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5 Creative Ways To Use Virtual Reality At Home

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By Daniel Trock

Strange as it is to think, we are definitively living in an era of virtual reality, or at least the beginning of one.

Only a few decades ago, this was strictly in the realm of science fiction, yet nowadays, anyone anywhere can buy a VR headset and enter a world apart from our own. We’re not quite in “Ready Player One” territory yet, but creative minds have already managed to cook up all sorts of cool applications for this burgeoning technology.

When thinking about uses for virtual reality, most ideas are business-oriented, such as creating walkable virtual stores, product catalogues, and video games. However, not all usage of virtual reality needs to be profit-seeking. Instead, you can use virtual reality for self-development, hang with friends, or tackle tedious tasks. If you’re at home and have a headset and some time to kill, you can use your VR setup for all kinds of nifty things, controlling your virtual world and experiencing fantastical sights.

Interior design

Designing a home is an incredibly arduous process due to various physical and logistical limitations. Your only real options are to stare at a house’s blueprints and try to abstract the placement of furniture and decorations in your head. Worse, physically lug everything through the front door and pray it all fits in the available dimensions, which it usually doesn’t. If only you could freely experiment with the layout of your home the same way you can arrange buildings in a strategy game. With VR, it is possible.

Real estate companies have been using VR for a few years now to create virtual mockups of homes on the market to take prospective buyers on virtual tours. However, this technology isn’t owned by the real estate industry. Anyone can download apps like Live Home 3D to create a home from scratch and fill it with virtual furniture, freely manipulating sizes and placements without all the back-breaking labour. Whether you’re designing your dream home or just spit balling on how to make your apartment a little nicer, you can flex your imagination to its limits.

Touring the world

They say that traveling is good for your mind and soul, as it broadens your perspective of the world and exposes you to cultures outside your own. This is mostly true, with one caveat: The world’s destinations are lovely, but the actual act of traveling, including putting up with airlines and booking hotels, can be stressful, not to mention potentially expensive. Not everyone can be bothered with long-distance traveling, so if you’d like an easier travel itinerary, try strapping on a VR headset.

Through virtual reality apps like Wander and BRINK Traveller, you can explore some of the world’s most breath-taking vistas from the comfort of your home. While it’s not quite the same as being in the thick of it, it’s a great way to get a taste of the wider world, see the sights, and do a bit of people-watching. You could also consider it a preview of sorts for a prospective real trip, helping you to select a destination you’d like to know more about.

Outfit coordination

Shopping has never been more convenient than now, as massive online catalogues give you access to just about any clothing or accessories you could want. Of course, seeing a picture of a cool shirt or fancy dress isn’t quite the same thing as actually wearing it, and once you receive it, it may not look as flattering as you had hoped. If you enjoy shopping for clothes at home, you can improve your experience with virtual assistance.

Thanks to advancements in virtual imaging, certain apps and storefronts can simulate the appearance of clothes on your person in a virtual view with a combination of VR and AR tech. With this technology, you can try on various outfits and styles to find what works for you and what doesn’t. Even if you’re not planning on buying anything, you can try stuff on for the fun of it. It’s like the next step up from window shopping!

Viewing parties

As the world grows metaphorically smaller, it’s become easier to maintain friendships and relationships from anywhere in the world. Since you’re not physically next to each other, though, there are some social activities you can’t do together, such as enjoying a movie in each other’s company. While there are apps for sharing Netflix views, for instance, it’s more fun to have someone next to you that you can turn to whisper at. If you want that kind of experience, VR can provide it.

Through the built-in software on Meta Quest heads and virtual ecosystems like VRChat, you can organize virtual viewing parties with movies showing on a big screen while you and your friends enjoy the show from theatre seats. It’s all the fun of going to the movies with your friends without the chattering randos or sticky floors, plus you’re in complete control of the movie playlist.

Meditation and therapy

The ideas of meditation and mindfulness may seem antithetical to the flash and noise of modern technology. Still, depending on your perspective, they can intersect quite well with one another. If your home life is a little too rowdy for your taste, a VR headset, perhaps paired with noise-cancelling headphones, can make for an excellent getaway. With apps like Innerworld and Hoame, you can transport yourself to a faraway mountaintop or serene spring, surrounded by natural sounds as you enjoy meditative peace.

Additionally, if you’re looking to conquer a particular aspect of yourself, VR can provide a safe environment to do so. If you have a fear of heights, for example, you can simulate various high-elevation environments for exposure therapy without actually putting yourself in physical danger. It’s a great way to start a personal journey of self-improvement and discovery and make the gradual transition to real-life environments a little easier on you.

Feature Image Credit: Viorel Kurnosov/Getty Images

By Daniel Trock

Sourced from Slash Gear

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Apple’s mixed reality headset may be delayed yet again

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By Alex Blake

If you believe the rumours, Apple’s top-secret mixed-reality headset has been beset with delays over the years. Now, it looks like it could be postponed even further.

