Virtual Reality is all about presence,  so content that lets you create and share live moments could be its killer app

Getting people to try out a VR experience for the first time is usually not hard. The novelty factor gets most people curious enough to at least give it a go. And having watched a lot of newbies (or VRgins as I like to call them) go through those first moments of immersion is always a lot of fun, as they gasp and reach out to touch things that aren’t really there.

Getting people to try out a VR experience for the first time isn't usually hard
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But if this new medium is to fulfill all its shining commercial promise, and prove to the doubters that it’s got the momentum to move beyond its “hype cycle” it needs to get those first-time users to do it again, and again… and so forth. In other words, we need to make VR “sticky.”

To do that, companies pushing the technology (specially around mobile VR) have to enable users to create and share content in an intuitive, compelling and addictive way. And while there’s probably not one silver bullet for what that’s going to look like, it is clear that piggybacking onto live events presents some interesting possibilities.

Live events present interesting possibilities for VR
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Think about it: when you go to an event – be it a comedy show, a play or a rock concert – you are there to create some memories. You’ve invested serious time and money into being there in that moment, and that usually means people are keen to share them with friends (wherever they happen to be) and even broadcast it to strangers. And we usually do that by taking pictures or video on our phones and sharing these all over social media.

This is why Social VR has attracted such attention. Linden Lab recently opened up its Sansar platform, and AltspaceVR got substantial amounts of investment by exploring the live events vertical. And even though AltspaceVR recently hit significant obstacles, narrowly missing having to close down, there is little doubt that social will play a huge part in the mass consumer adoption of VR.

Social will play a huge part in the mass consumer adoption of VR
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The latest crop of smartphones is already making it possible to create that shareable content in 360, and platforms like YouTube allow you to easily share it too. Companies like Samsung have invested heavily onto those functionalities for the Galaxy S8 Handset, and you can also get peripherals such as a camera that automatically takes 360 pictures.

Yet for most of us, though, that all still feels a bit intimidating, so the challenge is to show users that such 360 content can be easy to capture, easy to share, and socially relevant.

The challenge was to show that 360 content is easy to capture and share
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This is in fact what Samsung set out to do by bringing a giant 40-foot installation to two of the most popular events in the UK Summer festival calendar: Reading and Bestival.

The so-called Hypercube housed a mirrored chamber which created an infinity effect that was enhanced by hundreds of projected light effects. Into that chamber, groups of 30 festivalgoers at a time were ushered in with instructions to dance their hearts out to create a collective selfie, which was captured by a 360 degree camera mounted on the chamber’s ceiling.

360 content is the next step in social content sharing.
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That selfie then got emailed to each reveler, who in turn shared it around. Although very visually impacting, however, this wasn’t about showcasing breakthrough tech. This was all about showing people that 360 and VR content is just the logical next step in social content sharing. And if the excited crowds on the day were anything to go by, it seemed to be working.

It’s difficult to say which will prove the crucial tipping point for VR and 360, but what is clear is that such stunts can be useful in bridging the psychological gap in your typical user’s mind between VR as a gimmick and VR as a technology that they can incorporate into their everyday lives.

VR’s ability to create a sense of presence gives it a unique edge
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We saw this happen with the Internet and mobile, and at various points with every groundbreaking technology we’ve also had many pundits come out and say that the “hype” was over at various stages. Personally, however, I think VR’s ability to create a sense of presence gives it a unique edge, so that it will eventually become pervasive. And the sooner we get people creating and sharing meaningful moments and memories, the quicker that day is likely to arrive.

To find out how to leverage VR/AR/MR in your enterprise, Tech Trends offers bespoke Virtual Reality Consultancy support

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

The post The Future of VR is Social and Shareable appeared first on Tech Trends.

The Samsung Hypercube Installation landed at Reading Festival to make VR content more social and give festivalgoers the ultimate selfie experience 

Music festivals are a main fixture of summer and in spite of all the mud some of the world’s most popular gigs happen in England. But while Glastonbury might be the first name that springs to mind, Reading Festival – which happens just outside London at the end of August is the oldest one still going. Since it started in 1955, it hosted music legends from Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, The Rolling Stones, Nirvana, Metallica, Green Day and many more.

