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Disney goes 360

Disney goes 360

Some of the world’s biggest players are now going virtual

These holidays are shaping up to be extra magical, with even The Wonderful World of Disney getting in on the excitement of Virtual Reality. In November it was announced that MANDT VR, a northern hemisphere 360 video content company, has partnered with Disney to create bespoke, 360 degree videos in time for the Christmas period. Drawing on the magic of Disney, the content will be available on many Disney channels around the world and will showcase the traditional Christmas shows held at Disney’s popular theme parks.

For MANDT, this is an opportunity to work with one of the world’s biggest names in entertainment. For Disney it is the chance to enhance its world-class storytelling, bringing beloved characters and experiences to life.

According to website Kitguru.net, the Disney videos will be full 360 degree experience. They will let viewers look in any direction they please to watch any part of the shows from any angle. It will also give them front-row seats at shows that are traditionally rather packed, making this a unique perspective for most Disney fans.

How exciting for children all over the world to be able to experience the magic of Disneyland in full 360 degrees at the special time of Christmas

Not the only one

Disney is not the only company to be embracing the magic of 360 vision and sharing it with the younger generation.

Children lucky enough to find a Virtual Reality View Master in their Christmas stockings will be able to go on 360 degree adventures through Gotham City with Batman and battle Skeletor alongside classic hero He-Man.

Where the View Master of the 1980s only shared static images with something of a 3D feel, the latest version is a whole new experience.

As well as travelling with their favourite animated characters, children will also be able to take educational journeys back to the time of the dinosaurs, under the surface of the ocean and into the furthest reaches of space, immersing themselves completely in wondrous surroundings.

While not available in time for this Christmas, tech giant Samsung is also developing 360 experiences for children, announcing in early 2016 the prototype of ‘Bedtime VR Stories’ which will take children on a 360degree journey while still allowing their parents to narrate. The best part about this concept is that parent and child won’t have to be in the same room to share the experience – an ideal way for people who regularly have to travel for work to stay connected to their children.

Big names like Disney and Samsung are joining other companies such as Microsoft, Google and even Facebook in the race to deliver world-leading virtual reality experiences, showing that this technology is shaping up to be less of a fad and more of a trend that is here for the long-term.

It will be exciting to see what 2017 brings to the world of virtual reality and 360 video. No matter what happens, 360Dgrees will be keeping its finger on the pulse of this exciting niche in entertainment, education and marketing.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas! Don’t forget that if you would like to explore the possibilities of 360 video for your business, we are always just a phone call away!

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VR and the automotive industry

VRoooom! Virtual Reality is revolutionising the manufacture and sale of vehicles

As with many industries, the rise of Virtual Reality is a total game changer.

This technology makes the world smaller and brings details ever closer. Customers can ‘go for a drive’ in their dream car from anywhere in the world, experiencing everything but the wind in their hair and that new car smell (although who knows what will be possible in the near future!)

As mentioned in a recent Car Advice article, headsets like HTC Vive and Oculus Rift are now readily accessible. Because of this, forward thinking car brands have been working behind the scenes to create new and engaging customer experiences.

At a recent tech day in Europe, Audi demonstrated their large scale virtual reality unit, which combines with the HTC Vive headset to provide a customer experience in 360 degrees. Those using the goggles can select the car they’d like to trial and the colour. They can choose from a range of configurable options and even select a landscape… anywhere from Paris to the moon!

The goal is to provide customers with the opportunity to inspect a vehicle as though they were right there on the sales floor. They can see every detail, checking the shine on the rims, the make of the engine and the leather quality on the seats.

Other uses for VR in the automotive industry

From a manufacturing perspective, using virtual reality empowers car makers to create better products. Engineers are able to use VR to share prototype designs with customers, gathering feedback without having to spend money on creating the real thing.

Safety also comes into play when listing the benefits of Virtual Reality. It is possible to model how a car will be impacted by a crash and how the safety features will perform.

Testing in a virtual environment is a way to establish weak points without the expense or the risk or testing a full sized machine.

In terms of customisation, VR will make it easy to present the ideal vehicle to each customer demographic. Want extra cup holders? Done.

Can the steering wheel be changed? Show the customer every option at the press of a button. Add or remove security features, seating layouts and more in a snap and make the sales process a breeze.

VR – How it works

Virtual Reality headsets are wearable ‘goggles’ that can transport you literally anywhere. They combine with the technology of 360 degree footage, meaning that when you wear the goggles you can race down a Grand Prix track, view a car in a distant showroom or take a test drive along the side of the Swiss Alps. The video technology allows you to look left, right, up and down, taking in the experience from all angles.