That’s because reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has revised his prediction for when the headset will see the light of day, pushing it back to later in 2023.

Previously, Kuo had maintained that the device could ship to customers in the second quarter of 2023, which covers April to June. Now, Kuo believes it will go on sale either late in the second quarter or into the third quarter, which comprises July through to September. That lines up roughly with a report from DigiTimes that predicted mass production would begin in March 2023.

The change also affects the date of the media event at which Apple was expected to reveal the product. In previous reports, Kuo had stated Apple would hold a January event, but with continuing delays plaguing the headset, he now believes an event in the spring or at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) event is more likely.

Launching at WWDC?

A render of Apple's VR headset.
Apple AR/VR headset render Ian Zelbo

At first glance, the new dates seem to make a lot of sense, largely due to WWDC falling in June. This show would be a perfect opportunity for Apple to introduce the device to an audience of developers, many of whom will be looking to build apps for this entirely new platform.

However, that all depends on whether Apple can fix the problems that are causing the delay in the first place. According to Kuo, the headset has been pushed back because of “issues with mechanical component drop testing and the availability of software development tools.” That last problem could be a key hurdle to launching at WWDC.

Kuo’s report seemingly rules the headset out of Apple’s rumoured March event, though. Given the problems Kuo has disclosed, anything earlier than April might be a little too soon.

Apple’s headset is expected to combine virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) capabilities, allowing users to fully immerse themselves in a virtual world or have digital imagery overlaid onto the real world. It might also be able to run iOS apps in a 2D mode.

According to previous leaks, it looks like Apple is going to go all out, decking the headset out in a ton of high-end components. That includes super-high-resolution displays, a plethora of cameras, and a featherweight design that nods to other Apple devices. All that quality adds up, though, and the price could be as much as $2,000 or $3,000. Let’s hope it’s worth the wait.

By Alex Blake

Sourced from digitaltrends

 

 

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‘Reading your mind’: How eyes, pupils and heart rate could be used to target ads in the metaverse

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By Aisling Ní Chúláin

If we’ve learned anything about new means of communication over the last century, it’s that where technology attracts people’s eyes and ears, advertisers won’t be long chasing after them.

It’s been the case with radio, cinema, TV, the Internet and social media, so it seems almost impossible that it won’t be the case in the so-called metaverse – the new fully realised, shared universe that companies like Meta are proposing to build.

In perhaps a sign of things to come, a host of brands have already dipped their toes into gaming metaverses, hosting virtual fashion shows and dropping exclusive collections in game.

Luxury fashion houses like Louis Vuitton, Valentino and Marc Jacobs have all designed digital items for the social simulation game Animal Crossing – and Balenciaga has collaborated with Fortnite on an exclusive drop of wearable skins for in-game characters, to name but a few.

‘Think about it as placement in the product instead of product placement’

But now that Meta, a targeted advertising powerhouse, has staked its claim to the metaverse, some experts are raising the alarm about the specific implications immersive advertising will have for user privacy, safety and consent.

“When you think about advertising in XR, you should think about it as placement in the product instead of product placement,” Brittan Heller, counsel with American law firm Foley Hoag and an expert in privacy and safety in immersive environments, told Euronews Next.

“The way that advertising works in these contexts is a little different because you seek out the experiences. You like the experiences,” she explained.

We’re rapidly moving into a space where your intentions and your thoughts are substantial data sets that have technological importance in a way that they didn’t before.

Brittan Heller
Human Rights Counsel – Foley Hoag LLP

“An ad in virtual reality may look like buying a designer jacket for your digital avatar [but] that’s an ad for a clothing company that you are wearing on your body”.

“It may look like buying a game that puts you into Jurassic Park – [but] what better way to advertise the movie franchise than to actually put you in the experience of being in Jurassic Park?”

What is biometric psychography?

The problem here, according to Heller, is that in the metaverse, the capability for harvesting biometric data and using that sensitive data to target ads tailored to you, goes far beyond the considerable amount of data Facebook already uses to build our consumer profiles.

If the technology that Meta is promising comes to fruition, the possibility exists that a form of targeted advertising which tracks involuntary biological responses could be proliferated.

The risk that I think we’ve learnt from Cambridge Analytica is that privacy risks come into play when you have the combination of unanticipated data sets, especially when you’re looking at emerging technology.

Brittan Heller
Human Rights Counsel – Foley Hoag LLP

For VR headsets to work in this environment, Heller says, they will have to be able to track your pupils and your eyes.

This means advertisements could be tailored according to what attracts or holds your visual attention and how you physically respond to it.

Heller has coined a term for this combination of one’s biometric information with targeted advertising: biometric psychography.

If an entity had access to biometric data such as pupil dilation, skin moistness, EKG or heart rate – bodily indicators that happen involuntarily in response to stimuli – and combined it with existing targeted advertising datasets, it would be “akin to reading your mind,” Heller said.

