Tag: HTC Vive
More so than any other trend this feels like an area where the groundwork has been laid for creators – whether that’s publishers, brands, or the creative community – to experiment with what is now available to them. Last year saw VR hardware releases from significant players such as Oculus, HTC and PlayStation. Of course, technical improvements will continue at a pace – in particular, the pursuit of untethered headsets and remote positional tracking. But, the technology is already available to create powerful VR experiences where users can move and interact in a manner that is impossible in any other medium. HTC have quashed rumours of a ‘Vive 2’ being released this year – though plenty of new accessories are on the horizon. So it’s over to the many creatives already in this space, and those getting on board, to develop content that makes use of VR’s unique properties as a medium.
It seems that VR entered, or perhaps re-entered, the public consciousness last year on some level. In terms of how many people own a VR headset of any kind, estimates suggest there are around 500,000 people with a high-end HTC Vive and 400,000 with an Oculus Rift. Sony say that “hundreds of thousands” of PlayStation owners have already bought PlayStation VR. Earlier last year, Samsung reported it had reached one million users for its Samsung Gear headsets. These figures were shared well before Samsung heavily promoted the headsets in the run-up to Christmas. We are still waiting for the numbers of the newest smartphone-accessory headsets in the market, Google’s Daydream. However, some reports suggest the reach of Google’s basic Cardboard headset has been as high as 80 million. Of course, unlike the other headsets, it is hard to know how many have kept these rather than used them once.
Staying at the ‘low-end’ of the headset market, but made of plastic rather than card, I saw a number of headsets retailing at less than £10 in-stores and online in the run up to Christmas for users to pop their phone into. I also noticed a heavy presence of ‘vr’ amongst the Apple Stores trending apps in the days after Christmas. So it feels like there is some appetite and recognition amongst the public of what VR is (even if they haven’t tried it yet). Brands should consider taking advantage of this willingness by creating a VR experience. The right VR experience could be more practical, like Jaguar’s I-PACE launch, or simply mindblowing, like Google Earth.
The question of ‘how many people have a headset?’ from brands considering VR, is perhaps misjudged. There are certainly only a finite number of people who will own a VR headset ever, even when the VR content available improves. This is an immersive and intense medium to be dipped into for ‘one-off’ experiences, analogous perhaps to cinema (how many people have one of those at home?). It fits for VR to be found in a store to aid a magical retail experience or indeed in cinemas to view entertainment content in a new form, and these site-specific VR experiences provide a rich opportunity for many brands. In London, we have already seen a VR Zombie chase, Björk’s VR-only exhibition and more recently the Royal Academy’s VR pop-up – all of which were ticketed events that sold out.
Beyond VR, the narrative from some publishers is that 2016 was actually the breakout year for Augmented Reality, because of the mega-hit that was Pokemon Go. This doesn’t ring true for me to the extent that it is touted as AR’s breakthrough moment. On a basic level because some research showed that ‘only’ 33% of users had the AR functionality turned on ‘most of the time’ or ‘always’ whilst playing the game. More significantly the success of Pokemon Go wasn’t down to the AR, but a multitude of factors (many of which were cultural) that I will spare you from debating here.
For me, Snapchat Lenses remain a far stronger example for AR. This technology is used by millions daily, even if the users don’t know or care to know that this tech is part of something called Augmented Reality. Facial overlays seem to be the most prevalent successful use of AR technology. This type of AR experience is neat for makeup brands or spectacle sellers but, obviously, has limited uses.
It’s the augmentation of objects into the real world in front of you that feels like the opportunity for a broader array of uses, but one that has been touted for some time. Maybe this year we’ll see brands really crack this opportunity through some hit applications. Markerless technology (a potential barrier to a slick experience) continues to improve and the digital recreation of assets for an AR world (perhaps the biggest cost here) may be something that a brand bites the bullet on or finds a more efficient way of doing, which could lead to a significant AR success story with business-changing returns.
Microsoft’s HoloLens exists as a unique outlier. Currently, it is available for developers but not for the public (which isn’t necessarily a problem – see my point on VR adoption). AR via a headset rather than through a phone, combined with the possibility of interaction and scalability of augmented objects that pushes this into the realm of ‘Mixed Reality’. This is ‘where it’s all going’. As future-gazers like to say, Mixed Reality experiences, like AR experiences, point to a potential for mass adoption far beyond VR because of the nature of the experience. The availability of the HoloLens platform, perhaps years before this technology truly develops on a larger scale, stands out as an obvious opportunity for brands to gain first-mover advantage and take a leadership position with a tech-powered experience for their customers.
