The ability to manage and control multiple VR headsets at once gives brands, visitor experiences and guest attractions a simple way to allow viewers to engage with immersive media without the struggle of teaching users how to control VR headsets and their associated controllers under the pressure of a queue of other users waiting their turn.
Having supported brands and guest attractions in the deployment of Virtual Reality 360 Degree films for a good few years now one of the biggest problems encountered when engaging an inexperienced user to try out a VR headset, even for simply watching a 360 degree "metaverse movie", is that the user has no idea how the headset works and teaching them on the spot even to simply press a play button can lead to confusion and frustration all round.
So called "kiosk mode" can be used within apps to get around this where the app/film automatically starts when the user outs the headset on - and stops/rewinds when the user takes the headset off for a pre-programmed duration. This is a feature limited to Pro Users for the Oculus Meta Quest/Quest 2 certainly although a work around of developing a custom app or using an off the shelf app solution can provide this functionality - at a cost.
But what if you want a group of individuals to don their headset then have a shared experience of watching a VR Video - this is certainly an exciting experience and can be achieved without a single viewer having to do anything more than pop on a headset and wait for showtime! Large (theoretically unlimited in number) groups can experience synchronised VR film viewing delivering shared experiences without the associated costs of vast dome projection systems and in an even more immersive full 360 degree medium.
If you'd like to more more about shared synchronised VR Video viewing for your brand, tourist attraction or event we'd love to hear from you.
Andrew Murchie is a creative technology consultant based in Edinburgh, Scotland specialising in stereoscopic 3d virtual reality films. He has produced Virtual Reality films & experiences for clients including NHS, Kimberly-Clark, Kraft-Heinz, Loch Lomond Distillers, Highland Spring and Tennent Caledonian Breweries.
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