“The type of information you can get from somebody’s pupil dilation, for example – that can tell you whether or not somebody is telling the truth. It can tell you whether or not somebody is sexually attracted to the person that they’re seeing,” she explained.

“We’re rapidly moving into a space where your intentions and your thoughts are substantial data sets that have technological importance in a way that they didn’t before”.

“The risk that I think we’ve learnt from Cambridge Analytica is that privacy risks come into play when you have the combination of unanticipated data sets, especially when you’re looking at emerging technology”.

Regulating the metaverse

Heller believes that biometric laws in the United States are insufficient in protecting users from use or misuse of this kind of data because “biometrics laws in the States are defined by protecting your identity, not protecting your thoughts or your impulses”.

With the metaverse, the risk remains that the pace of development of the technology will outstrip the ability of institutions to regulate them effectively as has arguably been the case with social media platforms.

In light of the fact that companies hoping to build the metaverse are multinational and operate across borders, Heller believes the most effective way to deal with these issues of user protection is a “human rights based approach”.

“There are many stakeholders in this, there’s civil society, there are public groups, there are governments and then there are intergovernmental organisations as well,” she explained.

“A human rights approach has been the way that we’ve been able to bring all of these players and their concerns together and make sure that everybody is heard”.

But what can companies do to protect people in the metaverse?

If tech organisations are serious about guaranteeing users’ digital rights in immersive environments, it will depend on them being open about the technology they are developing.

“I would want companies to be more transparent with the functionality of their technologies, not just their intentions and their business plans, but how this will work,” Heller said.

“That will help lawmakers ask the questions that they need to protect the public and to cooperate with each other for trans border technology”.

By Aisling Ní Chúláin

Sourced from euronews.next

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The Top Digital Trends To Watch In 2022

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By Katy Finneran

The world is more digital now than ever before and that’s sure to last in 2022.

Ninety percent of Americans say the internet has been essential to them during the pandemic. Indeed, basic everyday tasks such as buying groceries, connecting with family, and conducting business have been upended to rely on digital media. The pandemic ignited and expedited digital adoption, the aftermath of which will continue to percolate across all industries for years to come — and marketing is no exception.

The biggest brand victories and failures won’t be won or lost on traditional commercials. They’ll happen on TikTok, Instagram, eSports, and smart speakers. The recommendations consumers trust most won’t come from celebrities on infomercials. They’ll be from nano-influencer on Stories, Reels, and Shorts.

The savviest brands, employers, and users will navigate 2022 using a ‘digital first’ mentality with a focus on monitoring and activating these key trends:

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality  

Virtual and augmented reality were growing trends before the pandemic but quarantine, remote work, and the lasting purgatory between pre-and-post pandemic life accelerated adoption. Need further convincing? The parent company of the world’s largest social network, Facebook, recently changed its name to Meta. That’s short for the metaverse, a virtual world where people socialize, work, and play.  Just this week, Meta launched Horizon Worlds, a free app for socializing in virtual reality, available to users ages 18 and up in the U.S. and Canada.

The metaverse isn’t a new concept, nor is it distinct to Facebook. Back in March, Microsoft announced Mesh, a new mixed-reality platform that allows people in different places to collaborate and share holographic experiences across devices.

Virtual and augmented reality trends extend beyond Big Tech. Consumer brands such as Sephora and Warby Parker adopted augmented reality years ago to make online shopping more experiential and efficient. But Facebook’s big bet on the metaverse gives it new weight and momentum. So, will 2022 be the year B2B marketers crack the meta nut?

Voice Search

Smart speakers saw record growth in 2020, with over 150 million units sold globally. Voice search is poised to continue to grow in the coming years. Why? The biggest reasons are intuitive: it’s easy and hands-free. 71 percent of consumers favour voice-searching to type-searching. Voice shopping is projected to reach $40 billion in 2022 and by 2024, there are projected to be 8.4 billion voice devices across the globe.

There are admittedly technological limitations with voice search, which relies on Natural Language Processing but even so, Google’s speech recognition has a 95% accuracy rate for English searches. Google Voice Search also offers massive global scale, supporting more than 100 languages.

Consumer brands, such as Domino’s, have been active in this space for some time. Back in 2016, Domino’s launched its skill on Amazon Echo, which enables users to order delivery via Echo.

The next phase of winning in voice search will transcend beyond basic speaker skills and into all digital content. In 2022, companies and brands who optimize their websites and content for voice search will drive more traffic to their site and increase their SEO ranking.

eSports

By the end of 2021, the global eSports audience is projected to reach 474 million users, with revenues of nearly $1.1 billion. eSports are on the rise but still in their nascent stage, which means a massive opportunity for those who get it right.

Verizon is well-known for being cutting edge in their digital marketing – and eSports is no exception. In 2020, Verizon became an official partner of League of Legends regional league and earlier this year, Verizon and video game developer Riot Games expanded this partnership with Verizon becoming a partner across League of Legend’s three annual global events.