What should brands do this year?
- Suspend disbelief and imagine the ultimate experience your brand could deliver, whether that’s practical or fantastical. Can this technology be used to bring this to life?
- Work with VR/AR experts who have made the easy mistakes in the medium already and are pushing the boundaries with what is possible. Also look out for select content publishers with compelling, well-supported VR offerings.
- Look at building platforms for VR or AR experiences that allow for updating and repeat usage over time, rather than one-off short-lived ideas.
Have a question or want to discuss something more? Send us an email at [email protected]
More so than any other trend this feels like an area where the groundwork has been laid for creators – whether that’s publishers, brands, or the creative community – to experiment with what is now available to them. Last year saw VR hardware releases from significant players such as Oculus, HTC and PlayStation. Of course, technical improvements will continue at a pace – in particular, the pursuit of untethered headsets and remote positional tracking. But, the technology is already available to create powerful VR experiences where users can move and interact in a manner that is impossible in any other medium. HTC have quashed rumours of a ‘Vive 2’ being released this year – though plenty of new accessories are on the horizon. So it’s over to the many creatives already in this space, and those getting on board, to develop content that makes use of VR’s unique properties as a medium.
It seems that VR entered, or perhaps re-entered, the public consciousness last year on some level. In terms of how many people own a VR headset of any kind, estimates suggest there are around 500,000 people with a high-end HTC Vive and 400,000 with an Oculus Rift. Sony say that “hundreds of thousands” of PlayStation owners have already bought PlayStation VR. Earlier last year, Samsung reported it had reached one million users for its Samsung Gear headsets. These figures were shared well before Samsung heavily promoted the headsets in the run-up to Christmas. We are still waiting for the numbers of the newest smartphone-accessory headsets in the market, Google’s Daydream. However, some reports suggest the reach of Google’s basic Cardboard headset has been as high as 80 million. Of course, unlike the other headsets, it is hard to know how many have kept these rather than used them once.
Staying at the ‘low-end’ of the headset market, but made of plastic rather than card, I saw a number of headsets retailing at less than £10 in-stores and online in the run up to Christmas for users to pop their phone into. I also noticed a heavy presence of ‘vr’ amongst the Apple Stores trending apps in the days after Christmas. So it feels like there is some appetite and recognition amongst the public of what VR is (even if they haven’t tried it yet). Brands should consider taking advantage of this willingness by creating a VR experience. The right VR experience could be more practical, like Jaguar’s I-PACE launch, or simply mindblowing, like Google Earth.
The question of ‘how many people have a headset?’ from brands considering VR, is perhaps misjudged. There are certainly only a finite number of people who will own a VR headset ever, even when the VR content available improves. This is an immersive and intense medium to be dipped into for ‘one-off’ experiences, analogous perhaps to cinema (how many people have one of those at home?). It fits for VR to be found in a store to aid a magical retail experience or indeed in cinemas to view entertainment content in a new form, and these site-specific VR experiences provide a rich opportunity for many brands. In London, we have already seen a VR Zombie chase, Björk’s VR-only exhibition and more recently the Royal Academy’s VR pop-up – all of which were ticketed events that sold out.
Beyond VR, the narrative from some publishers is that 2016 was actually the breakout year for Augmented Reality, because of the mega-hit that was Pokemon Go. This doesn’t ring true for me to the extent that it is touted as AR’s breakthrough moment. On a basic level because some research showed that ‘only’ 33% of users had the AR functionality turned on ‘most of the time’ or ‘always’ whilst playing the game. More significantly the success of Pokemon Go wasn’t down to the AR, but a multitude of factors (many of which were cultural) that I will spare you from debating here.
For me, Snapchat Lenses remain a far stronger example for AR. This technology is used by millions daily, even if the users don’t know or care to know that this tech is part of something called Augmented Reality. Facial overlays seem to be the most prevalent successful use of AR technology. This type of AR experience is neat for makeup brands or spectacle sellers but, obviously, has limited uses.
It’s the augmentation of objects into the real world in front of you that feels like the opportunity for a broader array of uses, but one that has been touted for some time. Maybe this year we’ll see brands really crack this opportunity through some hit applications. Markerless technology (a potential barrier to a slick experience) continues to improve and the digital recreation of assets for an AR world (perhaps the biggest cost here) may be something that a brand bites the bullet on or finds a more efficient way of doing, which could lead to a significant AR success story with business-changing returns.
