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Marketing to the power of Interactive Reality 360 videos

Marketing to the power of Interactive Reality 360 videos

How Interactive Virtual Reality provides customers with unique experiences, making them more prepared and willing to purchase both in-store and online

The world has gone digital.

We can’t imagine our lives without our smartphone, laptop, headphones, iPad. The list is endless.

Everything has fundamentally changed in the last 15 years. The way we work, we interact, we train, we learn, we shop, we move, even the way we meet people has been disrupted by the large adoption of digital technology and, of course, the internet.

Retail is just one of the many industries disrupted by digitalisation.

Marketing to the power of Interactive Reality 360 videos

 

Statistics show us that almost 71% of customers go online during the buying process, meaning that only a small 29% of shoppers now walk into a store and buy something without online preparation. A major shift in customer behaviour in the last few years.

Moreover, the online experience drives the customers’ behaviour in both directions. Webrooming, when customers research online and then purchase in a physical store, or maybe the opposite, showrooming, when people browse an item in-store and then buy it online.

But what should we expect in the future?

  • A higher number of online buyers: Online shopping is now mainstream not only in the developed world but it is spreading to the emerging markets like Africa.
  • A higher number of online purchases via mobile: Forecasts predict that more and more people will buy online via mobile and that customers will expect payment to be fast and smooth, which means more payment options and stripping away any barriers to pay.
  • Streamlined websites for speed: We’re all busy, and typically a user leaves a webpage if it takes more than two seconds to download. So, not only customers do expect the same level of ease in all transactions, there’s a proportionate demand for fast websites requiring retailers to streamline their content for speed.
  • More options for paying and more channels where to buy: In 2019, shoppers will want to access products online, via mobile, through marketplaces, and in person, if possible. Sephora, the beauty multimillionaire business is a great example of how multichannel – online, in-store and mobile – offers an array of choice for consumers on how, where and when they want to buy their products.
  • More Tech savvy and prepared customers: Digital natives will increase in numbers, sporting some serious technology in their phone, and looking for new and shiny things to try and buy.

These are only some of the reasons why Retailers and other businesses are looking for new ways to market their goods, in order to provide experiences which are unique and able to engage customers.

How can Interactive Virtual Reality help?

In the past few years, Virtual Reality is being increasingly used both for content marketing or to enhance the customers’ experience.

We refer to ‘’Interactive Virtual Reality’’ when you are viewing a virtual reality experience that contains hotspots, digital elements you can interact with to see additional content, including videos, photographs or text elements.

Real Estate Marketing

We first saw this with VR tours of properties in real estate, but it was complex and expensive, and on top of that, difficult to view. A problem partially fixed by the introduction of more affordable 360degree cameras.

Today you can just film in 360, upload to 360degrees and gamify. Your audience will have the opportunity to experience the builder’s new display home – as if they were there.

Imagine walking into the kitchen and as you look at the stove – the specs from Miele appear as if by magic. When you check out the bench, a video window appears overlayed over the benchtop explaining why Caesar stone is such a great material and included in the price of the house. The use of hotspots, in this case, encourage the user to explore another room or space.

Marketing for Events & Venue

Another example of how to use Interactive Virtual Reality videos are Events and live experiences.

Want to buy online a ticket for a football match? Before you purchase your ticket from the website, you can actually select your seat and see the best spot as you were seated there already. Then a hotspot shows up and you can select an option for food and drinks by clicking the overlayed window at the corner of the screen.

Wedding planner agencies are experimenting new ways to engage customers making available detailed tours of the venue in 360dgrees, with some hotspots you can click on to call up additional information, such as menus, short videos or even footage of previous weddings held in that same space.

Automotive Marketing

As mentioned before, customers tend to spend more time researching online before purchasing and this is particularly true when it is a sophisticated product, such as a smartphone, a laptop or a car. The use of 360 degrees video can literally boost the car industry market allowing the customer to experience a virtual driving tour and to evaluate vehicle options and features before physically visiting the showroom for the final phase of the purchase cycle.