With evolving pandemic-related regulations on in-person sporting events and large venues, 2022 could be the year eSports adoption and sponsorships go mainstream.

Digital Payment

The more time users spend on digital, the more money they spend on digital. Person-to-person payments had promising growth pre-pandemic and COVID-19 ignited and expedited this trajectory.

In 2020, PayPal volume payment growth was up a record 31% and that’s not slowing any time soon. PayPal projects a similar increase, of about 30%, in 2021. And it’s not just PayPal, payments and social media continue to converge through the rise of other platforms such as Venmo and Zelle. In Q3 2021, Zelle processed $127 billion on 466 million transactions.

Major corporations, small businesses, and everyday users are relying more on digital payments for everything from buying a car to reimbursing a friend for lunch.

Micro-Videos

The rise of TikTok during the pandemic was widely reported. In Q1 2020, TIkTok received 315 million downloads – that’s more quarterly downloads than any app in history but whether TikTok maintains dominance on the micro-video market remains to be seen. After all, Instagram usurped Snapchat in Stories – so will the platform eclipse TikTok in Reels? Time will tell but early metrics are promising. 87% of Gen-Z TikTok users agree that Reels is very similar to TikTok. Reels also receive 22% more engagement than regular video content.

Instagram Reels isn’t the only micro-video format poised for growth in 2022. Take YouTube Shorts, a short-form video experience launched by Google in 2020, for example. The biggest case for YouTube Shorts is their institutional userbase: every month, 2 billion viewers visit YouTube.

Brands who capitalize on this micro-video trend – and seemingly algorithmically favored format — will win in 2022.

Nano-Influencer Marketing

By the end of 2021, influencer marketing is projected to reach $13.8 billion but not all influencers influence equally. Studies show that nano-influencers, those with fewer than 5,000 followers drive the highest engagement rate, followed next by micro-influencers, users with 5,000-20,000 followers. In fact, users with over 1 million followers drive the lowest engagement rate. That’s why 77% of marketers would rather work with micro-influencers than celebrities.

Another perk of nano and micro-influencers is their smaller following typically makes them more affordable. Micro-influencers can activate more targeted, niche audiences and are often considered more authentic and trustworthy by their followers.

To-date, influencer marketing has been most effective for brands targeting Gen-Z but as Gen-Z ages and Millennials, Gen-X, and Boomers all spend more time online, there could be a white space for brands to sway more demographics via influencer marketing.

Privacy Regulation

So, what won’t grow in 2022? Third-party cookies usage.

This year, Google announced Chrome will phase out support for third-party cookies by 2023. Apple launched a pop-up on iPhones that asks users for permission to be tracked by apps and Facebook announced its engineers are working on a workaround to serve relevant ads to users without leveraging personal data.

As Big Tech rolls out these new privacy restrictions, more platforms and regulation are expected to follow suit and the implications could pose serious limitations for advertisers.

**

As platforms, formats, regulations, and the pandemic continue to evolve, adaptability will remain the greatest asset for brands, employers, and users looking to build an effective and resilient digital strategy in 2022.

Feature Image Credit: Getty Images

By Katy Finneran

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn.

I am a digital and social media strategist with experience at a number of industry-leading brands, including Fox News, Bloomberg and Goldman Sachs. I am an expert at running both paid and organic social media campaigns and have advised some of the most preeminent media personalities and business executives on social media. Now, I run a digital media consultancy and am a speaker and writer on the evolving digital landscape. My articles have published on Fox News, Fox Business, Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg Businessweek and Thought Catalog. I’ve also been a guest on Bloomberg Radio. When I’m not analyzing what’s about to break the internet, I enjoy chasing around my two kids.

Sourced from Forbes

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Facebook tests ads in virtual reality headsets

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Sourced from BBC

Facebook has begun displaying ads in its Oculus virtual reality headsets, despite the founder of the platform saying it would never do so.

In what the social network described as an experiment, ads will begin to appear in a game called Balston with other developers rolling out similar ads.

It said it would listen to feedback before launching virtual reality ads more widely.

It also revealed it is testing new ad formats “that are unique to VR”.

In 2017, shortly after Facebook bought Oculus, creator Palmer Luckey told the Next Web: “We are not going to track you, flash ads at you, or do anything invasive.”

But in a blog on Oculus’s website, the firm said: “We’re exploring new ways for developers to generate revenue – this is a key part of ensuring we’re creating a self-sustaining platform that can support a variety of business models that unlock new types of content and audiences.”

Users will be able to hide specific ads or those from a certain advertiser and Facebook promised that its privacy policy would remain the same.

“Facebook will get new information, like whether you interacted with an ad, and if so, how… for example, if you clicked on the ad for more information or if you hid the ad.”

It encourages customers to share their feedback via the Oculus support page.

Barrier to adoption?

Last month the firm began testing ads in the Oculus mobile app.

Leo Gebbie, an analyst with CCS Insight, said the move was unsurprising.

