified some of the things to be aware of when looking at a studio.
I hope that I have provided you with enough information to craft your own opinion when making an informed decision on selecting a studio for the creation of your VR training solution.
If you are interested in discussing anything related to VR training or would like to know more, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or drop me an email me at mark@digitalnauts.co.uk.
We actually went ahead and built this scenario from a traditional eLearning scenario. From content digest all the way to finished development — it took us 30 days!
Visit www.digitalnauts.co.uk to find out more.
