Virtual reality ( VR ) is not going anywhere anytime soon and in fact , the trend is growing . At the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show ( CES ) in Las Vegas , VR technology featured heavily with the big players . President of Samsung , Tim Baxter , announced that the company topped five million sales of its Gear VR headsets since launching them just 12 months earlier . While Intel CEO , Brian Krzanich , held their press conference in VR , utilising 260 media wearing Oculus Rift headsets . For many organisations , VR isn ’ t a novelty anymore — it ’ s a functional experience and a crucial investment .
The Tech
There ’ s a multitude of VR technology that can be utilised to drive conversion . The Gear technology holds a Samsung phone in place for users to watch web-based and app-based VR videos . As does the Google Daydream for Android phones and Zeiss VR One goggles for iPhones . Nevertheless , for serious tech users , a mobile phone VR platform is not true VR . Instead they prefer headsets such as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive . The headsets provide a higher resolution experience , and allow users to manipulate their movement and objects within the VR environment . Computer giants Lenovo and Intel also announced at the show that they will be introducing headsets of their own soon . However , the highlight of CES was the Samsung Galaxy Studio virtual theme park . Thousands of people lined up to strap into several different installations with moveable seats . Participants were flipped and jerked from side-to-side , while wearing VR headsets and viewing virtual environments ranging from airplane stunts to luge racing . Perhaps that ’ s really pushing the boundaries of experiential marketing , but that ’ s what experiential marketing is all about .
Travel Brands
VR is changing the landscape of a number of industries , including health care , architecture , manufacturing , and of course travel . Air New Zealand is working on VR experiences for passengers on their long haul flights . And in 2016 they released a 360 ° interactive video of a number of tourist sites in Hong Kong . Throughout the online
VIRTUAL REALITY DRIVING SALES
video experience , Hong Kong locals pop up to share their recommendations of other activities visitors can explore . The Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority ( LVCVA ) Vegas VR app has been downloaded over 19,000 times since March 2016 . The videos , displaying footage of helicopter rides to bartenders mixing drinks , have been viewed over 17 million times . VR is a platform for dynamic and highly engaging storytelling , providing interactions that you can ’ t get with regular promotional video .
Meetings & Event Planners
The meetings and events industry is now moving into the neighbourhood . Freeman , the event company responsible for CES logistics and production , recently announced a new range of VR products and services . Included is a VR Product Explorer for event planners to create immersive simulations of products too impractical for trade shows . There ’ s a VR Design Explorer that provides a virtual walk-through of meeting and exhibition spaces . And there ’ s VR Live Streaming , where participants can view live events from anywhere simultaneously , within a 3D environment . Immersv has a platform that tracks if someone is viewing a particular ad embedded within a VR experience . VR content developers such as XplorIt are working increasingly with tourism bureaus .
One of their foundation products is Los Angeles Tourism ’ s Meet LA VR platform for meeting planners . The portal provides a great example of how planners can engage attendees in more immersive ways using VR .
Converting Sales
VR and 360 video really helps to improve connections with consumers and move them toward conversion . When consumers put a headset on , there ’ s a dramatic increase in the connection to an event or place . They feel like they ’ re actually there , they get excited about it , and they want to book . Virgin Holidays used VR in store by providing their own headsets working with Google Cardboard technology . They captured 3D video of various sites , as well as ambient sounds from all locations . Customers really felt like they were actually at the destinations and responded with an increased desire to book holidays . Likewise , during CES a VR installation of the KA Cirque du Soleil show was set up in the lobby of MGM Grand Las Vegas Hotel & Casino . The view was placed in the middle of the fight scene atop the slanting platform . Participants responded in the same way as the Virgin Holidays customers , by increasing their propensity to buy . The thrill of virtually walking on a beach or watching a show as if they were there , makes people want to actually be there .
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