“Ultimately Facebook is built on advertising revenue and if there was any expectation that it wouldn’t build it out into virtual reality, then that is a little naive.”

Oculus Quest 2 headsets start at £299, and in the US are also offered for $299, and that price means it is being sold at “incredibly low or even loss-leading margins,” said Mr Gebbie.

This could mean Facebook becomes the dominant player, as others are unable to compete.

“The long-term goal is for Oculus to be a platform for virtual reality and augmented reality, with Facebook keen to get as many people as possible using it,” he said.

But, he noted, there would probably be a backlash against ads on the headset.

“Facebook doesn’t have the best track record on privacy and there is a concern that it will continue to push the boundaries and creep towards something that is invasive.”

Piers Harding-Rolls, research director of games at Ampere Analysis, said VR offered big opportunities for the tech firms.

“If people are spending more time using this technology, those that dominate the online advertising opportunity – including Facebook and Google – want to be well-placed to take advantage of any shift in consumer habits, so that they can follow the audience with their advertising networks.”

But they needed to be careful about balancing advertising with a good user experience, he warned.

“While there is nothing exceptional about having advertising in games, the intimate and immersive nature of VR means that the consumer experience is likely to feel a lot different and that might represent a barrier to adoption.”

Sourced from BBC

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Virtual Reality Games Just Went to Holodeck Level

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The future is now, old man.

By Nicole Buckler

The future of media is insane. Take for example, virtual reality. When the first commercially-available headsets hit the market, what’s the first thing we all did? We tried them with VR porn, because we are all randy animals at heart. And that was cool for five minutes. But now, there’s even better stuff we can do with VR. Much, much better stuff.

VR play rooms, like an early kind of holodeck, are being built all over the world. Australia and Japan have had wild success with theirs, and now some entrepreneurs in the USA have been licensed to open two new locations in America. We can only pray to one of the current 2,5000 deities that someone will bring it to Ireland and fast. We have a lot of rainy days here, and this is the indoor hero that we need and deserve.

The VR arenas allow a group of friends to play together in a virtual world. And. IT. LOOKS. AWESOME.

The company licensed to open the U.S. locations, MindTrek VR, say the newly-opened arena has been hugely popular. And so far, as a new media experience, they seem to be killing it.  This is a game that doesn’t feel like a game. The player’s mind believes it’s real, because the digital and real world are meshed seamlessly together. When the player moves, the game moves with them.

Within MindTrekVR’s free-roam gaming arenas, players can battle with zombies, robots and drones in Zombie Survival, or negotiate virtual mazes and digital netherworlds in Singularity and Engineerium.

The VR software that drives the game, called Zero Latency, is a patent-pending motion tracking system. They are a Melbourne-based tech company and a global leader in VR gaming. The software allows large groups of up to 16 people wearing portable virtual reality gear to interact and participate simultaneously in digital games in a wide-open space. The games are seamlessly controlled, enhanced and modified in real-time by on-site gaming engineers.

Brad Wurtz, David Rzepski, and David O’Connor are behind the U.S. version of MindTrek VR. The trio of entrepreneurs all come from a business and entertainment background. “Virtual reality at home can be isolating and sharing the experience with a group in our gaming arenas is a real game-changer,” O’Connor says. “MindTrek is a leader in transforming the virtual reality gaming landscape to make it a social experience.”

The entrepreneurs have previously invested in a variety of ventures, including SkyZone trampoline parks, bowling alleys, bars, and nightclubs, rum manufacturing and real estate. These guys are all about the bringing the fun. And I for one hope they bring it here.

Want to keep tabs on the company? You can follow them on Twitter

 

 

 

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VR Ads Are Almost Here. Don’t Act Surprised

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By Elizabeth Stinson

Imagine, for a moment, that you’re inside a virtual reality world. You look to your left and an open door appears, beckoning you to walk through it. You enter and suddenly find yourself in the middle of an advertisement—a branded world you can explore and manipulate. Forget banner ads and auto-playing videos. The advertisement of the future is immersive, almost game like. And it’s nearly here.

Last week, Unity, the world’s largest VR development company, announced Virtual Room, a new type of interactive advertisement it plans to roll out later this year. Unlike the standalone VR marketing experiences you’ve seen before, Virtual Room ads will surface across a wide network of VR apps, similar to the display ads you see on your laptop or the video ads you see while playing games on your phone. Don’t act surprised—you knew this was coming.

Like any new medium, VR must be monetized, says Tony Parisi head of Unity’s VR and AR strategy. “Developers want to make money,” he says. “We want to help them do that.“ Until recently, though, it was unclear how, exactly, that would happen. Most VR developers make cash from micro transactions and in-app purchases, but that’s pennies compared to what advertising can bring in.

Google

To capitalize on the opportunity, other VR companies have already begun exploring what ads might look like in this new medium. In a recent blog post, Google showed off a concept for a floating cube that players can tap or gaze at to start video advertisements—sort of like auto-play, but in VR. The format is simple by design. “VR ad formats should be easy for developers to implement, native to VR, flexible enough to customize, and useful and non-intrusive for users,” writes Aayush Upadhyay and Neel Rao of Google’s Area 120.

