2016: The Year of VR’s Great Leap Forwards

This past year has been momentous for many reasons, but in the world of VR, brands and advertising it has been exciting because it was the year when stakeholders were able to sit around the table for the first time and really understand each other. 

Up to this point, talking about VR has been a little like the first day at a language school, where not everyone is on the same page, speaks the same language or grasps concepts the same way. But during the course of the year brand marketing teams, ad agencies and technology specialists have had the chance to experience the medium first-hand and become comfortable in discussing its potential for a unique form of customer engagement. 

Likewise, the general public became more and more familiar with the concept of VR. From a vague understanding of the technology gleaned from science-fiction movies, consumers discovered that VR can deliver an enjoyable, immersive experience. They are likely to have tried out VR or know someone who has. The appeal of the medium is snowballing and becoming universal, cutting across age and lifestyle demographics. 

It is worth applauding Google’s huge effort to bring the VR experience within everyone’s reach with Cardboard and the tech giant continued its distribution partnership with the NY Times in 2016, giving away another 300,000 sets for free. 

Cardboard may deliver a first taste of VR but more and more headsets are coming onto the market at a range of prices offering higher quality VR encounters. It means quality experiences are no longer confined to public installations but are available in the domestic sphere. Games companies especially took a lead in helping bring VR into the home – the console-driven PlayStation VR will be a major catalyst in driving trial by all the family in 2017.                                                                                                                                               

The last 18 months have been a turning point where conversations and hints of briefs moved to active commissions and the development of important case studies. We saw the appetite and hunger among brands to test out ideas and push the boundaries and we are proud of developing the ground-breaking John Lewis Christmas VR experience that featured gestural interactions for the first time in a commercial project and included new approaches to social sharing. With 200 people a day trying out this in-store installation we hope we’ve helped spread the word.

Innovations in VR came thick and fast during the year and there were plenty of great examples to inspire agencies and brands. Google Earth VR impressed with the scale of its technical ambition while theBlue demonstrated the ability to plunge users into a new, gasp-inducing environment by placing them deep in the ocean where they can encounter the creatures of the deep.

The development of longer-form immersive content hit a new peak with Follow My Lead: The Story of the NBA Finals and the 25-minute length of this mini-doc, developed for Gear VR, signalled how receptive viewers can be to the right content.

What will 2017 hold? On the wish list are the provision of more tools so developers can work quicker and more effectively to deliver quality experiences. The development of untethered VR headsets would also be great from a practical and creative level – getting rid of the cables would be a step forward but given Apple is still struggling to provide wireless earbuds, I’m not holding my breath.

As a prediction, I’d say that social VR is something to have on the radar. Facebook is investing heavily in Oculus Rift and while first efforts at social are likely to be clunky, the company will want to crack this capability. The sharing imperative is deeply rooted within millennials and any platform that can deliver will reap the benefits.

We can expect an explosion of non-entertainment experiences as VR is applied to areas of endeavour far beyond the spheres of the gaming and film industry. Mindfulness and associated disciplines, healthcare, travel and architecture are just a few of the areas that will explore how the medium, especially in an interactive format, can be of benefit.

Circling back, the vocabulary of VR will become established within the creative industries, so projects will be able to move forward at speed with confidence that all parties have comprehended the strategy, concept and plan for execution. Now brand experts and technical practitioners are on the same page, we’ll see more imaginative, rich and compelling VR experiences brought to life next year. The ride is only just beginning.

Dan Phillips is Head of Digital and Interactive at MPC Creative