Tag: vr

Google Taps NBA For Original VR Show, Debuts Its First VR Series

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Google is coming out with more VR content initiatives as it continues to build out its content offering on its Daydream VR platform. Last week, the company announced it is working the NBA to launch a virtual reality app for Daydream. The main content that this new VR app serves will be an original talk show series called House of Legends featuring former NBA players. Additionally, Google also debuted its first episode of its VR series created in-house. Dubbed Google Immerse VR, the series set to leverage the empathizing power of virtual reality to explore the nuances of race, diversity, and identity.

What Brands Need To Do
As Google continues to build out Daydream’s content library to attract VR content creators and consumers to its VR platform, brands can also leverage this initiative to make their VR content stand out on Daydream VR. A month ago, Google opened up Daydream to allow all developers to create and publish Daydream VR apps via the Play Store, giving brands a way in to get on the platform. Early-adopting brands, such as Marriott and Mountain Dew, have been leveraging VR and 360-degree content to offer customers a powerfully immersive experience, and more brands can benefit from exploring this emerging medium to keep consumers engaged and entertained.

How We Can Help
Our dedicated team of VR experts is here to guide marketers through the distribution landscape. We work closely with brands to develop sustainable VR content strategies to promote branded VR and 360 video content across various apps and platforms. With our proprietary technology stack powered by a combination of best-in-class VR partners and backed by the media fire-power of IPG Mediabrands, we offer customized solutions for distributing and measuring branded VR content that truly enhance brand messaging and contribute to the campaign objectives.

If you’d like to learn more about how the Lab can help you tap into the immersive power of VR content to engage with customers, please contact our Client Services Director Samantha Holland ([email protected]) to schedule a visit to the Lab.

 

Source: Engadget & The Verge

Ford Wants To Take You On A VR Ride Through Paris

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Ford is set to remake a 1976 short film “C’etait un Rendez-Vous” into a VR experience. Working with Claude Lelouch, the noted French filmmaker who helmed the original cult classic, Ford will transport the eight-minute early morning drive through Paris into virtual reality featuring a Ford Mustang. The auto brand plans to release the VR experience this month on YouTube and Facebook in the 360-degree video format. Viewers will also be able to strap on a VR headset and experience the ride in virtual reality.

What Brands Need To Do
While this is a VR concept that is both exciting and on-brand for an automaker like Ford, the distribution strategy leaves much to be desired. The mainstream adoption of VR headsets is still fairly low, and for most viewers that will only get to this VR experience merely as a 360-degree video, the visceral impact of a virtual joyride through the City of Lights will be considerably lessened. More often than not, we are seeing more and more brands making the efforts to create a piece of cool VR content, only to botch it with lazy distribution strategies. In order to truly drum up consumer interest with VR content, brands need to step up their campaign game surrounding the launch of branded VR experiences and put them in front of the right audience.

How We Can Help
Our dedicated team of VR experts is here to guide marketers through the distribution landscape. We work closely with brands to develop sustainable VR content strategies to promote branded VR and 360 video content across various apps and platforms. With our proprietary technology stack powered by a combination of best-in-class VR partners and backed by the media fire-power of IPG Mediabrands, we offer customized solutions for distributing and measuring branded VR content that truly enhance brand messaging and contribute to the campaign objectives.

If you’d like to learn more about how the Lab can help you tap into the immersive power of VR content to engage with customers, please contact our Client Services Director Samantha Holland ([email protected]) to schedule a visit to the Lab.

 

Source: Digital Trends

Header image courtesy of Ford’s YouTube

 

U.K. Hospital Creates VR Experience To Prepare Kids For MRI Scans

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
To help patients, especially children, to prepare for their first MRI scans, the Kings College Hospital in London has created a “My MRI” VR experience that is designed to familiarize first-time patients of the procedure. The hospital made an app for Google Cardboard that contains a 360-degree video to guide viewers through the process from arrival to sliding inside the MRI scanner.

What Brands Need To Do
This is an interesting use case of VR content in healthcare, as it leverages the immersive power of virtual reality to put patients at ease and prepare them for the real procedure. VR has long been a promising training tool in the medical field for simulated scenarios or virtual surgeries, but this new app shows that healthcare and medical brands can employ VR for patient-facing, informative initiatives as well.