Tourism Marketing

Some travel companies have started using VR technology to give a virtual tour of the flight, or hotel room in advance, in order to increase ticket or complimentary services sales, using the support of hotspots to make the experience interactive. Like Hawaii? Do a tour with a 360 headset and click on hotspots to explore accommodation, availability or suggested activities.

Thanks to the increased adoption of 360 videos and the introduction affordable 360 headsets, we are confident Interactive Virtual Reality will continue to offer a more attractive experience to engage customers, providing them with detailed visual information to create a unique experience.

About 360Dgrees

360Dgrees.com is an Interactive Reality platform for uploading, managing, customising, and publishing 360 Immersive experiences. 360Dgrees.com empowers anyone to do great things with Interactive 360 Videos with a range of customisable features such as playlists, picture-in-picture video, and hotspots.

Want to create new experiences and engage your customers using 360 videos? Discover more 360dgrees.com or contact info@360dgrees.com for more information.

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Immersive Reality – How to make VR affordable for the masses

Immersive Reality – How to make VR affordable for the masses

How VR Technology has been evolving across the years and it is now more affordable and efficient

Did you remember the first 360 VR Cameras? Back in 2016, 360Degree cameras were heavy, uncomfortable and expensive. About half a kilo in weight and working only when connected to an external computing device, a gaming quality PC, smartphone or game console, and roughly the price of $400 per headset.

Despite bringing an exciting technology, for years, VR technology have required huge computation power, the creation of complex simulation using proprietary software and expensive, tethered goggles in order to view the experience.

With the growth of 360Degree camera market, driven by extreme sports cameras like GoPro for example, the entry of all in one Android VR headsets, and options like Google Cardboard, the Virtual Reality world has gradually changed becoming far more affordable. The evolution that’s occurred in this technology, means it’s now ready for greater industry adoption.

VR for everyone – but how?

Affordability

Thanks to the innovation of technology and the lower cost of production, the cost of devices has greatly decreased making the prospect of VR much more affordable. HTC, HTC Vive, Oculus VR and Pico, are manufacturing and selling the hardware at far lower price levels and this has driven much momentum in terms of VR adoption. Oculus’s pricing cut in the summer of 2017 demonstrated consumers had a big appetite for VR at lower prices, starting a boom what was widely followed by other businesses. This trend culminated in the launch of Windows Mixed Reality headsets at the end of last year, together with the announcement of multiple standalone VR headsets (where the price range varies from $80 to $500).

An approach to immersive Reality

An approach to Immersive Reality

The second way to make VR more affordable for the public is embracing Immersive Reality. While Virtual Reality is the presentation of an artificial environment that replaces the users’ real-world surroundings, Immersive Reality experience starts with filming the real world. So, why create a fully virtual world, when you can film the real one and overlay an interactive layer, delivering a truly immersive experience, to a large audience for a fraction of the cost?

View an immersive reality video here

 

The evolution of technology

The increasing production of more Virtual Reality hardware both in terms of comfort and efficiency, at a wider range of price points than ever before, is bringing VR into the tech mainstream. Compared to the first 360 headsets, today there are compact, comfortable standalone devices available on the market, that provide better quality videos and can be purchased at more affordable prices.

The next VR’s challenges – The future of Immersive Reality –

There are still a number of challenges VR should overcome in order to become a true mainstream consumer technology, such as getting more content, lowering prices even further, and upgrading the quality of their devices. But thanks to the Immersive Reality approach, the affordability of the cameras and the adoption of standalone hardware, we are confident VR will keep growing and it will be ready soon for a mass-adoption. It’s reaching an exciting tipping point.
According to market predictions, VR is set to become a $38 billion Industry by 2026 and at 360dgrees we believe this is already happening, with VR driving massive change in the way we work, train, apply information, and interact with people.