Marketing + VR + Car Sales

The car industry has always been about staying ahead of the curve and presenting the audience with the newest, most exciting options.

Discerning customers expect an entire experience, especially when investing in a luxury vehicle.

The brands that harness the excitement of virtual technology will find themselves ahead in this competitive space in the next few years as will be are able to provide something their competitors don’t have.

Interested in starting your VR journey?

Talk to 360dgrees.com about creating high quality videos for promotional and instructive purposes.

Visit www.360dgrees.com

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Monetising 360 video

Educating students to the possibilities of 360degree video and virtual reality

Recently 360Dgrees’ Ivan Ghirlanda took a trip to Academy Xi, an educational institution based in Sydney that focuses on the skills of user experience, service design and virtual reality. As part of his visit, Ivan addressed students who are currently studying virtual reality design.

Ivan was invited as an expert in the field, to share his knowledge of 360 degree video with the students, who ranged from entrepreneurs to corporate marketing experts and small business owners. As well as sharing the steps to effectively produce a 360 degree video using the latest available equipment, Ivan reminded the students taking the course that they also have to focus on distribution and commercialisation in order to make their efforts sustainable and valuable for return on investment.

To demonstrate 360 degree video to the students, Ivan shared three case studies, including the incredible KitKat ‘Take a Virtual Break’ campaign, that allowed users to literally fly away into space, or to take a leap off a cliff and parachute through a canyon.

Also detailed were 360Dgrees’ experience of filming a training session with 2016 ARL Premiers the Cronulla Sharks and an interactive experience that was produced in collaboration with real estate website www.domain.com.au.

As Ivan and Jeremy Brown, who developed the 360 degree video platform for the Rio Olympic Games, presented to the class, one of the most common questions amongst students was “How can I make money with 360 degree video?”

It’s a great question, because unless you are creating art for art’s sake, you do need to have a goal with using virtual technologies to be able to leverage it to improve the success of your business.

“How can I make money with 360 degree video?”

The answer to the question of monetising VR and 360 video does depend on your business and your goals. However if you are able to set goals and to align a 360 degree strategy with those goals, then you should be able to effectively draw return on investment from your video creations.

For example: The KitKat virtual break campaign was designed to encourage people to sit back with a KitKat in one hand and their Google Cardboard in the other.

  • At Domain, encouraging users to ‘step inside’ a house from anywhere in the world and take a tour creates competition between buyers, boosting agent results and improving their satisfaction with the Domain brand.
  • The owners of a retail store may invite shoppers to come in and browse, helping to enhance the online shopping experience and encouraging them to ‘order now’.
  • A museum could charge entry fees to people all over the world instead of those who physically walk through the doors.

As the students learned, the possibilities for monetising 360 degree video are widespread – and only limited to your imagination and creativity.

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The humane side of virtual reality

Virtual reality is the ‘next big thing’, an industry on the precipice of being worth billions that will transform industries including entertainment, engineering and education.

What many people who are resistant to this fancy new technology don’t realise is that it also has the power to help those in need.

Virtual reality and 360degree video can help people to understand what’s beyond their own world. By giving people an understanding of a completely different reality you can prompt them to take actions.

One such example is The Guardian’s recent immersive content 6×9, which allowed users to virtually experience what it is like to be placed in solitary confinement in prison. The purpose of this interactive video was to create a dialogue around the psychological impact of prisoner isolation.

Elsewhere, one agency is using the power of 360degree video to connect WWII veterans with tours of war memorials around the world. This venture was produced to essentially provide a free travel experience to those too old to journey to the destinations that had been so impactful on their lives.

The same agency has worked on a project based in Zambia, which highlighted the plight of the disabled in developing nations. By demonstrating the struggles of someone with limited mobility, 360 video was able to play a part in raising awareness about specialty wheelchairs for people who live on rough and difficult to access terrain.

In Japan, Virtual Reality has been used to treat phantom limb pain, which affects amputees who are plagued by discomfort from body parts that no longer exist. Researchers have discovered it is possible to reduce the pain caused by this affliction by creating replica visuals of the amputated limbs.

Meanwhile, at charity galas in fancy hotels, guests of honour are able to put on a pair of virtual reality goggles to view first hand the work that the charity is doing on the other side of the world. Providing this up-close-and-personal experience can really bring home the charity’s message and help to increase donations.

And in the UK, Microsoft has worked with partners to help young people with autism by introducing them to coding as well as virtual reality. By introducing them to the idea of building something and then seeing it work, the goal was to show participants how they can transfer an interest in IT to a career in the industry.

Virtual reality isn’t just something you watch, it is something you experience. This provides the potential to open doors not just to profits, but to positive change in the world.