Hello! 👋

I'm Elliot Diebold

Senior AR/VR and Cloud Developer

About Me

I'm a Senior Software Engineer with over a decade of experience producing XR applications for a variety of platforms such as Meta Quest, HTC Vive, and Microsoft Hololens. I'm passionate about using technology to develop experiences that weren't possible before, or making experiences more accessible to those who otherwise cannot engage with them. Skilled with both the Unity and Unreal engines, I've led the development of over 5 applications published on and optimised for Meta Horizon OS.

I'm also passionate about using technology and automation internally as well - at three previous workplaces I've been responsible setting up and managing the version control, issue tracking, and CI/CD pipelines to reduce regressions, streamline QA processes, and improve developer efficiency. In my role as Lead of Mixed Reality at TAFE NSW, I also acted as scrum master, continuing the Agile methodology that had been used in the team.

C#/.NET C++ Unity Unreal Python Javascript/Typescript AWS Azure Docker Kubernetes CI/CD Agile Production Management

Projects

Pathology Frontline Training Simulation

UnityC#AWSAzureCI/CDCode Architecture

The Werfen Gem 5000 simulator was designed to help healthcare professionals overcome limitations of time, cost, travel, social distancing, and availability of blood testing devices for training purposes. It was used by Werfen and Health NSW to train nurses in hospitals without needing to use expensive equipment and cartridges.

As well as developing and designing many of the interactions and simulation logic, this was the first project at TAFE NSW where I implemented a fully automatic CI/CD build and testing pipeline, more than halving the number of regressions and increasing delivery of build to for client feedback fivefold.

Construction Site Safety: Working at Heights

UnityC#AWSAzureCI/CD

Designed as part of a wider project to improve training for safely working at heights, the VR component of the iCare Construction Site Safety project allows students to practice a number of scenarios common to Australian worksites. The VR component of the project was compared against traditional online learning and found to increase retention by over 90%.

As well as developing and designing many of the interactions and simulation logic, I created a complete analytics and logging system to allow tracking of student outcomes in xAPI as well as gather feedback on user experience and technical issues.

Plumbing Safety

UnityC#Azure

Plumbing Safety is a short VR experience that allows anyone to explore, learn about and test their knowledge of electrical safety for plumbing, with a particular focus on cutting copper pipes.

My first project at TAFE NSW, I completely rebuilt the application in order to port it from HTC Vive to Meta Quest, as well as add multiplayer features. Despite this, I was able to improve performance from 50fps on PC to 72fps on the Android headset.

Experience

Lead Mixed Reality

TAFE NSW

Dec 2023 - Oct 2024
  • Led development of two VR applications, from initial writing of project briefs through to acting as SCRUM master during production and submission of the final artifacts and deliverables for publication on the Meta Quest Store.
  • Leadership of a collaborative cross-functional team made of developers, audio engineers, and technical artists building multiple projects simultaneously, which were all delivered on schedule and on budget.Provided mentorship and guidance to help junior developers grow, via regular one-on-one meetings, code reviews, and an open door policy, contributing to a culture of continuous learning and growth.
  • Refactored and overhauled the analytics and logging system used by VR experiences to a containerised microservice architecture in AWS and later Azure, increasing scalability and reliability of metrics collected.
  • Ran project to implement systems for improving the accessibility of VR experiences in accordance with W3C standards.
  • Coordinated with multiple external teams to manage the hardware rollout of 1,000 VR headsets within the organisation.

Senior AR/VR Unity Developer

TAFE NSW

Mar 2019 - Dec 2023
  • Worked with technical artists, audio engineers, and junior programmers to identify development bottlenecks and prioritise development of tools and in-engine systems to streamline processes, resulting in a threefold increase in app development speed.
  • Led development of a core internal platform for VR UI/UX that was used in five experiences that were released on the Meta Quest Store.
  • Supervised the development of multiple mobile AR applications for iOS and Android devices, providing optimisation and architectural guidance to junior developers to ensure good user experience.
  • Spearheaded design and implementation of team’s coding guidelines and documentation standards, streamlining code reviews and allowing for static code analysis tool usage.
  • Provided supervision and assistance to junior developers creating VR experiences, via code reviews and one-on-one design discussions.
  • Performed investigative research into the feasibility of using innovative hardware and software systems such as brain-computer interface devices for novel experiences.

Software Developer

Freelance

Dec 2016 - Feb 2019
  • Consulted directly with various clients to ascertain their requirements and define project goal and scope, ensuring deliverables met needs as well as expectations - leading to 75% rate of contracts being extended or renewed for subsequent projects.
  • Performed solo full stack development of a GIS based web platform built on Node.js, Python, and Cesium3D that led to two rounds of funding for a small startup
  • Integrated C++ and Web APIs and SDKs into Unity to allow usage by teams working exclusively in C#.

Frontend Developer

Meta LLC

Nov 2013 - Aug 2016
  • Managed the team responsible for design and development of prototype applications used for demonstrating the new experiences made possible by innovations in company's hardware devices. This involved leading and mentoring new interns and junior developers.
  • Presentation of these demonstration experiences to investors, leading to a $23M USD Series A funding round
  • Led the design, construction and maintenance of Continuous Integration and DevOps infrastructure - including an improved version control and Jira tracking - which led to a 200% drop in regressions

Education

Bachelor of Information Technology (Honours)/Bachelor of Medical Science

The University of Sydney

2010 - 2016
  • Honours Thesis - ARdapter: A system for real-time adaptation of augmented reality user interfaces based on user performance
  • Majors: Computer Science, Molecular Biology and Genetics