VR for value: how emerging tech can go beyond the hype (part I)
As a group of creatively curious technologists and designers, Beyond is all about keeping up with the latest developments in emerging tech — from AI to VR and everything in between. Still, we recognize that when “new” consumer technology hits the mainstream, it’s important to consider the hype vs. value factor.
Remember, hype sold us a future where we commuted on Segways (the future of urban mobility!) drinking Crystal Pepsi and wearing Google Glass. But this morning, value saw me getting the tube to work, glancing down at my iPhone screen and drinking your average bottle of water.
It’s not hard to get swept up by marketing hype (just ask my vast collection of Beanie Babies). So, when an emerging technology like virtual reality starts dominating more column inches than the living, breathing hype machine that is the Kardashians, you know it’s time to take a step back and consider whether:
Technology trend – Hype = Value
With a whole host of companies, brands and stakeholders battling it out to seize the VR market, everyone’s talking about how it’s going to take over. But after the initial flurry which saw VR experiences from the likes of Nike, Coca Cola and BMW grabbing headlines, a recent report from Yes Lifecycle found that just 8% of marketers were currently using VR, with 21% interested in implementing it — but 57% said VR didn’t apply to their organization.
“A lot of brands have tried VR in the last year, and in many cases, it left marketers and consumers rather underwhelmed,” noted Samantha Merlivat, one of the authors of Forrester’s ‘Virtual Reality Isn’t Ready For Marketing Yet’ report.
So, set against this backdrop of mounting skepticism, the buzz around VR shows no sign of subsiding. It begs the question: are VR’s advancements living up to the hype?
Riding the hype cycle (on a Segway)
Getting consumers to adopt intrusive tech is difficult — think Google Glass and 3D TV. But looking at what some of the major tech companies are doing, something tells me VR-sehole isn’t the next ‘glasshole’ (not least because it only works with a British accent). There’s an infectious sense of innovation and ferment around VR tech which has seen it steadily working its way up Gartner’s slope of enlightenment.
From Zuckerberg’s acquisition of Oculus in 2014 which saw him do a live VR demo to an extravagant campaign from Boursin, a cheese brand trying its hand at the ‘next big thing’, the biggest advancements in VR are coming from companies with the budget to take risks.
In many respects VR is still in its infancy, though the industry’s advancements show no sign of slowing down. San Francisco consultancy Digi-Capital estimated that the VR/AR market could be worth $108 billion by 2021. The pace of advancements is likely to rocket as the market explodes, propelling VR into the plateau of productivity — where the cool stuff happens — in the next five to ten years. So start preparing now. If these estimates are correct, VR will soon be a core component of the way we work and the things we create.
Mainstream VR may be taking a little longer, but the technology is already flourishing in brand and enterprise spaces. Why? It provides value. VR’s current obstacles — like price and discomfort — can be forgiven so long as the technology makes itself useful in a work setting, or the use case is short-lived (think campaign-based VR experiments). When VR is used as a tool to answer a need, rather than just because, its value outweighs the shortcomings of its infancy.
Hitting the hype
The VR hype has prompted a lot of brands, most notably Facebook, to throw big money at developing VR experiences without thinking about (and thus not achieving) user-centric value.
But this isn’t always the case. An early pioneer, Lowe’s Holoroom, a virtual reality home improvement design and visualization tool, was an example of VR in marketing that actually had a compelling use case. This, in the VR Dark Ages (also known as 2014), stood apart as an example of VR meeting a need, rather than VR for the sake of it.
It remains one of the best examples of how VR could shape the future of retail. The Holoroom allows customers to build their dream kitchen or bathroom in a virtual version of their own homes creating a video available for viewing through Google Cardboard. It swerved gimmicky VR and provided real value in helping customers articulate their design aspirations to family, or their contractor. It made their visions tangible and removed all guesswork, ensuring no homeowner ended up with a bath in the middle of their kitchen — unless that’s what they’re into.