Explore 360dgrees.com and start creating some powerful Immersive 360 Videos. Visit 360dgrees.com

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360Dgrees Voices: The story of Caleb Rozario

360Dgrees Voices: The story of Caleb Rozario

Today we have the pleasure to interview Caleb Rozario, a talented video editor with more than 7 years of experience in corporate, commercial and post-production.

Caleb is currently working at Picture Perfect Productions in Singapore, and he has garnered strong experience as a freelancer, working for both private companies and individuals. During this time, he has had the opportunity to develop and nurture his skills and specialise in the post-production phase. From in-house graphic design, to film editing, retouching and visual effects, Caleb has worked across a variety of areas in the video production sphere, and now wholly focused on video editing and post-production.

Caleb Rozario

How did you end up working in videos production/editing?

I started making and editing videos when I was only 14 as a hobby. Then, when it was time to choose a school, I chose something that I was sure I liked and I started thinking of video production as a job and not something to do in my spare time anymore.

How did you hear for the very first time about 360dgrees?

I heard about 360dgrees.com almost two years ago when Picture Perfect Productions started a collaboration in order to move from the linear videos to start working on some interactive/dynamic videos. Lately, we have started to use the 360dgrees platform consistently using all the different features, Namely using 360dgrees hotspot technology, which allows the viewer to interact with objects and locations, in order to freely navigate within the 360 experience.

How has your work changed since then?

The platform is very helpful. The primary way our production workflow has changed, is that while with linear 360 video the journey of the viewer is dictated by the production team, with fully interactive

A 360 shooting in Singapore

360 experiences the viewer has almost total control. So every possible avenue of movement needs to be considered. And 360dgree’s tools and platforms have been a great help from start to finish of the entire workflow.

What do you think about 360dgrees from a professional point of view and from a user point of view?

From a product perspective, 360dgrees enable us to have a better control of the videos we are working on. Making them interactive including hotspots and links, the videos became actually something completely different from the flat linear videos we previously produced.  From a user point of view 360dgrees is definitely user-friendly and offer a wide range of features which makes our end production very competitive in the market.

How do you see the way of producing videos evolving in the next years? What about the way audiences are consuming visual content?

We will see the number of videos circulating around us increase, but they will be sharp and shorter. They will increasingly be rich with details, but most importantly they will take the user inside the action. Beyond the WOW factor, they will invite the audience to immerse and” and jump into the video.

In terms of a professional point of view, as a consequence of an increasing number of videos, we will be required to be more competitive, flexible and accurate. We are heading to an even more customer-centric era which will challenge every video production business to research for the last trend and to really understand what is engaging and effective.

How do you define ”a good video” and what ”good” means to you?

If we want to identify the three main characteristics of a ”good” video, we should first clarify between content and technical quality.

A good video, in my opinion, should always be short and sharp. Try to keep this as original as possible, and ideally make them interactive, allowing the users to engage with them and not just be watchers, but able to jump into the action.

What are the best ways to use 360dgrees? What are the best features?

If you are looking to take your 360/VR experience to the next level of interactivity, without having to utilize costly 3rd party custom-built software, 360dgrees is definitely one of the most powerful and user-friendly platforms out there.

Tell us something crazy you have done in your life – with videos?

One of our more interesting projects would probably be in early 2017, when working together with FOX Sports, we shot and edited five 360° videos for the upcoming.

Australian Open in Melbourne. During this time we created five 360° Tennis Master Class episodes, hosted by Paradorn Srichaphan. Both 360 and 2D footage was shot at the same time, with the 2D footage acting as close up popup windows within the 360 experience. Overall it was quite an interesting experience as this was one of our earliest 360/VR productions.

Thanks to Caleb Rozario for telling us your story.

It is always great to listen to real stories from real people using our 360dgrees platform and hearing compelling insights, particularly from the experts in the field.