Microsoft’s HoloLens exists as a unique outlier. Currently, it is available for developers but not for the public (which isn’t necessarily a problem – see my point on VR adoption). AR via a headset rather than through a phone, combined with the possibility of interaction and scalability of augmented objects that pushes this into the realm of ‘Mixed Reality’. This is ‘where it’s all going’. As future-gazers like to say, Mixed Reality experiences, like AR experiences, point to a potential for mass adoption far beyond VR because of the nature of the experience. The availability of the HoloLens platform, perhaps years before this technology truly develops on a larger scale, stands out as an obvious opportunity for brands to gain first-mover advantage and take a leadership position with a tech-powered experience for their customers.
What should brands do this year?
- Suspend disbelief and imagine the ultimate experience your brand could deliver, whether that’s practical or fantastical. Can this technology be used to bring this to life?
- Work with VR/AR experts who have made the easy mistakes in the medium already and are pushing the boundaries with what is possible. Also look out for select content publishers with compelling, well-supported VR offerings.
- Look at building platforms for VR or AR experiences that allow for updating and repeat usage over time, rather than one-off short-lived ideas.
Have a question or want to discuss something more? Send us an email at [email protected]
From starting his own business at university to working on the HTC Vive Virtually Dead activation, we caught up with Rob Wigman to find out more about his career path so far.
1. How did you first hear about OMD Fuse and what attracted you to the role?
A friend of mine within the OMD network introduced me to Fuse. I would not call myself a sports fan, but Fuse is more than just sports focused. The role was for the Fuse brand partnerships team working with clients like Disney and Bentley. This sounded perfect as I had a good level of skills from running my own company, which could be applied to the world of marketing.
2. How did your previous experience help you secure a job at OMD Fuse?
My photography degree probably didn’t have the biggest effect on securing my role at Fuse, but founding and running Pholio, an agency for emerging photographers, for six years definitely put me in a good place. When starting a business and running it, you have to understand all elements from client relationships, new business/pitching, strategy and finance to working as a team to reach your goals. These skills led me to secure the role at Fuse and have proved integral to my growth within OMD Fuse since I started a year and a half ago.
3. Could you explain a typical day, if there’s such a thing?
This might be a bit cliché, but there is no typical day! One day you could be pitching creative ideas to a client/CMO and the next running a brand partnerships workshop with two clients to come up with activation ideas – it really depends. What I love about working at OMD Fuse is that we are all one big team and everyone who works here comes from different backgrounds and specialties. When a pitch lands or retained client work comes in, you work with different people to do the job. Personally, this has meant getting involved with anything from football and motorsports briefs to VR and high-end luxury brands.
4. What are your career highlights so far?
Getting to work at OMD Fuse is first and foremost! Secondly, it would be a project I helped create and activate for HTC Vive, HTC’s VR offering. They came to us with a challenge of how to launch their VR headset Vive in the UK and Paris with very little budget targeting millennials, which are hard to engage through traditional media. We created and activated ‘Virtually Dead’, in partnership with millennial app Dojo. The activation is a world first in immersive theatre with VR at its heart showcasing a zombie shoot’em up game. 10,000 millennials participated in the experience and we smashed our KPIs by 91%. We have been shortlisted for quite a few awards, winning best partnership at the 2016 M&M Global Awards. Seeing it from conception to completion and now winning industry awards has been a great highlight for me.
5. What challenges have you faced?
Coming from a company where we had five or six employees and numerous freelancers, the scale of OMD was a challenge at first. I needed to figure out who best to speak to and work with on projects and briefs. This challenge was made easier when I joined the Grand Tour, a 10-week course setup to learn and become familiar with all the different OMD agencies and offerings. I am now working on a number of projects with client, insight and data teams to ensure a 360 response. This has turned my initial challenge into a huge advantage when creating data-driven projects and work for our clients.
6. What tips would you give people who would like to follow in your footsteps?
Don’t just apply for roles based only on your experiences in an industry. OMD Fuse looks for talent and the right person, not just a wealth of specific experience. The second tip is to be passionate and go above and beyond! You can really create a role for yourself if you have these qualities.
