Harnessing the Power of the Immersive Experience

talk by Leigh Christie–Director, Isobar NowLab Americas

Advances in technology require experimentation.

Isobar NowLab are dedicated to hacking, experimenting, fabricating, making and breaking to push innovation in a distributed network of labs. 2017 has shown enormous progress on emerging touchpoints, artificial intelligence (AI) / machine learning (ML), Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT) and VR. Marketers should look for ways to leverage these technologies to expand digital offerings.

Most of our technological goals are based on science fiction. The Media Technology Holy Grails include:

1. Star Trek Holodeck
2. Universal Translator
3. True 3D Holograms
4. Telepathy
5. Minority Report
6. Hive Mind
7. Reality Recorder
8. VR retina displays
9. “Her” aka Chatbots
10. Artificial Intelligence

Some of those are already here, albeit in their infancy.

• Star Trek Holodeck – Virtual Reality
• True 3D Holograms – Avatars
• Minority Report – Kinect, Leap Motion, Primesense
• Reality Recorder – Volumetric Capture / Lightfield Capture
• VR retina displays – Passthrough VR

Virtual Reality (VR) & Augmented Reality (AR)

If you have only experienced VR in a headset, you haven’t experienced true virtual reality. 360 Video is NOT VR. The HTC Vive is the first step towards an actual virtual experience. The technology is still in it’s infancy. In 10 years, people will laugh at what we described as virtual reality. The hardware, software and consumer usage are still at odds.

 

 

Changes coming soon for virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR).

The key to virtual reality is story telling.

 

It needs to be contextual, empathetic and imaginative.

Isobar is referencing the combination of VR/AR/MR technologies as XR. New hardware keeps the technology moving.

Facial/body scanning has gotten increasingly better and less expensive. It is now possible to create an avatar of your own body to immerse into virtual experiences. This could have great ramifications on the shopping experience, especially for fashion.

What’s now and what’s next?

Pre-2018

• Roomscale VR
• Hololens
• Tracked Controllers
• Copresence
• Content Creation Apps
• ARkit / ARCore

2018

• Tetherless VR
• Tracked Accessories
• Body tracking
• Eye tracking
• Arena scale
• Retina displays
• Passthrough VR
• Body Haptics
• Realistic avatars