Want to know more about 360dgrees platform? Visit 360dgrees.com

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The 360dgrees.com Platform Now Supports Flat Video Gamification

Gamification
by Max Harris, Media Producer at 360dgrees.com
  • 360dgrees.com’s Interactive Reality platform empowers anyone to create immersive, interactive experiences
  • The platform now supports flat videos, allowing users to augment non-360 video with POS and interactive links between videos that the viewer can control.
  • The process is simply, easy, intuitive and powerful.

As Mixed Reality has rapidly expanded into the mainstream in 2017, devices and software platforms have become increasingly accessible and affordable. The Oculus Rift and HTC Vive dropped in price significantly (triggering major market share booms), consumer-grade headsets like the Oculus Go were announced, and development platforms like Apple’s ARKit and Nvidia’s Holodeck were opened.

360dgrees.com is committed to bringing Interactive Reality further into the mainstream with a video platform that empowers anyone to create dynamic immersive experiences. Simply upload 360 degree video content and augment it with interactivity through a simple and intuitive interface.

Now 360dgrees.com is excited to announce the introduction of flat video functionality, meaning that anyone, with any camera, can easily and quickly create and gamify dynamic, interactive, flowing experiences.

This is achieved by placing interactive hotspots into your videos – points of sales that can open forms, link to websites, or transition to other videos – empowering the creation of flowing narrative paths that the user can choose between. These hotspots can be moving or static; invisible or represented as virtual objects. The implication is that you can gamify your content, and create decision-based interactive videos that can be used for entertainment, education, or training. You can insert custom or preset icons, badges, timers, text, picture-in-picture interfaces – and the possibilities are limitless. The platform also provides analytics and insights into how users respond to the interactivity and the choices that they made.
Check out this interactive video created for Sydney Aquarium on the 360dgrees.com platform which employs both flat and 360 degree video. Click the interactive hotspots in the video represented by the shark and the “buy” graphics to trigger different sections of the video.

To sign up or learn more about the platform, visit 360dgrees.com. Our experts are waiting to empower you to create your own interactive experiences.

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How Mixed Reality Gave Me Purpose & Made My Daughter Proud

How mixed reality gave me purpose and made my daughter proud
Written by Toby Ellis, CEO at 360dgrees.com 

I’ve worked in the Innovation and Technology sector for a few years now, but it was a simple yet really confronting question my 8-year-old daughter asked me at breakfast one morning that forced me to think about technology, what I do, why I do it and helped to pivot the focus of our entire organisation. I’ll get to her question in a minute… 

I want you to think about training. Imagine safety training for a warehouse.  There are 10 people in a room and none of them want to be there. They would all prefer to be back doing their jobs. They’re working from a folder and in that folder, is a question. That question is “should you be looking at your personal device while walking across the warehouse floor where there are forklifts and PT’s operating?” Now, no-one gets that question wrong, but it doesn’t change behaviour because the second they leave that training room they’re all on their mobile phones.  

Now I want you to reimagine that training using our 360dgree.com platform. First, the participant puts on the Mixed Reality headset and is immediately immersed in the environment. They are in the warehouse. They take the point of view of the person walking across the warehouse when they hear an SMS and a phone appears at the bottom of their view. They look down to read the text and in that split second, they are hit by a forklift.  Sounds a bit rough right, but not nearly as rough as not getting home to your kids. 

Did you know, that in Australia at the end of August 115 people had died as a result of workplace accidents and that that number is higher than the corresponding period last year?   Workplace accidents cripple people financially. A global number of cost is touted at $6bil but the impact on individual families is devastating. You see the problem is, traditional safety training produces poor real participation rates, low knowledge retention and is done in abstraction of consequence. 

Our Mixed Reality Training Platform creates immersive, interactive, gamified training experiences that makes it impossible to not be present and engaged during the training. We turn training into a game where you make decisions and learn by doing not by reading and data tells us that when you learn by doing you can lift knowledge retention from 5% to 75%. When you experience consequence, you get to feel the outcomes of your decisions and that’s what drives behavioural change.  