Google’s vision nods to the legacy of existing digital advertisements, which many in the ad industry are trying to avoid. “Our hope is that VR creates new opportunities that don’t replicate advertising the way that mobile originally did with repurposed 30-second TV spots,” says Eric John, deputy director of video at the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the organization responsible for setting guidelines for web, mobile, and now VR advertisements.

The IAB is working with Unity to build guidelines around Virtual Room, which outline everything from how long an ad should play to how often it should surface. For now, Unity says branded content will be opt in for both developers and players. It will surface for no more than two minutes every hour, and those ads will be highly targeted as to not alienate the person interacting with them. They’ll likely pop up at points of friction—when a player is having trouble or after a level is completed—similar to ads on mobile games and television.

What will change is how the player interacts with advertisements. People won’t passively watch Unity-created ads; they’ll play with them. “Ads are usually linear,” says Julie Shumaker, VP of business development at Unity. “And there’s nothing linear about VR.”

To play to the medium’s strengths, Virtual Rooms will first appear as a floating, glowing door somewhere in the player’s field of vision. Shumaker calls this the Alice in Wonderland effect. “If you choose to enter, you’re going to drop into a completely different experience than the one you were just in,” she says, adding that the experience is meant to be transportive, not jarring. From there, players can explore the branded world for anywhere from 30 seconds if they’re not interacting to 60 seconds or more if Unity’s tracking software detects deep engagement.

For its pilot advertisement, Unity partnered with Lionsgate to craft a Virtual Room for the gory movie Jigsaw that will surface in apps across Unity’s growing VR ad network. Though they haven’t finished the creative content, Shumaker says the goal is to build something that will hit people on a visceral level and engage them just like a VR game engages players.

That’s an appealing sell to advertisers. Creating compelling content that doesn’t feel like an advertisement is one way to avoid audience burnout. Still, developing high caliber content is prohibitively expensive. Shumaker says they haven’t finalized pricing yet, but Virtual Room is going to be a premium product that commands premium rates.

According to a recent report from Forrester, developing a single 360 video ad can cost in the tens of thousands; developing a fully interactive ad could cost upwards of $500,000. “I think a lot of brands will be reluctant to invest in that,” says Thomas Husson, one of the Forrester analysts who authored the report.

For advertisers, the cost might be too high for what’s still essentially an experiment. But Unity has reason to bet on it. There might not be many people using VR headsets today, but if Virtual Room becomes a de facto ad standard in what’s projected to be a growing field, Unity has a lot to gain. Plus, virtual reality offers advertisers one thing that no other medium can accomplish. “You have 100 percent of the audience’s attention,” Shumaker says. In today’s frenzied media landscape, that’s worth a lot.

By Elizabeth Stinson

Sourced from WIRED

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Virtual Reality Shopping is Here — And This is What Consumers Want From it

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Customers want to use VR to design rooms, customise products and shop with friends from across the world. Retailers – get ready for v-commerce, because others are already offering it.

By MediaStreet Staff Writers

Virtual reality shopping is on the way — and now new data shows how consumers want to use it.

Early tech adopter consumers are eager to use virtual reality technology to:

-Design rooms by visualising furniture and accessories assembled together in virtual “rooms”

-“Trying on” and customising products like jeans and eyeglass frames

-Taking virtual shopping “trips” with friends from across the country or around the world.

Many people said that they would like to use virtual rooms to see how items purchased online would look in their own rooms.

Those are among the key findings of a survey of 1,000 early-adopter consumers by global management consulting firm L.E.K. Consulting. The results show that “v-commerce” – a blend of e-commerce and brick-and-mortar shopping – is nearly here.

Savvy retailers will respond by investing in virtual reality technologies and starting to plan v-commerce strategies. Some, like Alibaba, The Gap, and Sephora have already started down this route.

“V-commerce brings the potential for entirely new shopping experiences and new kinds of added value,” says Dan McKone, Managing Director at L.E.K. “But there are risks for retailers – the initial investment is significant, and there are high costs for getting it wrong. Retailers need to do what they’ve always done – look to their consumers to point the way.”

Retailers are ramping up investment in two kinds of v-commerce technology. Firstly, there is “virtual reality” (VR), where consumers use headsets to enter a completely digital world. Secondly, there is the more-accessible “augmented reality” (AR), where the customer uses their camera-equipped smartphones to get information (such as prices and colour selections) overlaid on a picture of the physical showroom or shopping space.

“For retailers, the appeal is obvious,” says L.E.K. Managing Director Rob Haslehurst. “These technologies are a new way for retailers to do what customers want them to – create compelling shopping experiences and have rich communications with them.”

