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“ People report feeling they were using a VR screen for longer than they actually were "
- Stephen Bowman, managing director at VR Centre
venues which were enhanced by very different virtual reality experiences.
At the Burj Khalifa, VR users paid up to £ 98( Dh500) to head up to levels 124 and 125 of the tower to enter into one of seven VR pods. A mission commander provided instructions while riding the elevator in VR mode to the 160th level. Users experienced the gravity-defying ride up, which was gamified by collecting suction globes to ascent to the spire. Once up top, the next step is grabbing the parachute for a free-fall experience into the dancing fountains.
Meanwhile, The Shard, London’ s tallest building, charged visitors around £ 25 for‘ Vertigo’, a virtual adventure which travels back in time to The Shard’ s construction. VR guests follow Romeo the fox while taking instructions from the construction foreman to build the iconic tower.
Patrick Allen, CEO of The View from The Shard said:“ As the tallest attraction in the UK, we are always looking for new ways to offer exciting and innovative experiences for our visitors. The consumer technology space has been an area we’ ve been keen to explore for a while and we are excited to be working with the design companies behind the VR, Happy Finish and Inition to introduce these two new adventures to the attraction’ s visitors.”
Of course, the level of production required to create VR content is often higher than the more linear world of video.“ A package often starts at £ 1,500 for a day with a Nokia Ozo camera setup, but it is pro level with post production and a qualified technician,” says Wilton.
“ 360 degree video is basically a ' ball of video ', but you don’ t need a headset on your face. It can be viewed on a flatscreen phone. VR is created to be immersive. It’ s a teleporter. It takes you to a totally different place. That can be where you could be in reality, or a place of the content creator’ s imagination.
“ VR is a time machine. You can be in the middle of something set way back or far forward in time. Its third, quite extraordinary, power is to change you temporarily. You are a different person while you are in that VR headset. That’ s what the gaming and event industry wants. Put the headset on and you are Batman.”
Looking to the future of VR, Stephen Bowman, managing director at VR Centre, says that various consumer technologies are converging to bring mass adoption, and a cheaper price point for entry-level events.“ Location-based software is improving, while mobile devices’ processing power is increasing rapidly. Meanwhile, 6 DoF technology [ referring to freedom of movement of a rigid body in threedimensional space ] is set to be rolled out, allowing for real time location and interaction.”
Leu adds that new headsets from the likes of HTC( CS PRo) and Pixmag are making VR more accessible for events.“ Previously there were more limitations. Virtual tennis games for example would not translate to VR because the wires would interfere with human movement. However, a new generation of VR experiences feature wireless headsets and built-in environment measuring technology. Currently, many use physical‘ lighthouses’, which are laser-based positional tracking systems developed by Valve for SteamVR and HTC Vive. These are erected in a dedicated VR area to simulate a physical environment.”
Bowman experienced the Pimax first hand at CES last month. He told Access:“ What really impressed me was the 200 degree field of vision they’ ve managed achieved, a break from the usual 100 degree field. What’ s great about VR from a brand perspective is the concept of time-displacement. People report feeling they were using a VR screen for longer than they actually were, which gives brands the chance to fit in a lot of content and create a real impact in a shorter timespan,” he says.
Most people are now‘ VR aware’, and offerings from Lucasfilm and high street brands have helped cement the range of experiences the technology can offer. Now, with top Hollywood studios involved, and ever-cheaper at home technology, VR is here to stay. AAA
34 FEBRUARY 2018 AccEssAA. co. Uk