Immersive Experiences Using Tech: The Future of Events

1. Immersive Experiences Using Tech: The Future of Events Sanjana wanted the best décor for her wedding. The flowers, the table settings, the cutlery, all had to be handpicked to perfection. Only if she could visualize what she had in mind. She knew her décor ideas were more than perfect. But how would she translate her thoughts to the wedding planner and make sure they understand her requirements? She had little to no idea on what was going to unfold before her eyes till the time she stepped into the wedding planner’s office. The wedding planners wows her with an immersive technology powered applications that gives Sanjana the exact look and feel of the D-day.The app empowers herto visualize and design what she had in mind for the perfect wedding. She can pick the rightcolor, shade, material and let her imagination run wild. Sanjana was impressed not just by the approach, but by the efforts the planner had taken to give life to her imagination. Events are about crafting experiences Be it a wedding or a rock concert, event management companies have to do more than just providing a plan to the organizers. The look, the feel and the appeal, everything has to be narrated. Augmented reality has made it simpler these days with event management companies constantly mooting how AR/VR has changed the customer experience. No wonder, the technologies have a far- reaching consumer base than one could ever imagine. There’s more to it. Immersive experiences garner much attention and excitement among the participants, leading to a social media buzz- the most popular means of ‘word-of-mouth’ recommendations. Therefore, even management companies are making their events more immersive so that they leave a lasting impression on the participant’s mind, encouraging them to come back for more.

2. The future of events is just about scalable with some of the most advanced technologies in the market such as Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and more. But to understand their far- reaching effects on business, one has to first gauge their scope and functionalities. Immersive Experiences: Then and Now Immersive experiences have had different explanations at different points in time, but all of them rooted in visual and experiential factors. No wonder, there has been a drastic shift from using just color-prints and photographs to ‘visualize’ an event to using 3D reality to experience the same. The latter not only helped in better decision-making, but also eliminated any scope of miscommunication, resulting in loss of time and money. The one benefit of immersive technology that cannot be ignored is the sheer ability to bring together dream and reality, thus impacting businesses, economies, and developmental works of the future. Types of Immersive Technologies Immersive technologies can be widely categorized as: Virtual reality: It immerses the audience in fully artificial digital environment. In other words, the participant is completely shut out from the world outside while being surrounded by content. This is possible through a Head Mounted Display (HMD), which transforms the content into a “reality”. Some of the most common types of VRs include the 360 or 360VR, Mobile VR, True VR, 360 VR vs In- VR. One fine example would be an event organized by Bell Helicopter announcing its new copter for the future. The organizers chose to engage the audiences as participants, letting them to take flight in a concept aircraft with immersive handsets at HAI Heli-Expo. Instead of just leaving the venue with a vague concept in their minds, the audience knew what decision they had to take.

3. Augmented Reality:This technology overlays virtual objects on the real-world environment. The most relatable and popular example would be that of Pokemon Go. Digital images of Pokemon were presented on top of the real world as if they were part of it. In other words, users who use the AR are not completely shut out from the real world, instead the AR forms extend to their reality. The retail industry is leveraging into the technology in a great way. For instance, Target and IKEA have their own apps from where the users can choose a product, for instance a piece of furniture. Users can place it virtually in their preferred setting and check out if it fits their requirement pertaining to the color, shape and size. To sum up, this immersive technology is allowing customers to try out things before even buying them. Events and planner can stay ahead of the competition by allowing layers on top of what already exists. This, in fact, could be cost saving because building an AR app could be much lesser than losing money on event signage. The customers would be happy too.

4. Mixed reality: It overlays and anchors virtual objects to the real world. Considered to be the future of Immersive marketing, it is a combination of VR and AR. Like VR, MR also used HMD, but is not shut out off the world. Here, the HMD is more like a pair of glasses that superimposes digital images on top of your environment. Immersive technology has transformed shared experiences into reality, which is leveraged by the hospitality sector, the education sector, aviation, event management sector and more. Customers can now tour wedding venues that were never built, doctors can tour hospitals under planning, teachers can step into classrooms that are just in the conceptual stage. Do not like the amenities? Just replace the ‘reality’ with a different one. No time or money lost.

5. Future of events with immersive experience As per an article by the West Agile Labs, a global digital product agency, the future of events is set to witness a revolutionizing reform with Augmented, Virtual, and Mixed reality trends. The company believes that combined sector is expected to hit $30 Billion by 2030. Moreover, the consumer spending on AR & VR technologies is expected to reach $7 Billion by 2020, which is more than any other industry based on its standalone capacity. From registering attendees with face recognition technology to navigating the plan for nearest fire exit in a crowded exhibition, everything is top-notch and fool proof, thanks to the new-age immersive experience. The benefits are more than what we can imagine; Some already explored, others yet to be experienced.

6. Growing interaction among attendees: What if somebody really read out your thoughts? Weird to the extent of fantastic, isn’t it? This will soon happen in symposiums and conferences, when the attendees could be marked by their thought processes and their areas of interest. A speaker would know how to tackle the audience he is dealing with. His approach to a particular topic of discussion could be different. Turn a gaming event into a real-life experience: A boring trade show or a gaming event is a thing of the past. Event gamification is the new focus. You can make your conference more interactive with leaderboards, facilitated games, and networking opportunities. Organizers can now let their attendees participate in a gaming competition from their seats for a real gaming experience.

7. Virtual tours made top notch: Setting up virtual tour guides involves no cost, even though that means transporting the participant to the destination of their choice. Cultural or tourism events can leverage greatly on that. Not that they haven’t explored the bandwidth of AR yet, but more sophistication and innovation is expected in the near future. Product demo, leading to great decision-making at no cost: Trade shows will shrink, literally. Imagine a stall for heavy machinery- would you really think of displaying and demonstrating them

8. when rents for stations are sky-rocketing. Add to it, the logistical issues. It would just add up to the cost of the equipment. Instead, use AR and let the customers see how it actually works without dirtying your hands. The trends are fast revolutionizing and so are customers’ expectations. It would really be interesting to witness how the digital space merges with human imagination to build a ‘reality’ that can be changed, twisted and custom-made according to one’s choice, within seconds.