Reading is the oldest ongoing popular festival in existence
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Groups of up to 30 people were taking collective 360 degree selfies
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But as nice as all the music was, I was there for the VR, so headed for the giant shimmering cube that Samsung had setup to give festivalgoers the chance to create what they called a “unique interactive audio-visual experience.” With groups of up to 30 people taking turns to create a ‘360 Infinity Selfie’ through collective user-controlled performance.

You could personalise the experience by choosing different effects and music on the Galaxy S8
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The ‘Hypercube’ where it all happened was a bold and rather striking 40-foot-tall structure that all the way through the day attracted large crowds- bigger than some of the stages around it. Those long queues were efficiently managed by a friendly team in Samsung t-shirts, who briefed everyone as they waited for their turn. They also kept the crowd entertained by letting them try out some content on the new Samsung Gear VR, and registered their email addresses on tablets so they could be sent their selfie videos afterwards.

As I got to the head of the line, we were all instructed to put on some plastic overshoes so as not to smudge the mirrors on the floor with footprints. This was definitely getting curiouser and curiouser.

Once they got inside the mirrored room, people gasped audibly
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Once inside the cube’s small antechamber, our guide proceeded to psych everyone up and tell us what to expect when entering the next room where the selfie action would happen.

This being a typical British summer day (i.e. unbearably hot and muggy) many in my group were looking rather sunburned and more than a bit wilted. So it was a credit to the enthusiastic steward (smart move by Samsung to hire young actors for that job) that he managed to whip up the crowd to shout at the top of their lungs that they were ready to go into that blissfully air-conditioned room.

Once they got inside the infinity room, however, people needed no encouragement to shout and gasp, as it was genuinely impressive. Every surface was covered in shiny mirrors, where projected lights created hypnotic patterns that were striking without being disorientating.

Every surface of the Hypercube chamber was covered in shiny mirrors
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The light effects were dazzling without feeling disorientating
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At the centre of the room was a pillar with about a dozen or so Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphones, setup so that users could quickly choose what kind of music and graphics they wanted to beam out during their experience.

The beauty of it was that all the individual choices went into the mix, so each group of strangers instantly bonded over producing that shared visual and soundscape. We then had about 30 seconds of intensive dancing around to those sounds and lights as a 360 camera suspended from the roof captured the giant selfie action.

Each group of strangers bonded over creating a collective experience
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Making VR content sticky and shareable is a big challenge
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The entire experience only took three minutes or so (not counting time spent in line of course) and people were encouraged – with the promise of prizes – to share it using the #ShareTheStage hashtag. All in all it was textbook social media best practice, with the added 360 element. And that’s what makes it so interesting.

People used the #sharethestage hashtag to share their 360 experiences
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Virality is about striking the balance between easily replicable and personalised content
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Virality is about creating something that is easily replicable, yet provides enough scope for variation so that each experience is also unique and personal. A great example of this is the Ice Bucket Challenge that raised over $100m for ALS research in a month.

Producing compelling and easily accessible content that people want to share is probably the biggest hurdle facing VR at the moment, so what’s interesting about the approach Samsung is taking here is that they struck that sweet spot between simplicity and wow factor.

There was a real communal sense of enjoying the technology together
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There was a real communal sense of enjoying the technology together, and that, it seems to me, is what content makers looking to make VR content “sticky” need to focus on – creating an emotional connection to the moment and to one another.

This article was originally published on VRScout

Samsung’s 360° Infinity Selfies Are Hit With Music Festival Crowds via @alicebonasio #GearVR https://t.co/qOmB4jLXi4 pic.twitter.com/sT8loQ7wT1

— VRScout (@VRScout) September 3, 2017

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The post Creating the Ultimate 360 Degree Selfie appeared first on Tech Trends.