We need more Virtual Reality content.
It is the future of display technology.
This text originally was written to my friend Daria, who is a producer at a video creative agency. It was just a long text message that I typed with my thumbs on iPhone 6 using Facebook messenger. The aim of this long message was to share my excitement about VR and convince her to create some original VR content. All signs point to it becoming the most common display technology in three to five years.
I am writing to you to share the thrill I get from Virtual Reality (VR). I had a chance to immerse myself in the latest VR experience during AdTechSF Expo last week. The team from Reel FX Studio was kind enough to set up a VR booth with Samsung Gear VR headsets, stereo headphones, and their latest VR works.
I’ve been reading about VR a lot during the last year and a half. Once I even tried the first generation of Oculus Rift.
Then I read “Neuromancer” by William Gibson and “Snow Crash” by Neal Stephenson. Those imaginary worlds, the Matrix and the Metaverse, were quite illustrative of the technology of the future. The immersive experience was all around and co-existed with the real world.
After I had visited the VR booth, I advised my colleague Andrew to try it as well. On the next day of the expo, I met Oksana, who visited AdTech to hear about all the new marketing technologies and techniques, and brought her to the VR booth. I was interested to hear their thoughts later on.
Then we had a short discussion about our feelings, perception and general thoughts about technology.
We all agreed, it is just AMAZING!
It is amazing when, during a crowded expo, you sit down on a rotating chair, put on a massive headset and immerse yourself in an alternative world. Head tracking is smooth and precise with a 360 degree of view all the way around. The 3-D sound is sharp and omnidirectional.
The real world of the expo dissolved while you’re wearing the VR headset and is not there anymore. Instead, you find yourself in a Miami penthouse with a gorgeous view of the city or in a helicopter cabin cruising over the desert together with a news reporter.
You are amazed and turn your head from right to left and top to bottom looking at new compelling worlds in front of you.
It is so easy to be lost there and yet stay focused on the flow at the same time.
I am 100% confident that we are going to have a VR headset in EVERY house sooner or later. It will be the main display for entertainment — games, films, meditation, communicating with friends and coworkers, and totally new experiences that we can’t imagine yet, for everything digital.
It will be the main display for software engineers to write a code because you can have the widest possible screen and organize space all over around. There could be interesting possibilities for the open space office culture when it becomes not so open if we all use VR headsets to work while sitting together in one big, open room.
More VR devices will come on the market in the year 2015. Oculus, Sony, and Steam are preparing their headsets for consumers. You can buy Samsung Gear off-the-shelf today. Microsoft is preparing HoloLens for the market, and we even hear rumors about Apple rushing to AR/VR space.
But wait, what about content? Do we have enough content for the coming VR revolution? Nope. We need to create it. Invent it. There will be a lack of the pure VR ready content available. All existing 2-D movies are just not great in VR headsets. They are like silent black and white movies shown on a 100 inches OLED displays with a Dolby Atmos Surround audio system. The industry needs all new content for VR with a 360 camera rig and a proper software ecosystem. There should be a different type of story with a new type of narrative ready for VR headsets.
A rising tide lifts all boats. You can start early and become an expert in VR content creation and curation from the beginning of this display revolution. Start today and let’s rock!
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