The L.E.K. survey of 1,000 consumers who had already experienced VR and AR technology was conducted in in the spring of 2017. Among the findings that help point the way for retailers:

  • Eighty percent want to use AR or VR to design a room or physical space by browsing virtual or physical showrooms, getting information about furniture and décor, and “seeing” what it looks like. Retailer Wayfair uses VR showrooms where customers can see a room come together as they fill their basket with products. Lowe’s Holoroom lets customers design a virtual room and then tour the space. Alibaba’s “Buy+” VR app allows consumers to browse and buy from the aisles of a virtual store, no matter where they are in physical space.
  • Seventy percent want to use v-commerce to try on clothes and accessories and to customise them. Consumers can start with an image of themselves on their smartphones, then search for the perfect shade of makeup or an eyeglass frame that perfectly suits them. The Gap and Sephora are already offering these AR applications.
  • Seventy percent are strongly interested in virtual shopping, where consumers use VR headsets to shop in a virtual store with a friend who isn’t physically present, or with an AI “virtual shopper” similar to Alexa or Siri.

V-commerce offers retailers considerable benefits. L.E.K. Managing Director Maria Steingoltz says “It can create new, special experiences that would otherwise not be possible, and that leads to greater consumer engagement. It enables retailers to unify physical and digital channels – brick-and-mortar retailers can bring digital capabilities into the store experience, and online-only retailers can create virtual ‘stores.’ And the rich experience can generate more sales — a customer can ‘see’ a sofa in his or her own living room, and then be shown the cushions, lamps and side tables that go with it.”

Retailers that want to take advantage of the v-commerce opportunity should:

  • Act immediately to make AR and VR a part of their digital strategy. “They’re not far out on the horizon – the time to think about them is now,” says Haslehurst.
  • Establish a compelling value proposition and define the business model. “Make sure customers understand from the first encounter how the technology solves their pain,” says Steingoltz. “And make sure to define the resources, concrete goals, and metrics for the project.”
  • Consider making alliances with technology leaders. “Retailers don’t need to be technology experts,” says Haslehurst. “Look for alliances that provide access to world-class technology and give technology makers a good story to tell.

“The future of v-commerce is still developing — but it’s time for retailers to start investing in it and creating consumer experiences that fill baskets and the revenue pipeline,” Steingoltz says.

 

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Harnessing the Benefits of AR and VR Concepts in Brand Marketing

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Sourced from Medium.com

Do you know that engaging with consumers on an emotional level and giving them a real time experience of the product or service on sale has become a cup of tea????

If you own a business organization and wish to market the brand name, keeping behind the other competitors, you better incorporate the Augmented and virtual reality concept in your promotional strategies.

What do you understand by Augmented and Virtual Reality??

In the words of David Tiltman, Warc’s Head of Content, “VR and AR are not new technologies but 2016 saw them really emerge as marketing platforms. A lot of money is now going towards VR in particular as brands seek fresh ways to engage consumers. As the advertising marketplace becomes more cluttered and many people opt out of receiving marketing messages, brand experiences that can cut through are increasingly valuable.”

Six benefits of AR & VR concept in marketing:

> Quality improvement in content and noticeable technology for increased consumer interaction and retention–

You can create outstanding content and engage your consumers on a personal level, something which was never possible earlier on. This will get you an edge in relation to the competitors.

The interactive and well designed content will get your viewers hooked to your application. Informative and creative design will retain your customers as well.

Moreover, you still have chance to harness the benefits of this new concept to surprise your consumers with something that your competitors still lack.

> Augmented reality useful for viral marketing and create brand awareness via social shares–

The ‘word of mouth’ is the very old method of marketing and brand promotion. Interesting and vivid graphical content will not only draw customers and retain them for a longer duration but will also promote your application through ‘word-of-mouth’ and social media sharing.

If you succeed in creating a lasting impression on your initial viewers, then there is a guarantee that the initial viewers will pull in more new viewers by spreading the message through their valuable feedback and social media sharing. The brand awareness of your application is thus established.

> Enables users to truly connect with the published content–

The, otherwise, motionless content of the advertisement becomes live boosted with more information, creating a more personalised impact on the consumers who end up purchasing your application thereby serving your purpose.

> Reduce language barriers–

Nowadays we substitute the lack of face-to-face interaction on the internet with many options (videos, photos, memes, gifs, texts) to create this wish-you-were–here effect. The main purpose of advertisement is to pull in potential customers and retain the existing ones by providing them with ample information and directions about the product. However, language stands to be barrier at times. But this barrier can be easily omitted with proper application of AR and VR technology into your promotional strategies, establishing connections with engrossing graphical representations that is self explanatory as well. Therefore, augmented and virtual reality may remove this last frontier of missing the physical contact with other person. Eg: Theatre in Paris together with Atos and the French start-up Opt invent created the augmented reality solution where theatre-goers were able to see subtitles simultaneously with the theater show. This intersection of cultural events and technology is expected to spill over to other industries as well making them accessible to those who do not speak the language.

