SOS CHILDREN’S VILLAGES

The Icelandic branch of SOS Children’s Villages, known as SOS Barnaþorpin, has been operating in Iceland as an independent supporting association since 1992. The institution supports children without parental care, and those at risk of losing it, through innovative and effective partnerships with donors, communities, governments and other organizations.

Client

SOS Children’s Villages
SOS Barnaþorpin

Sector

Charity / NGO Social services

Services

3D technology 360 Video

Technology

Google Cardboard

Unity Engine

Visual results gallery

Challenge

Encourage people to take to charitable activity

The client asked us to develop a VR charity app, the main purpose of which was to redirect users to a subpage where donations can be made. Users were to be offered the option to go directly from the application to the client’s website, where they could choose their country and make a donation.

In the case of users living in Iceland, the application was to detect their location and display a phone number they could call, which would result in their user account being debited and a donation made in this form.

Process and project scope

Dynamic response is everything, planning is nothing

Applications being designed in today’s dynamically developing world, where nobody knows what the situation will look like in a few years’ time or how life in difficult regions is going to change, must be flexible to the maximum possible extent.

Scope

The application operates as an add-on to the client’s website. Users can download it directly to their devices and view the app’s content in full-screen mode (or in VR, using Google Cardboard). The main function of the application, apart from encouraging users to donate, is to show videos related to child care actions all of which were recorded in 360 video technology. The app is available in two language versions – Norwegian and English.

Process

Not only was the process itself important to us. The topic was equally significant, and we could not afford the slightest misunderstanding in communication. What was truly essential was the preparation of an appropriate backlog and the completion of the first sprint. It turned out, however, that the Kanban board was enough in terms of project management for this undertaking.

Collaboration

The application is part of a larger plan intended to create space for sharing pieces of difficult information coming from around the world. In this way, we became part of a group responsible for presenting the ideas in a visual form.

Business value

Raising public awareness and sensitivity

Most importantly, apps like this one allow institutions and organizations to reach out to the general public with very important information about the situation in various parts of the world. They also inform about the possible actions that a given organization takes to actively counteract them. This is precisely the case with the app we developed for SOS Children’s Villages.

Applications such as this one have many important functions such as:

Sharing information showing the true image of places or situations that require intervention or assistance.
Optimizing communication by narrowing it down to specific issues.
Allowing specific actions to be carried out, instead of a purely theoretical consideration of a given problem.
Raising sensitivity by showing an average person something they have been unable to imagine so far.

Technology stack

360 degrees of channeling aid through modern technology

The application was designed for Google Cardboard devices, as well as Android and iOS smartphones. It uses a curved user interface. The interface was created in 3D technology, and 360 video technology was used to shoot the videos. The app was developed using the Unity engine.

Unity - the main tool used by 4Experience