Lisa Watts appointed Chair of VR/AR Association Marketing Committee

We are thrilled to have Lisa Watts help lead our global community! As part of this role, Lisa will host our Online Meets with guest speakers and the committee will continue creating best practices, guidelines for marketing in immersive tech. 

Lisa is a passionate technologist, proven business leader and XR/metaverse expert. She believes spatial computing is the future of industry and our world. Drawing on more than 25 years of experience working at and with companies such as Intel, Sansar, Walmart, Tilt5 and Magic Leap, her goal is to help creators and companies big and small achieve XR leadership, grow ecosystem partnerships, and bring to life the solutions and technologies that are increasingly essential to our everyday lives.

“I’d like to thank VRARA for asking me to chair the Marketing Committee. I’m passionate about working at the intersection of product and the market. I am looking forward to working with this great team to leverage our collective knowledge and expertise to help VRARA and our members share their innovations and stories with the marketplace and the world.”

— Lisa Watts

The Challenges of Audio in Extended Reality

Topic #1: Virtual Reality Communities

The intricate process of creating animation content such as characters, sets, and the interface design is exhilarating.  As a 3D animator and creator, I love everything about the development process of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) content, which is now better known by the combined terminology of Extended Reality (XR).  Conversely, as a user there are times when it can be daunting, and things don’t work the way I think they should or could.  As a sound engineer and designer, a tremendous area of consideration for me is audio quality.  Just like in a Google or Zoom online meeting, I am not concerned about how I appear to others because usually my camera is turned off.  The audio quality and its consistent clarity and the ability to hear others with clarity is my foremost concern.

During a recent test for the VRARA of different VR software that provides meeting spaces in virtual reality (such as Engage and Altspace, among others) the team ran into some interesting situations. We wanted a VR application for VRARA panel discussions to be held during the VR/AR Global Summit Online Sept 30 - Oct 2, 2020.  As you may know, many VR applications provide meeting spaces in virtual reality where users can have conversations, watch videos, play games, and browse the Internet. The avatars in these applications can automatically mimic a user's body language which enhances the “in-person” communication.

As we moved forward in our testing, it was soon discovered that the application cost, room size, and most of all, support for the application became a huge issue. We found the AltspaceVR application to be the best for the quick turnaround that we were looking for.  Our goal was to use the application for the VRARA panel discussion, but very quickly an audio quality situation arose. The boardroom in AltSpace (the set) and my AltSpace avatar (the character) looked great, but the issue arose when we started to have one-on-one conversations within the boardroom.  Granted, AltSpace is great for community presentations and even demo situations.  Where it falls short is audio quality and clarity during personal interaction and one-on-one communication.  This significantly impedes networking on this platform.

Let me explain in more detail the audio situation within the boundaries of personal interaction in a meeting.  In an AltSpace meeting room with ~50 other users, things tend to get hectic when the moderator turns on all the attendees’ microphones to introduce themselves and interact with others around them.  Herein lies the problem—there is currently no way to have a private discussion with someone without hearing every other discussion in the room.  Because of this dilemma, people leave the current meeting to find another room to meet in private.  Unfortunately, the process of getting a private meeting room is time consuming and cumbersome.  This means you have left the main meeting for this private discussion and now have perhaps lost the opportunity to meet other users.  In my eyes this is a major issue and defeats the purpose of being at the meeting to network with others.  A great advantage is lost.

I see two features that would be brilliant additions to AltSpace and would be an incredible game-changer for the program.  First, I would suggest:

• Add an area for appointments

In such an area, new acquaintances could arrange impromptu appointments to avoid fighting against the collective noise of everyone in the boardroom.  There could be a reservation system in place so that users could reserve an area before, during or after the boardroom meeting for a conversation. My second suggestion is:

• Add a “bubble” around the user to create a private meeting atmosphere

This “bubble” would create a useful environment for interacting with others without the user needing to arrange a private meeting room.  Easily configurable privacy settings would allow the user to have private impromptu conversations.  The addition of these two features would significantly improve AltSpace’s capability as a networking platform.

These would be my suggestions for Altspace to add to their VR application.  As I have already said, my specialty and passion as a sound engineer and designer keep me from looking past these important details of audio challenges.  Networking is vital to the process of companies making connections and growing.  I believe that by implementing these two features, Altspace can become an even more widely used application, especially as a networking platform. See you next time!

Dale L. Campbell Jr

dalecampbelljr@positiveproductionsplus.com

Positive Productions Plus

VRARA Marketing & Advertising Committee

RSVP for our Webinar: "ROI for VR/AR in Advertising and Marketing + Monetization" expert panel featuring Loreal, Island, WarGaming, King, Snapchat and others

RSVP here

Best Practices for Advertising + Marketing (White Paper)

To access this White Paper, enter your email here:

Our Advertising Committee has published these best practices white paper for Advertising & Marketing.

Co-Authors:

• Deborah Worrell, EscapeVR

• Sophia Moshasha, Brightline Interactive, VP VRARA DC Chapter

Contributors:

• Alban Denoyel, Sketchfab

• Jamison Tilsner, Sketchfab

• Reekita Shah Alias Gala

• Roy Rodenhaeuser, Oath (Verizon)

• Tyler Gates, Brightline Interactive, President VRARA DC Chapter

• Kris Kolo, VRARA

Table of Contents

This white paper is broken into the following parts so you can skip to what is of interest to you:

1 Introduction

Definitions: Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Extended Reality

How to Experience Virtual Reality: The VR Spectrum

How to Experience Augmented Reality: The AR Ecosystem

2 Should Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality be Part of Your Marketing and Media Strategy?

VR/AR in Marketing and Advertising

How VR and AR Expand the Opportunity for Brands

Five Easy Ways to Incorporate Virtual Reality

Five Easy Ways to Incorporate Augmented Reality

How Can the Consumer Experience be Measured?