As Vine prepares to shut down, its users respond to the loss of their beloved platform. Thousands of fans including digital influencers, industry leaders and media members spent last Thursday mourning the platform. However, some Viners are choosing to look at the bright side. Despite increasing their social footprint on other growing and more lucrative platforms, Vine has allowed them to set up a format. Thomas Sanders, who won best Viner of the year at the 2016 Steamys, says “I continue to make content on other platforms. But Vine is a wonderful place for me to start with my social media and branch outward from there”. The news can perhaps serve as a reminder to us all that a single channel approach could be a risky strategy for brands and influencers.
HEADLINES
- As Vine prepares to shut down, its users respond to the loss of their beloved platform
- Facebook is getting all Snapchatty with an in-app camera and lens style Halloween masks
- The bots are (still) coming and they can now take payment
INSIGHTS
COOL STUFF
DEEP READS
By Caroline Clancy and Virginia Alvarez
Most of us realise that the world of marketing is constantly changing. Unless we understand our customers’ shifting desires, our attempts to reach them will inevitably fall flat. Many times these changes are temporary, caused by short-term trends. However, over the last few years a fundamental, long-term shift has arisen in consumer behaviour that has wide-ranging implications.
Due to recessions and economic uncertainty, people are reassessing their priorities and asking themselves what they truly value. As a result, we are moving towards a new economy that values experience over possessions. In recent research: [ctt template=”1″ link=”Tv647″ via=”yes” ]3 in 4 millennial’s chose to spend money on an experience or event, rather than purchasing a desired object @HarrisCorp @OMD_EMEA[/ctt] [ctt template=”1″ link=”jzCVA” via=”yes” ]Consumer spending on recreational & cultural services has risen 85% in Western & Eastern Europe over the last 5 years @Euromonitor @OMD_EMEA[/ctt]
This shift is impacting a multitude of industries and has the power to transform even the most established markets.
In fact, Airbnb’s co-founder, Brian Chesky, has observed:
“No longer do consumers want to show off, on Instagram or Snapchat, the wheels of their car or the clothes they wear. But they want to show off the experiences that they’re having. I think, more and more, we’re living in an experience-based economy”.
Material possessions are no longer enough
As a society, we are spending more money to do things, rather than to have things. We then share these lived experiences via social media, in effect, elevating them to the position of status symbols. Whereas once the designer handbag was a sign of success, now a memory from a faraway land is the marker of a good life. We aspire to turn our leisure time into social capital spent on moments that are unique, fleeting and personal.
At Live Nation, the world’s largest event company, two in five (40%) attendees share content on social media directly from their venues and three in five (59%) upload pictures afterwards (Source: WARC Consumers value brand experiences – 13 May 2013).
Plenty of research has shown that experiences bring more happiness than possessions. In fact, even the moments preceding and following an experience are more positively charged than those surrounding the purchase of a product. Experiments have shown that participants elicit more happiness and excitement when anticipating experiences. Whereas, waiting times for possessions are often fraught with impatience. Further research indicates that people also tend to talk more about experiences than they do products and derive more value from doing so.
This has led renowned psychologist Thomas Gilovich to conclude that “spending money on experiences provides more enduring happiness.”
Using this insight, OMD created an immersive theatre experience to launch HTC VIVE. We partnered with Noma Labs to host a once in a lifetime apocalypse event, HTC Virtually Dead, targeted to Millennials in both London and Paris. Tickets sold out in just over a week after showing the first teaser video in London. To meet demand, we extended the time period and put on more shows. Overall there were 900 shows over three weeks bringing in £300,000 worth of tickets, which is equivalent to a popular West End show running for over two years.
How can classic brands survive?
We need to refocus our strategies away from short-term demand and towards long-term desire. Brand experiences can help us drive this change, with luxury labels leading the way.
According to PWC, the annual sales growth of luxury experiences grew by 14% compared with 11% for luxury goods. Moreover, in 2014 The Boston Consulting Group found that experiences which include travel, gourmet dining and art auctions accounted for 55% of the global luxury spending. By creating enhanced sensory experiences for shoppers, luxury retailers have evolved a simple transaction into something more.
A great example of this is The Bentley Inspirator. The experience starts on an iPad in dealerships. You watch a beautiful video full of lifestyle images, off-piste skiing, yachts sailing through the ocean. Meanwhile, in real-time, facial recognition software is measuring your preferences. By the end of the video, a personalised Bentley configuration is created based on your preferences. A playful piece of technology which creates a magical experience by unlocking new information about the customer.
Is technology killing anticipation?