How We Can Help
Our dedicated team of VR experts is here to guide marketers through the distribution landscape. We work closely with brands to develop sustainable VR content strategies to promote branded VR and 360 video content across various apps and platforms. With our proprietary technology stack powered by a combination of best-in-class VR partners and backed by the media fire-power of IPG Mediabrands, we offer customized solutions for distributing and measuring branded VR content that truly enhance brand messaging and contribute to the campaign objectives.

If you’d like to learn more about how the Lab can help you tap into the immersive power of VR content to engage with customers, please contact our Client Services Director Samantha Holland ([email protected]) to schedule a visit to the Lab.

 

Source: TechCrunch

Molson Canadian Packs VR Viewers Into Its Beer Cases

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Canadian brewing company Molson is targeting hockey fans with a VR hockey experience that they can unlock with the makeshift VR viewers that Molson is including in some of its beer cases. Lucky customers will be able to use the VR viewer to watch six upcoming NHL games in 360-degree view from a front-row seat. The company partnered with sports media company Sportsnet to distribute the VR content via the latter’s VR compatible mobile app.

What Brands Need To Do
The immersive power of VR makes it a natural match for sports viewing, and Molson is smart to strike the media partnership with Sportsnet to cash in on the growing consumer interests in VR and 360-degree content. With the quickening pace of VR content development and an increasing number of ad platforms testing new formats in VR and 360 video, brands need to start working with content creators today to produce branded 360-degree and VR content.

How We Can Help
Our dedicated team of VR experts is here to guide marketers through the distribution landscape. We work closely with brands to develop sustainable VR content strategies to promote branded VR and 360 video content across various apps and platforms. With our proprietary technology stack powered by a combination of best-in-class VR partners and backed by the media fire-power of IPG Mediabrands, we offer customized solutions for distributing and measuring branded VR content that truly enhance brand messaging and contribute to the campaign objectives.

If you’d like to learn more about how the Lab can help you tap into the immersive power of VR content to engage with customers, please contact our Client Services Director Samantha Holland (s[email protected]) to schedule a visit to the Lab.

 

Source: NHL

Brands Can Now Develop VR Apps For Google Daydream

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Starting this week, Google is allowing all developers to create and publish Daydream VR apps via the Play Store, just like they would with regular Android apps. Daydream is Google’s mobile-powered VR platform that the company introduced at its 2016 Google I/O event last May. Prior to this week’s announcement, creating Daydream VR apps has been limited to a select group of partners. To ensure the quality of its VR apps, Google has also published a page of Daydream app quality requirements that all developers will need to meet.

What Brands Need To Do
While the Daydream VR platform is currently only supported by a handful of new Android handsets, Google appears to be determined to push it further, and opening up the platform for all developers is an important step towards that. (Google is also putting Daydream VR headsets on sale as part of this push.) With Daydream opening its gate, brands gain a new VR platform to consider when it comes to developing and distributing branded VR and 360-degree content, which a number of early-adopting brands, such as Marriott and Mountain Dew, have been doing to offer customers a powerfully immersive experience.

How We Can Help
Our dedicated team of VR experts is here to guide marketers through the distribution landscape. We work closely with brands to develop sustainable VR content strategies to promote branded VR and 360 video content across various apps and platforms. With our proprietary technology stack powered by a combination of best-in-class VR partners and backed by the media fire-power of IPG Mediabrands, we offer customized solutions for distributing and measuring branded VR content that truly enhance brand messaging and contribute to the campaign objectives.

If you’d like to learn more about how the Lab can help you tap into the immersive power of VR content to engage with customers, please contact our Client Services Director Samantha Holland ([email protected]) to schedule a visit to the Lab.

 

Source: TechCrunch

 

Häagen-Dazs’ New VR Initiative Will Let You Fly Amongst Bees

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Virtual reality has brought new possibilities to branded content, and Häagen-Dazs has become the latest brand to leverage its immersive power to enhance its brand storytelling. For its latest installment of its ongoing content series on the environmental value of bees, the popular ice cream brand is turning to virtual reality to raise awareness about the plight of the honeybee. Working with Reach Agency, the company created a short VR experience that puts viewers into the perspective of a flying bee, aiming to inspire empathy and engage the audience on a visceral level.

