Last weekend I was able to visit the Frankfurt Book Fair in Frankfurt together with one of my initiatives. While we presented Silicon Vilstal and Farmers seek start-ups in hall 4 at the Arts+, one thing was obvious to me. The future of the event industry belongs to Virtual Reality.
With Virtual Reality, event managers can transfer their visitors in a brand or art world as it was never seen before. They can visit foreign worlds or other places, experience art or simply change their perspective. Virtual experiences become a new and unique at events for young and old visitors alike.
One thing became clear at the Book Fair: a simple 360° video is no longer enough. An added value has to be created, which helps the visitors of the event to identify with the topic.
The virtual world provides:
- Interaction
- Information transmission (via video, audio)
- Fascination (through games)
- Long-term commitment through interactive and constantly changing content
Virtual Reality – a tool for event planners
Event managers are always looking for the next big thing during their conception. A crowd-magnet that, in addition to its already attractive range of products, spreads a touch of innovation and novelty. Virtual Reality meets these criteria, creating a sense of connectedness that other media genres find difficult to achieve.
Journalism has long since discovered these advantages for itself, but the event industry is following suit and impressing its visitors with a unique immersion in the brand world. Just as AUDI did when presenting its Q7.
Presentation of the AUDI Q7 (Source: Audi)
There are several reasons why organizers should choose Virtual Reality. The strongest one is probably the long-term and efficient retention of users. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to attract the attention of visitors. At trade fairs or events there is often a wide range of products and services that you have to find new ways of interaction in order to be successful. Event planners will have to deal with the possibilities of VR for their event sooner or later in order to inspire people.
More insights into the future of events can be found in my keynote!