Technology has allowed us to engage with customers in ways we never thought possible. But, it has also fuelled new expectations, resulting in less patience and a rising demand for frictionless experiences. Amazon has calculated that even a one-second delay in page downloads could cost them $1.6 billion each year in lost revenue.
Modern technologies (e.g. Uber and drone delivery systems) are built on our desire for instant gratification. These technologies cure pain points in our lives. However, science has shown that anticipation can be far more gratifying than the reward itself. Bizarre as it may sound, there is an argument for designing in a little friction into the service process. Designed friction allows experiences to be anticipated, valued and remembered.
Create your experience and people will follow
We have the ability to design amazing experiences, but we need to be mindful about why and how we design them. From our research, we have seen how it is possible to design experiences that create emotional connections, drive memory creation and kindle the desire to share those experiences with others. Our deepest desires as human beings are to learn and grow. Brands have the opportunity to design in these experiences across their consumer touchpoints.
We must embrace this opportunity to move beyond simply creating consumer interactions which are frictionless, invisible and instead craft experiences with enough tension that they are shareable, memorable and teach us something about ourselves that we didn’t know before.
Interested in more information, contact us at [email protected].
OMD has completed a hugely successful launch for HTC Vive, the first complete virtual reality system. Engineered by OMD’s specialist service unit Fuse Sport + Entertainment, a collaboration between Noma Labs and HTC which, alongside production partner Bearded Kitten, resulted in the fully immersive theatre production, “Virtually Dead”. Live in London and Paris, both events were completely sold out, as enthusiasts flocked to see the very latest in VR technology and experience immersive theatre at its finest.
Combining previously unseen VR technology with interactive performance, “Virtually Dead” blurred the lines between what’s real and what’s not, giving the audience a completely new, thrilling and scary interactive experience. During the hour-long activity, ticketholders were guided by actors into designated VR areas containing 13 minutes of playable VR content. Instead of a static experience, Vive’s much anticipated “360° room-scale” technology allowed guests to move around and explore their new virtual world.
Following a sinister virus outbreak, which has wiped out millions of people in Arizona, ticketholders were invited to join the fight against the plague of Zombies that has taken over. The US Military swing into action and the entire state is quarantined. A special army is trained to deal with the potential overseas spread of the virus and recruits are put through their paces to be able to tackle the virus on the front line.
Olivia Rose, Account Director at Fuse said, “It was a thrill to be involved in creating something which is literally breaking new ground in terms of audience experience and engagement. Many entertainment events become fairly standard in terms of format and delivery, but this was something very original and special. Merging immersive theatre with virtual reality presented incredible opportunities and we were absolutely delighted with the success of the events in both London and Paris.”
Jon Goddard, Head of VR Marketing, EMEA at HTC commented, “Introducing our revolutionary 360° room–scale VR technology into an immersive theatre environment is an entirely new venture, and one we couldn’t wait for people to experience. We’re incredibly excited to have worked with Fuse and subsequently the creative teams at Noma Labs and believe Vive, the first complete virtual reality system, is the perfect VR partnership to deliver a truly spectacular production.”
The Results
- Tickets sound out in two weeks!
- 45+ press features
- Conversations around Virtually Dead reached 100+ million people worldwide
- 15m+ Virtually Dead video views
- 20 million data points used to target millennials in London and Paris
For more information, contact [email protected]
With the continued popularity and hype around Pokemon Go, the spotlight on Augmented Reality is bright with attention on Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality also increasing. The future of these technologies is still uncertain but hints of what is to come can be seen in recent industry headlines. Whilst the battle for which technology platform becomes the norm continues, the BBC has launched BBC Sport360 and NBC has an called NBC Sports, both of which will put you at the the heart of the Rio Olympics through VR capabilities. Sports fans are able to experience the closing ceremony, athletics, boxing and many more activities through 360-degree storytelling. Not all of us will have this technology lying around the house, but Facebook mentioned in April that more than 1 million people had used their VR Gear (a Facebook Samsung collaboration) for an array of experiences – from sports and movies to video games. Even more exciting is what type of product and user experiences VR will unlock for brands as the spotlight on this technology increases. Share anything you spot that is interesting with #OMDFWD
HEADLINES
INSIGHTS
COOL
DEEP READS
This year at SXSW Virtual Reality was an unavoidable force, from experience stations and full brand immersive lofts, to tuk-tuks bringing us the technology on the streets.