The non-profit space has capitalized on VR’s ability to create more empathy through immersive storytelling, leveraging this power to raise more money for important causes. Take a look at Unicef’s offering — a prime example of VR for value. The charity uses the technology to enable you to witness first-hand what life is like for some of the world’s most vulnerable children.
And another industry has been using VR to increase awareness — albeit in an entirely different ways. Medics are embracing VR as it offers opportunities to truly explore the human body in ways that they could never have dreamt of a decade ago. Take a look at Surgical Theater, a collaborative educational experience described as a breakthrough for surgical navigation and planning.
And the entertainment industry recently saw LCD Soundsystem team up with Google’s Data Arts Team to create WebVR experiment, Dance Tonite. Set against the soundtrack of LCD Soundsystem’s new song, “Tonite”, you can explore room to room and experience some fan-created dance performances. Using new technology, WebVR, the experience is accessible from a single URL and works across platforms, giving the user a different role in the experience depending on their device. With VR, you are a performer. And without VR, you’re a spectator with a bird’s eye view.
While Dance Tonite may seem more frivolous than a medical training resource, that’s not to take away from its value. The ever-changing VR collaboration between LCD Soundsystem and their fans is an important exercise in exploring the ongoing dialogue between artists and emerging technologies. It’s a great way to strengthen the relationship between LCD and their fans: using VR, they have converted their fans from passive engagers in to active creators of their work. And it definitely won’t hurt Tonite’s streaming stats.
VR needs to have a strong purpose for the experience to translate into value. When brands buy into VR because ‘it’s the next big thing’, they risk creating experiences that entertain but fail to translate that reaction into something more meaningful. And that’s when VR falls into the hype outweighing value trap.
As well as having a clear purpose for the brand, which the examples above all did really well (sell kitchens, fundraise, educate, sell music and strengthen fanbase), they all identified a consumer need, and used VR as a tool to answer it.
Do you think people showed off to their neighbor about the time they got to ‘try before you buy’ a kitchen in their own house?
Probably.
Do you think people were sharing their knowledge of the struggle of children in Uganda to find clean water, encouraging their friends to also donate?
I think so.
Do you think surgeons were recommending Surgical Theater to their peers after it helped them skill up in a way they’d never had the chance to before?
Likely.
Do you think LCD Soundsystem fans showed their friends evidence of them being a part of the band’s latest project, introducing them to the new song?
Almost definitely.
Do you think people were raving about the time they went on a virtual tour of a fridge with cheese brand Boursin?
Probs not.
VR: it’s here to stay
We’ve established I didn’t come into work on a Segway today, but I did come into an office that has a full HTC Vive setup. Here at Beyond LDN, we have a creative space for our team to get to grips with the new technology.
Our designers are experimenting with designing in 3D using Tilt Brush, our developers are looking into the burgeoning game development space, and the rest of us… we’re just playing mini golf. Or, to paraphrase, ‘familiarizing ourselves with the technology’.
This hardware buy-in is indicative of us betting that beyond the hype, there’s value to be uncovered. We believe VR will be a core component of the way we work, and the things we create, in the not-so-distant future.
Any way you slice it, VR is here to stay, especially in an industry where everyone’s focused on creating innovative and interactive experiences. Currently, when we design we’re curbed by a limitation so integral that we barely consider it — the screen. As Alexa and the Google Assistant take up residency in more and more homes (estimates say more than 30 million in the US by end of the year) and we begin thinking beyond web and mobile interfaces, there’s already evidence of a consumer shift away from the screen.
So are people open to breaking the fourth wall? We think so. At Beyond, we’re actively preparing ourselves to design for a future that goes beyond the screen. We say: the hype has only just begun.
And don’t just take our word for it, stay tuned to hear about how we’re experimenting this space in part II. Subscribe so you don’t miss out. And let us know if any of the latest movements in VR have caught your attention — we’d love to hear them.