> Influences customer buying behavior–

The ultimate purpose of any successful business operation is to sell off your product to the satisfying customers and influence them to turn back again and again to your product. Once potential users have been wowed by the immersive and interactive experience of VR and AR, their expectations from brands will increase. Brands that make use of such technologies creatively will set a new standard of surprise and appear in eyes of their consumers as the first choice.

> Detailed analytic generated for understanding user behavior–

In Plato’s words, ‘‘Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.’’ When these three ingredients get mixed up successfully in marketing, the winning combination is created. Both augmented and virtual reality solutions make use of analytic of the web and social media to understand the consumer buying behavior which is crucial to establish your brand name and earn profit to the maximum.

Summing Up:

According to Digi-Capital fundamental, “Augmented/Virtual Reality Report Q2 2015”, the AR/VR market is going to expand up to $150 billion by 2020. Moreover, the augmented reality has got the lion’s share of the market in $120 billion (VR gets only $30 billion, though)”.

So if you have an application developed in your kitty and wish to earn maximum ROI on it and establishing a strong name for your brand, then AR and VR concept is the perfect option for you to harness.

Sourced from Medium.com

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Augmented Reality Vs Virtual Reality- Benefits drawn from both

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Sourced from Medium.com

Do you often hear the two terms- AR & VR in alteration?? Do they confuse you??

Augmented and Virtual Reality concepts have many utilizing features that can prove beneficial to different operations if successfully incorporated into their framework.

Both AR and VR have the remarkable ability to change the very perception of the world around us. But they differ in the perception of our presence.

What do you understand by AR and VR concepts???

Virtual Reality/VR:

Marxent defines VR as the use of computer technology to create a simulated environment. Unlike traditional user interfaces, VR places the user inside an experience. Instead of viewing a screen in front of them, users are immersed and able to interact with 3D worlds.

Augmented Reality/AR:

Wikipedia gives the definition for AR as a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data.

AR vs VR- The key points of difference:

The key points in which the two above mentioned concepts differ has been jotted down here that will clear the confusion to an extent.

Let us cite an example given in AR vs VR example

‘Virtual Reality enables you to swim with the sharks. You can catch a shark pop out of your business card with Augmented Reality.’–

  • Purpose:

AR concept enhances user experience by adding virtual components such as digital images, graphics, or sensations etc providing a new layer of interaction with the real world.

VR creates a computer generated reality.

  • Delivery Method:

AR concept finds its’ application more in mobile devices such as laptops, smart phones and tablets to change the process of interaction between the real and virtual world.

VR is delivered to the user through a head-mounted, or hand-held controller. This equipment connects people to the virtual reality, and allows them to control and navigate their actions in an environment meant to simulate the real world.

Let us peek into their useful features that can prove beneficial on application:

There is much talk about these two concepts in the recent times. Both have their individual set of advantages and disadvantages. If the concepts can be economically incorporated in different fields, they definitely can come out with sparkling results.

Benefits of Augmented and Virtual Reality in Business:

AR

  1. AR embedded apps and devices can be used to provide high tech training to the employees to increase productivity.
  2. Entrepreneurs can give a vivid and visual interpretation of their products and services to the clients.
  3. Companies can display relevant data of their products in real time to the interested parties.

VR

  1. 3D vision pf the products to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty thereby increasing the company’s profit.
  2. Useful for branding and aggressive marketing for e-commerce companies.
  3. Companies can promote their product or service by a proper blend of photography and technology
  4. Manufacturers can showcase their goods in virtual showrooms without any use of physical space.

Benefits of Augmented and Virtual Reality in Real Estate:

  • Great Visual Engagement-

AR app can showcase your projects to end buyers in 3D.

VR app allows buyers to walk through the site without being physically present there.

  • Mobility-

You can easily reach out to your potential customer to showcase your project the very instant you get a query on your website or app, by going live on their smart phone or any suitable VR device.

  • Extended Reach-
  • Cost Saving-

You can reach more customers, cutting down the traveling and other related costs incurred in drawing more consumers to your business.

Improved Brand Loyalty-

  • Improved Brand Loyalty-

Benefits of Augmented and Virtual Reality in Education:

Do you know Egyptian Temple can be recreated in 3D making it possible to take a stroll around it as a true surround environment without leaving the classroom?

This is one of the few possibility that the modern technology has to offer to the world of education.

In Media Studio has implemented the method of immersive learning in its various educational projects. Students can immerse themselves in a seabed environment to learn marine biology and works with a tablet in which the teacher activates scenarios that students can see through virtual reality glasses. There are no books and all the content is exposed otherwise.

The various tools involved:

  1. Oculus Rift
  2. Tablet 60 Pulgadas
  3. Tele Transport Booth
  4. 3D objects and motion capture
  5. Virtual Learning Environment- AULA Virtual

Summing Up:

This article has given a brief insight in to the multiple applications of AR and VR concept in different fields. To get a real time experience in every aspect of your life, these two concepts can work wonders.

Sourced from Medium.com

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