What Brands Need To Do
This is the latest example in the surge of VR content initiatives in recent years that opt for branded storytelling instead of product demos. For instance, American Family Insurance worked with AOL to develop a three-part, branded VR series focused on inspiring dream-chasers. Samsung also partnered with VICE to build out its VR content offers to attract consumers. The brand narratives that VR is enabling marketers to construct and deliver to consumers represent a big opportunity that brands need to heed.

How We Can Help
Our dedicated team of VR experts is here to guide marketers through the distribution landscape. We work closely with brands to develop sustainable VR content strategies to promote branded VR and 360 video content across various apps and platforms. With our proprietary technology stack powered by a combination of best-in-class VR partners and backed by the media fire-power of IPG Mediabrands, we offer customized solutions for distributing and measuring branded VR content that truly enhance brand messaging and contribute to the campaign objectives.

If you’d like to learn more about how the Lab can help you tap into the immersive power of VR content to engage with customers, please contact our Client Services Director Samantha Holland ([email protected]) to schedule a visit to the Lab.

 

Source: AdWeek and HaagenDazsUS’ YouTube

Expedia’s Latest VR Content Taps Into The “Slow TV” Trend

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Expedia’s latest VR effort is a 44-minute-long VR experience that will take you on a scenic railroad trip in Norway. The popular travel booking site’s Norwegian branch partnered with local tourism organizations Visit Flåm, Flåm Railway, as well as London-based agency Verve Search to launch its first VR content, which includes gorgeous sights such as fjords, glaciers, the midnight sun, the northern lights, and national parks. The video can be accessible on major-brand VR headsets, and it can also be viewed online via a supported browser.

The calming, slow nature of this railroad VR experience sets itself apart from most branded VR content in market today, which usually tend to be much shorter, faster-paced, and more adrenaline-driven. This coincides with the so-called “Slow TV” development, where broadcasts of mundane events filmed from start to finish, such as a long train ride or a knitting marathon, has captivated millions of European viewers. It’s become such a phenomenon in Europe that Netflix imported 11 Slow TV programs this summer.

What Brands Need To Do
This is the latest example of the diversification of VR content as virtual reality gadgets start to percolate into the consumer market. VR’s immersive power makes it a powerful tool for travel and hospitality brands to sell prospective customers on the experience they offer. As mainstream adoption picks up, VR and 360-degree content is emerging as a medium that brand marketers can capitalize on to attract consumer attention with innovative storytelling.

How We Can Help
Our dedicated team of VR experts is here to guide marketers through the distribution landscape. We work closely with brands to develop sustainable VR content strategies to promote branded VR and 360 video content across various apps and platforms. With our proprietary technology stack powered by a combination of best-in-class VR partners and backed by the media fire-power of IPG Mediabrands, we offer customized solutions for distributing and measuring branded VR content that truly enhance brand messaging and contribute to the campaign objectives.

If you’d like to learn more about how the Lab can help you tap into the immersive power of VR content to engage with customers, please contact our Client Services Director Samantha Holland ([email protected]) to schedule a visit to the Lab.

 

Source: AdWeek

 

CES 2017 Day 1: What’s New In VR & AR

Posted on by Richard Yao

Welcome to the Lab’s coverage of the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show, the biggest annual tech trade show that sets the consumer tech trends for the coming year. As with previous years, the Lab has a team on the ground in Las Vegas scouting the show floors to bring you the most noteworthy discoveries and announcements that marketers need to know.

What We Saw At CES
Though the exhibition floors won’t officially open until tomorrow, there have already been a number of high-profile announcements coming out in the Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality arena.

On the headset front, Lenovo unveiled its first VR headset, a light prototype device that works with Microsoft’s Windows Holographic platform, whereas ODG debuted two sleek AR glasses powered by Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 835 chip. HTC didn’t update its Vive VR headset, but it did introduce a series of add-ons to enhance its flagship headset, including an add-on that can power a wireless VR experience, a Deluxe Audio Strap that provides a better headphone solution for the Vive, as well as a Vive Tracker that can turn any physical object into a VR controller.

