With the ever-increasing popularity of augmented and virtual reality, it is no surprise that the usage of this technology is gaining momentum in the events industry.
Here are three events where the ingenious use of virtual and augmented reality have been used to attract crowds and create unique experiences at events.
Coachella Music Festival
The 2018 Coachella Festival presented an AR experience during Eminem’s set, building an experience that enhanced the set of festival-goers. Paul Rosenberg, Def Jam chief executive and Eminem’s manager, says “We figured, if the phones are going to be there and people are going to be putting them up in the air and looking at them anyway, why don’t we provide a way to maybe change the way they’re perceiving the show.” The concert experience was geo-tagged and time-stamped, creating an exclusive experience that was only visible within a few hundred yards of a live show.
This hasn’t been the first time Coachella has experimented with AR/VR. In 2017, the festival presented its attendees with a mesmerizing experience situated in a 60-feet-high dome that screened Chrysalis, an 8-minute virtual reality film that San Francisco-based studio Obscura Digital spent 3 months developing. Individual VR goggles were not needed, as attendees look around on the walls of the 120-feet-diametered rotunda where images were projected.
San Diego Comic-Con
The annual comic book convention in southern California attracts more than 130,000 people each year and their exhibitors have recently turned to VR to promote their movies and TV shows. A VR journey inspired by American Horror Story saw a purpose-built dome created outside the convention centre. Through this, the creators were able to take participants into an immersive experience within the realm of the TV show, blurring the lines between reality and fiction.
North American International Auto Show
Trade shows and conferences often feature product demonstrations, but for some industries, capturing their audience’s attention may be difficult. Car manufacturer Ford have used AR to engage and interact with their audience in a revolutionary way. At the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, car manufacturer Ford used AR to give visitors a chance to look under the hood of three different vehicles. This gave car enthusiasts the chance to examine the technology that underpins the latest models.