How Brands Should Evaluate VR and AR Opportunities

3 Summary

4 Case Studies

VR: “Insights from Another Reality”, Oath

VR: Toyota Teen Drive 365 Virtual Reality Experience

VR: Cub Cadet- Signature VR Experience

VR: “JEWLR”, Sketchfab

AR: Snapchat AR Ad Campaigns

AR: Yahoo Mail App AR solution (Advertising)

AR: Porsche Augmented Reality (Marketing)

AR: Nike Facebook Messenger AR Campaign

360° Video: Public Service and Advocacy— “The Silent Killer”

360° Video: KFC “Add Hope” Campaign

Thank you to VRARE-VR/AR Experiences for sponsoring this paper. Please see www.ardoneforyou.com www.armasterclass.com If you would like to sponsor a future version of this White Paper, email info@thevrara.com

What Goes Into a VR Ad Experience?

Join our Advertising Committee here

With nothing more than some basic VR glasses attached to my iPhone, I'm transported to The Conjuring 2 as I watch the three-minute trailer. I feel like I’m in the movie, beginning with the creepy music effects. I'm not sure what is going to happen next, and just that feeling of uncertainty is making my heart beat faster and triggering my senses with giddy anxiety. I know it's not real, but it seems real enough. Everything -- from the furniture to the cracks in the walls -- is just like the movie, and these details of the experience make an impression.

This is advertising in VR. The example involving The Conjuring 2, which allows users to experience Enfield firsthand, was produced by SunnyBoy Entertainment for Warner Brothers, who partnered with Paper Triangles to create the first VR horror movie trailer, to create the first VR horror movie trailer. (Full disclosure: Paper Triangles is a VR/AR Association member.) The trailer has racked up over 13 millionYouTube views and 4.3 million Facebook views.

How To Create a VR Ad Experience

Well, the are several options available now for brands to create a VR, AR or MR experience. The first would be to go to any one of the current production studios. Anzu.io, Blue Visual Effects, CreateAR and many others work in the AR space specifically for brands. Another option would be to create the experience in-house and build a team dedicated to VR, AR and MR work.

Features And Functionality

In this case, creators needed to replicate the set of The Conjuring 2 in VR, which consisted of fusing live-action with CG technology into a stereoscopic VR setting. The result was a remake of the Enfield house in VR form, which made the house look and feel like real life.

Gamification of a branded experience (i.e., an ad) or eye-gaze features to direct the experience can be considered for engagement. The end goal is to surprise and delight the user inside the experience. For examples, using Microsoft's HoloLens allows creators to use spatial mapping, gaze and gestures as tools to immerse users in a branded experience.

How Do You Launch And Measure Success Metrics?

The type of experience you create will determine what platforms are available to distribute your content and how to effectively measure metrics.

In another example, Adverty built a VR/AR advertising platform for brands via an easy-to-integrate, non-intrusive native form of advertising. In 2017, the company launched a Christmas VR campaign for Coca-Cola using virtual out-of-home billboards inside the snowball-throwing VR game Merry Snowballs from game studio Hatrabbit Entertainment. It is a true VR experience, using headsets supported by the mobile and desktop VR platforms, and the ad units are placed non-intrusively and seamlessly in the game design. 

Metrics can be measured in the following ways:

• Viewability gives you metrics so you can see the number of views your ad has received.

• Reach is fairly standard, but "resonance" gauges thought and feeling about your ad while "reaction" tracks in-store lift in sales.

• Verification provides third-party data to keep things transparent.

Why does this matter? For now, VR, AR and MR may seem like a novelty. When you mention them to friends or businesses, they, in turn, immediately reference the headset or some type of gear. But what is certain is that the technology behind all three is getting closer to becoming mainstream. More than 1 million headsets were shipped in Q3 2017, and it's expected that over 2oo million units will be sold by 2020. And it's important to remember that headsets are shared devices in homes, schools and entertainment venues. Without a doubt, once a person tries one of the experiences, they are instantly transformed into a smiling, eyes-wide-open user.

For advertising, this is dollar signs and rainbows. Both enterprise and retailers alike will be eager to happily invest in the new medium of communication to get closer to their loyal customers and build new relationships with potential customers. After all, why would you miss an opportunity to tell your story if all you have to do is make the user feel connected to your brand experience?

Join our Advertising Committee here

Google Signals Moves in VR Advertising

The Mad Men of VR are coming. Google just released ‘Advr,’ a virtual cube that will show ads by a user tap or gaze. The idea is much like a pop-up but for VR platforms. The SDK is available on an invite only basis but it gives a glimpse of the new normal for VR Advertising. However, human behavior is what will truly drive change in Advertising. We already know that the user or in this case, audience comes first. So the ad must be easy to engage with. We also know if the user journey or touchpoints can provide insight into user/audience ‘intent’ then we can meet the want or need better. As a result, the ad must serve a purpose within context. And finally we know that timing is everything. If a person is searching for a specific product or service and has only a limited amount of time then an ad of convenience would be perfect. Smart and creative ads will connect with users/audience in these moments in VR just like they do in traditional platforms. But just like on traditional platforms, nobody necessarily likes any old pop-up.

Join Google and other VRARA members including ADVR, AdVir, burgeon(digital), Kitestringviz, Llamazoo, Orange, Retinad, Yahoo, You Are Here, YuMe in our Advertising Committee to work on best practices, guidelines, and standards for VR in advertising.