Then there is the HoloLamp, a lamp-shaped projector that brings 3D animated objects to life in the real world with no headset or glasses required. Similarly, Merge VR created a holographic toy called the Holo Cube, which lets users interact with holograms through its headset.

As with last year, 360-degree and VR-ready cameras are also getting some major updates. Ricoh’s new 360-degree camera can live stream for 24 hours, whereas China’s Insta360 created a camera accessory that can clip onto any Android smartphone and turn it into a 360-degree camera. To bring more interactivity to the existing headsets, uSens developed $100 hand-tracking module for VR and AR headsets that simply clips onto a headset and tracks hand movements down to the finger level.

Besides standalone devices, we are also seeing a lot more VR/AR-ready smartphones and PCs at this year’s CES. The ZenFone AR from Asus is the first phone to support both Google’s mobile AR platform Tango and Google’s Daydream VR platform. Asus also debuted a compact VR-ready desktop PC that will retail for just $799. In addition, Lenovo unveiled two new Legion gaming laptops ahead of CES that are VR-ready.

All these latest products from CES demonstrates that VR and AR technology are quickly advancing and becoming more and more attainable for mainstream consumers. As the hardware continues to develop, alternate reality, particularly VR and 360-degree content, is a medium that brand marketers can capitalize on to attract consumer attention with innovative storytelling.

How We Can Help
Our dedicated team of VR experts is here to guide marketers through the distribution landscape. We work closely with brands to develop sustainable VR content strategies to promote branded VR and 360 video content across various apps and platforms. With our proprietary technology stack powered by a combination of best-in-class VR partners and backed by the media fire-power of IPG Mediabrands, we offer customized solutions for distributing and measuring branded VR content that truly enhance brand messaging and contribute to the campaign objectives.

If you’d like to learn more about how the Lab can help you tap into the immersive power of VR content to engage with customers, please contact our Client Services Director Samantha Holland ([email protected]) to schedule a visit to the Lab.

Oculus Adds Two New Social Features To Gear VR

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Oculus is adding two new features to the Samsung Gear VR headset to make a more social experience. The first is a voice-chat system called Parties that allows users jump into a voice call and talk with others while wearing the headset. The second feature is called Rooms, which creates virtual living spaces for multiplayer Gear VR experiences. This creates a space where Gear VR users can hang out with their friends, chat with each other, and even interact with the virtual objects in the room.

What Brands Should Do
These two new features offer an exciting glimpse into the vast potential virtual reality technologies have in advancing our concept of online engagements and digital interactions. Although virtual reality may still be a few years away from mass adoption (as we predicted in the 2020 section in our Outlook 2016), brands looking to stay ahead of the innovation curve would be smart to start developing their own branded VR content and figure out a robust VR distribution strategy today.

The Lab currently has five VR headsets — a PlayStation VR, an Oculus Rift, an HTC Vive, and two Samsung Gear VRs — ready for demos. Virtual reality is something that has to be experienced to be understood, so come by the Lab and ask for a VR demo to get a hands-on experience and figure out how your brand can use it to excite and engage with consumers.

 

Source: The Verge

 

IMAX To Push VR Cinema Into Mainstream

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Film technology company IMAX Corp. announced its partnership with Acer and Creative Artists Agency (CAA) to invest $50 million into developing 25 interactive VR experiences over the next three years. Other fund investors include China Media Capital, China’s Enlight Media, Studio City, and WPP. The fund will be used for partnerships with video game publishers and 360-degree filmmakers, and IMAX plans to build StarVR-based IMAX VR centers to bring high-quality VR entertainment to consumers.

Why Brands Should Care
This initiative should help further push virtual reality content into the mainstream consumer market. The VR centers IMAX plans to build should provide a good channel for brands to distribute their VR content, and WPP’s involvement certainly signals ad opportunities. As more and more brand marketers rush into VR to capitalize on the booming popularity of the emerging medium, bands should take a cue and start developing VR content that truly enhances brand messaging and contributes to the campaign objectives.

The Lab currently has five VR headsets — a PlayStation VR, an Oculus Rift, an HTC Vive, and two Samsung Gear VRs — ready for demos. Virtual reality is something that has to be experienced to be understood, so come by the Lab and ask for a VR demo to get a hands-on experience and figure out how your brand can use it to excite and engage with consumers.

 

Source: VentureBeat