Yet leading up to SXSW my scepticism to see how VR will be a ‘game-changer’ was rife, until two things happened. The first was even before I landed in Texas, and came in the form of a full preview of the HTC Vive here at the OMD EMEA office. I spent time exploring an underwater shipwreck and attempting to cook tomato soup, where I may have also let off some steam crashing my way through the kitchen (has anyone thought of using VR as a tool for stress relief?). The second occurred at SXSW as I noticed the themes and applications surrounding VR were not just being showcased and discussed by tech innovators, but every great film director that took to the podium. Their excitement was contagious and as my mind-set towards VR shifted, I am going to tell you why…
(Eden Smith Senior Digital Designer at Burberry experiences VR on the road.)
This integration of VR is seen as the biggest leap in technology since the invention of photography and film.
Stating VR is an invention to rival the dawn of photography or film may seem bold, but as every director that took to the floor at SXSW acknowledged, this technology has enabled a groundbreaking shift in how their content is consumed, how they can drive emotion through story-telling and how they can now build an entire world for their vision. Much in the same way that photography and the moving image is used as a tool to disrupt, immerse and emote audiences with images of other cultures, VR is set to do the same, but to a degree we’ve never experienced.
Great directors such as Chris Milk have pioneered great VR interactivity (for example his “Hello-Again” film of Beck recreating David Bowie’s “Sound and Vision” in a surround sound live performance), but the doors are now wide open, as VR becomes an affordable pursuit for any brand to experiment with. VR gives brands and consumers the opportunity to not just be static in an environment but to walk around it, play with it and explore a co-created world.
And McDonald’s did just this at SXSW. In their V-Artist Loft, we were transported, via a HTC Vive, into a Happy Meal box where we could indulge our inner child with painting and arts. You could even send your friends a McNugget of enjoyment with a gif of your experience! Simultaneously, the UK launch of the first immersive VR Zombie experience hit London combining live action actors and tech in a seamless fright night to remember.
McDonald’s V-Artist, The Loft, SXSW
The opportunity and responsibility to give the masses their first, and most memorable, VR experience is a battle we will see realised in the later part of this year. Whilst early adopters and gamers already have opinions of which headset provides the best experience from a technical perspective, brands will now clamber to understand how, and what content, they need to be first to the podium. Winning not only the race for best headline-hitting experience, but also winning consumer’s hearts.
Before we can win ‘hearts’ we first need to understand the language and rules of creating non-linear storytelling. The next step is working with technology partners to understand how we navigate the functionality and worlds created by this ground-breaking tech.
It is important to question why this content is in VR and not traditional film? What are we creating that is of high enough value to ask an audience to download an App, or take the time to stop and step into a headset.
Leading discussions from a publishing perspective was Jenna Pirog, the first ever Editor of the New York Times VR. NYTVR is a free mobile app that can be used, along with headphones, to simulate richly immersive scenes from across the globe, a huge statement of intent from this giant of journalism. With bespoke platform content, NYTVR is immersing audiences with stories, for example ‘The Displaced’, which drops you into the lives of children displaced by war, placing you directly into family life from each child’s perspective.
(Source twitter – jennapirog)
“We are just figuring out the language of VR, it’s like the first days of film. Right now it’s wide open” Jenna Pirog, VR Editor, NYT- SXSW
Exposure to these experiences has been met with shock, tears and increased feelings of empathy for the subjects in the story, a connection that linear story-telling is constantly fighting to maintain as traditional channels battle for attention. With VR being such a powerful tool for creating heightened emotions, the critical question for brands and agencies we need to answer is, how can we use VR’s power to build emotive brand content and how does this contribute or change the content we currently create?
Content with directional sound, virtual textures and movement.
Will VR add the next dimension to content that has been, up to now, a 2D digital consumer experience?
The introduction of directional sound has meant we can now create experiences where we can pull users attention to a specific place through sound; drawing them to the moments we feel matter. We can now also use controllers to move and interact with the environment. This will revolutionise digital commerce, users will not only be able to see a product but also pick it up, see the movement of the material and touch the quality of the fabric replicating the emotion that embodies quality craftsmanship. An area which, luxury brands will be leading the way with, much as traditional video has been used to emote the virtual shelves replacing the still image.
It is our responsibility to create content excellence as we look to build experiences that not only do the technology justice, but also push the creative forward, reward the consumer and break the boundaries we do not yet know exist.
To find out more about the rules of VR and how OMD is uniquely placed to help you co-create ground-breaking experiences contact [email protected].