You become the forklift driver, the nurse, the student, the teacher. You’re not doing the training, you’re in the training. Actively participating, making decisions and experiencing the outcomes of those decisions. 
If safety and training are important to your organisation and you aren’t taking advantage of Mixed reality technology then please reach out to us today as we have a platform that can help you tomorrow. 
Now, back to that question my little girl asked. Matilda said “Daddy, how do you make your money?” At the time, my answer was “Ï help people see things differently using technology.” It was a cool answer but it lacked purpose. I wanted more purpose. My parents are teachers, my wife’s a teacher, my brothers served in the navy, I have cousins in the police force and friends who are nurses. I wanted more purpose in my work. I didn’t like my answer so I sought to change it. Now, our platform is making a real difference to businesses and communities. The next time my kids ask me how I make my money I am able to say, “Daddy helps people go back to their families the same way they went to work: Safe.”

To learn more about 360dgrees.com and how we drive real outcomes through virtual training, get in contact with us or visit 360dgrees.com.

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Top 10 Innovative Uses of Mixed Reality

Top 10 innovative uses for mixed reality
Created by Max Harris, Media Producer at 360dgrees.com

Over the past few years, the immediate tactile excitement generated by Virtual Reality (VR) gaming and clever Augmented Reality (AR) marketing campaigns has become an increasingly mainstream novelty. VR and AR exist on the Mixed Reality (MR) spectrum, referring to any combination of virtuality and reality, and while MR is still generally associated by the layman simply with gaming and gimmickry, this could not be further from the full picture. MR is an extremely powerful tool for driving outcomes with a limitless diversity of applications across every industry. It is the key for the future success of so many industries and is primed to create an unpredictably enormous disruption, changing the landscape of our entire society within the next 5-10 years. To give you an idea of why this is the case, we’ve put together a list of our ten favourite innovative uses of MR that already exist today.

1. Safety Training

MR safety training is an exciting innovation set to drastically improve workplace safety across limitless industries, saving countless lives and dollars. MR training means using VR headsets to place employees within a real, interactive, 360-degree video workplace where they encounter real-life safety hazards and situations. This means inhabiting scenarios that are unfeasible or unsafe to practice in the real world, while learning to make important decisions in real time and under pressure. MR simulations provide the ability to experience the consequences of safety complacency in a visceral manner, dramatically raising retention rates. This means moving towards zero medically treated incidents and lost time incidents.  According to research, using MR for safety training may improve safety outcomes by a factor of an estimated 30%.

2. Live music

MR offers an incredible gift to any lover of live music, and one that promises to revolutionise the way music and performance is consumed. By placing a range of 360-degree cameras in choice locations around a venue, and live-streaming the spherical footage, music lovers can experience the thrill of seeing their favourite artists perform live, from the comfort of their own home, with the full buzz of the concert-going experience. Augmenting the 360 footage with interactive hotspots means giving the viewer total control to watch the concert from every angle and navigate between different cameras. Audience members at the venue then have the ability to get out their mobile device and enjoy the concert as if they were on stage with the artist – making bad seats a worry of the past.

3. Training Medical Students

MR training is also being used as a tool within the medical industry. In many cases, acquiring real world experience on-the-job simply isn’t feasible for healthcare professionals, as their decisions carry a grave deal of weight and can even imply the difference between life and death. With MR, medical professionals are able to explore every procedure and learn how to care for patients without any risk involved. They can participate in realistic tutorials that allow them to interact with medical equipment, and face the pressure of making choices under duress. These simulations are able to teach and train in a way that is not possible with other types of lessons, by realistically imparting experience and consequence rather than just facts. This translates into lower liability insurance costs and fewer cases of malpractice and negligence.

