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Do I have a place in app development?
This is my first forum post and essentially I'm after some guidance on what direction and channels I should follow to get the relevant people on board developing my idea. What developers do I seek? What cost would I expect to incur? Would I need to work directly with Microsoft? Would I need to protect intellectual property?
As you might imagine it's an area I'm somewhat unfamiliar with! I need to know if I should give up now or if there is a way for me to help bring my creation to life!
Any insight would be of great encouragement.
Many thanks.
Best Answers
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Options
Ash
✭
There are many agencies who will have the skills to develop the app for you (obviously for a price). Or you can develop yourself if you are prepared to learn the skills to do so - all the software is free and there are thousands of tutorials. I am trying this route myself from a point of zero coding knowledge. I have many ideas but I know I need to put in the effort to develop them to a point where they might be taken further. Every great (or even mediocre) app started with someone prepared to put in the time and effort to get it off the ground.
If you are looking for investment then again you'll need to clearly detail your proposal and your business case as to what return investors would get from their money.
It's unlikely you would be working with Microsoft as they already have their own development teams and ideas.A shorter version of my advice - It's like having a brilliant idea for a book or a film - having the idea is the easy part. Creation and development takes effort and time.
5 -
Options
@hurkydemon17 said:
I need to know if I should give up now or if there is a way for me to help bring my creation to life!Do or Do Not, there is no Try.
TLDR: I was asking the same exact questions 2 years ago. We pivoted to working on the HoloLens 4 months ago, and I've been learning Unity with no prior development experience for the past 10 weeks.
I'll start by stating that there's a big difference between a business and an idea, if you're trying to build a business you should check out Steve Blank's course.
If you want to learn to develop for Unity, I suggest trying out Udacity's new nanodegree, it can be pricey but you can get a full refund within 14(?) days.@hurkydemon17 said:
What developers do I seek?If you have little management experience my suggestion is to attend local meetup groups for AR or VR. If you have a HoloLens and there aren't any nearby, why not start one? Good entrepreneurers seek great talent, but great entrepreneurs make great talent seek them. College students are eager to build out resumes, but if you pay peanuts you get monkeys.
@hurkydemon17 said:
What cost would I expect to incur?If you do it right, $0. Chances are your idea is terrible (mine was terrible, everybody's idea is terrible at first) but over the past 2 years we've learned to focus on the Problem it solves. If you understand the problem well, the solution is easy. Tools help people, Games cure boredom.
@hurkydemon17 said:
Would I need to work directly with Microsoft?No, but you will be working with Microsoft software, specifically Visual Studio, used to build your projects from Unity and C# to the HoloLens.
@hurkydemon17 said:
Would I need to protect intellectual property?I'm assuming you're worried about a developer taking your idea and Zuckerberging you right?
Zuckerberg won because his execution was better, not his idea.
He didn't invent the first social network,
he found the best early adoption market.
he understood the needs of his customer.5
Answers
There are many agencies who will have the skills to develop the app for you (obviously for a price). Or you can develop yourself if you are prepared to learn the skills to do so - all the software is free and there are thousands of tutorials. I am trying this route myself from a point of zero coding knowledge. I have many ideas but I know I need to put in the effort to develop them to a point where they might be taken further. Every great (or even mediocre) app started with someone prepared to put in the time and effort to get it off the ground.
If you are looking for investment then again you'll need to clearly detail your proposal and your business case as to what return investors would get from their money.
It's unlikely you would be working with Microsoft as they already have their own development teams and ideas.
A shorter version of my advice - It's like having a brilliant idea for a book or a film - having the idea is the easy part. Creation and development takes effort and time.
Do or Do Not, there is no Try.
TLDR: I was asking the same exact questions 2 years ago. We pivoted to working on the HoloLens 4 months ago, and I've been learning Unity with no prior development experience for the past 10 weeks.
I'll start by stating that there's a big difference between a business and an idea, if you're trying to build a business you should check out Steve Blank's course.
If you want to learn to develop for Unity, I suggest trying out Udacity's new nanodegree, it can be pricey but you can get a full refund within 14(?) days.
If you have little management experience my suggestion is to attend local meetup groups for AR or VR. If you have a HoloLens and there aren't any nearby, why not start one? Good entrepreneurers seek great talent, but great entrepreneurs make great talent seek them. College students are eager to build out resumes, but if you pay peanuts you get monkeys.
If you do it right, $0. Chances are your idea is terrible (mine was terrible, everybody's idea is terrible at first) but over the past 2 years we've learned to focus on the Problem it solves. If you understand the problem well, the solution is easy. Tools help people, Games cure boredom.
No, but you will be working with Microsoft software, specifically Visual Studio, used to build your projects from Unity and C# to the HoloLens.
I'm assuming you're worried about a developer taking your idea and Zuckerberging you right?
Zuckerberg won because his execution was better, not his idea.
He didn't invent the first social network,
he found the best early adoption market.
he understood the needs of his customer.
I believe there is an emulator? Or software I can get hold of to begin trying out the building process. I do not own a hololens (yet) as I live in the U.K. and I believe it is only due to be released soon. Perhaps PC based software/emulator would be a good place to start.
I will check out some of the links you guys suggested and make an effort to put In a bit of learning time!
Thank you both again for the support.
@hurkydemon17 - It seems the brand new version of Unity (5.5) has an emulator built in which sounds great. I plan to upgrade to this today to check it out (the personal version should be free and is the best place to start). I live in the UK too and the first shipping date was yesterday. I am eagerly checking my tracking info about once every couple of hours to see where my device is
Price is £2,719 - I had been saving for a high-end PC + Vive but when I tried the Hololens I was convinced Mixed Reality is the future so decided to put the money toward that direction instead. (It arrived today but I won't be using it until Christmas as it's technically a present - which is going to be very hard
)
Hi @Ash Announced today December 3/4 new Holographic headsets
Which will be much cheaper using the new Windows 10 Creators Update and Holographic Update will be available soon to Windows 10 Insiders soon. The initial stub to evaluate your PC being suitable for Holographic update is available Insiders.
Remember to update your software Install the Updated tools
They look interesting and the inside-out tracking is genius.