DaftCraft Inc.
IT Business
Company Overview / Who We Are
We are a start up company founded in 2018 made up of a group of elite xR (VR/AR/MR) creators.
Combining xR--technology that is increasingly attracting global attention, with Japan's strengths in creative originality and ingenuity, we develop our business providing solutions tailored to our customers.
We are a small group of specialists who see the potential of XR technology, and we are a team of people who always focus on people, think things through, and honestly work together to create products.
We established this company striving to make it a place where creators can shine.
HQ
1-17-11-408 Sumida, Sumida-ku, Tokyo
Established
2018
Employees
8 members
Capital
1 million JPY
Net Sales
Not Disclosed
Official Language
Japanese
Website
Our Vision / Mission
Mission: Let's make “Omoroi-mon”
(A Japanese word that means “something hilarious,” but also implies “unique,” “attractive,” “valuable,” “nifty,” etc.)
DaftCraft was founded in 2018 as a development company specializing in XR for business.
Even before that, the founding members were involved in IT and manufacturing and are still fascinated by the joy of making things.
We believe that better manufacturing can create more excitement and provide more convenience.
We will be the first to create that rising tide.
Vision: Innovation in Japanese Ingenuity
Ingenuity is one of Japan's strong points. We want to further boost Japanese craftsmanship, where attention to detail and a constant search for ways to make things better are the hallmarks of Japanese craftsmanship.
Today, when all the knowledge is connected through networks, we gather and shape it, providing valuable solutions for everyone from expert workers to team productions.
And we will work to make "ingenuity (creation)" irreplaceable for all people one day.
CREDO: Action Guideline
Core: Be straightforward in what we should do.
Enthusiasm: Face everything with passion
Respect: Respect others and make new discoveries
Our Services / Products
Since our founding, we have been involved in a variety of different VR/AR experimental studies with major operating companies as customers. In the XR field, where there are many unknowns, we have earned trust by materializing and achieving results in a short period of time.
In XR research and development, we conduct various R&D activities using the latest technologies, technologies we are interested in, and new hardware.
In XR consulting, we answer clients' requests and questions about what they want to do and what they can do with XR, while also proposing ideas from our side and developing better outputs.
Skills Used in the Company
- Android
- AWS
- Azure
- C#
- C++
- GCP
- iOS
- jQuery
- Matlab
- MySQL
- Python
- Unity
- VB
Engineering Team
Q. What projects/services is your engineering team working on?
■ xR analysis tool (developed in-house)
* Client-side
* SDK development for Unity (C#)
* Collection and server transmission of embedded user behavior to app
* Server-side
* Building infrastructure (GCP)
* Service development (server program, web front end)
* Store and analyze behavioral data received from apps
Collect and analyze user behavior data in xR apps (currently only supports VR)
■ Commissioned (custom) development
Client-side:
* Development with Unity (C#)
Server-side:
* Infrastructure, Service Development
This is primarily the same as our in-house development, but depending on the project, at times we use services or devices that are not released to the general public.
In most cases, the servers do not scale up to our in-house projects.
Since development schedules and service lifespans are short, we combine the use of obsolete technologies (that allow speedy implementation) together with easily disposable technologies (that bring about challenges).
Q. What technologies are you using?
## Technologies used (answered by Engineer Iwaki)
* Devices used
* Vive (including Pro and Pro eye), Standalone VR (Pico, Oculus Quest)
* Development language, engine
* Unity(C# .Net4.x), scala, etc.
* UniRx is often used in Unity
* Infrastructure
* GCP, AWS
* Version management
* git
* Hosting internally on Gitlab
* Chat tools
* Slack, Zoom
* Information sharing
* notion, miro, Google drive, etc.
* Build tools
* Unity Cloud Build
## Technologies used (answered by Engineer Sato)
- VR analysis tool
The data is sent using HTTP from the SDK embedded in the VR equipment worn by users. Therefore, the data is collected and stored using WebAPI.
We are building a data pipeline that handles big data.
The nature of the tool we are developing requires high throughput and a certain degree of stability.
Although we develop in a small group of people, we need to be able to deliver results quickly. We select our technical elements with these considerations in mind.
The following is a list of specific technical elements.
GitLab, Scala, Akka Streams, Play Framework, Elm, Vue.js, GCP (GKE, Pub/Sub, Dataflow, BigQuery), Terraform, Kubernetes
- Contracted Development
While we generally use configuration similar to that of VR analysis tools, since quick deliveries are prioritized over stability, at times we must change the technology used.
EKS -> ECS, DDD -> MVC
Q. What type of engineers work at your company? What is their job content?
* Clients
* Mainly Unity
* Server-side
* Infrastructure
* Design
* Data structures, service composition, etc.
* Research and development
Since we are a small team, each member holds a wide range of responsibilities.
Depending on the project, members may be assigned to a project exclusively or may have multiple projects at the same time.
We conduct general server-side operations including technical inspection and verification, program design, development, and deployment, as well as troubleshooting.
There is no distinction between our application and infrastructure engineers. All of our engineers are responsible for everything related to server-side.
Q. Do you plan on using any new technologies in the future?
1. Data acquisition and analysis with xR analysis tools
2. Communication research in cyber space
Q. If you do, please tell us the details!
1. Data acquisition and analysis with xR analysis tools
We aim to support a variety of tracking devices, such as Hololens2 (a device equipped with sensors capable of spatial recognition) and devices capable of facial tracking.
We will focus on researching how to analyze and utilize the collected data, and develop systems to return valuable data to users.
2. Research on communication in cyberspace
The first thing we would like to achieve is to build a Speech to Text system in cyberspace, and then go further by making it multilingual.
We would like to provide useful functions to people around the world, for example adding subtitles to VR experiences and taking VR meeting minutes.
We also see potential in using neuroscience and psychological approaches to analyze users' behavior in the VR space.
By combining technologies such as data science, machine learning, and real-time communication like WebRTC, we aim to understand user behavior with high resolution.
Career Path
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Our Corporate Culture
- Flexible
- Progressive
- Team Work
DaftCraft is a group of creators gathered under the principle "Let's create Omoroi-mon."
We are lucky to have members with rich skills and experiences, as well as diverse characteristics and backgrounds.
Each of us is fascinated by the future possibilities of xR, and work to find our own unique ways to open new doors with xR.
We are a fully-remote organization, which is rare in Japan. With little limitations on location and time, our members are able to work in a variety of ways; some of them living in rural areas and others freelancing.
We are a team that can flexibly adapt and respond to changes in the external environment, and openly embraces these changes.