4. Travel

MR promises to change the way we perceive the world, and this means changing the way we travel the world. Learning about history can now mean experiencing history, and travelling through space can now mean travelling through time. Using AR, you can now be accompanied by a virtual tour guide with you as you travel, interacting with your surroundings and explaining the history behind them. Furthermore, this technology means this history itself can be fully brought to life. Imagine the immersive thrill of visiting the Roman Coliseum and using AR to experience gladiator battles right in the world before you.

5. Simulation

MR has begun to be used across many industries a powerful tool for simulation, prediction, and visualisation and one of the most powerful applications of this approach is in agriculture. Using artificial intelligence, machine learning and advanced algorithms, MR simulations can demonstrate crop growth based on weather patterns, practices, and other variables. Researchers can collect data, test and import it into the simulations in order to observe the crop growth and suggest changes in practices. This will help farmers prepare their crops against any unwelcome environmental changes while at the same time realistically understanding the consequences of not following right practices, raising total shareholder return and net cash generated from operating activities.

6. Therapy

VR has been used to varying degrees in therapy for over a decade, but the limitations of the technology has made this application sparse. However MR is being increasingly implemented as an effective tool in psychological and occupational therapy. Patients occupy a virtual or mixed environment and digitally navigate through specifically designed environments, completing tasks in order to treat specific mental ailments. One successful example of this innovation is in exposure therapy, whereby patients overcome phobias by interacting with virtual simulations of trauma in order to allow them to overcome their fear response. This has also proven to be particularly successful in treating post-traumatic stress disorder.

7. Anaesthetic

Continuing in this psychological vein, MR is also proving capable of disrupting the pharmaceutical industry. The use of a VR headset playing a calming simulation, as a tool of distraction during surgery in place of anaesthetics, has proven surprisingly successful. Doctors have used soothing digital simulations to lull patients into a calm and distracted state rather than chemically inducing numbness or serenity; displaying striking and immersive vistas which completely block out the reality of the operating room. These simulations have proven to lower blood pressure and heart rate, reduce stress, and even fully remove the necessity of a general anaesthetic.

8. Retail

Online shopping represented a massive disruption in the retail industry, drastically changing the way we consume in the 21st century. Yet online shopping in itself does not fully compete with the tangible and tactile relationship that many consumers hold with the products they purchase. Many customers still feel the need to experience a product in a real space, and admit to appreciating the ritual of exploring a physical shop. With MR, real spaces can be digitally recreated and consumers can find themselves in floating online shopping spaces, visiting and navigating a physical shop in a virtual world, without leaving their house. AR also means demonstrating what purchases would look like on your person or in the context of your own home. Investment group Goldman Sachs has predicted the MR retail industry will be worth USD$1.6 billion by 2025.

9. Real Estate

Using 360-degree video and virtual simulations, immersive virtual tours can be taken of properties without having to physically visit them. Furthermore, simulation means that these properties can still be in construction, while a rendering of how they will appear when finished can be fully explored using a headset. Furthermore, potential buyers can now use MR to experience how a property will look once they have painted and furnished it their own way, letting a buyer be sure that this is the right space for them.

10. Architecture

Also in the realm of real estate visualisation, MR presents a clear and potent advantage to designers and architects because it empowers them to immerse into three dimensional spaces which simulate and render architectural designs. This means replacing traditional renderings and completely reducing the time spent reworking designs, efficiently eliminating costs and improving safety. The true power of this technology is the ability to convey the reality of designs and explore them. From experiencing the reality of a room’s lighting, to the strength of a building’s foundations, to the physical feel of a space; we can now realistically test how quickly a building can be evacuated, or how it might look once it is populated with furnishings. All this while it is still in the design phase, saving an incredible amount of money and time.

While these 10 innovative applications are some of our favourites, they only scratch the surface of what is possible with MR. Hopefully this list has opened your mind to the limitless realm of endless cross-industry application. This technology is going to dominate and dictate our future, with real and effective outcome-driving solutions. If you’re interested in learning more, or are wondering how MR might be relevant to you and your industry, contact us at 360dgrees.com. Our experts are waiting to empower you to commercialise using these radical innovations.