The Future of Virtual Reality in the Entertainment Industry


Figure: 1

Source Image Courtesy of warner bros 2018 [Ready Player One Film]

“VR will not only give us access to experiences that are difficult to obtain, it will also allow us to see impossible things, fantastic things, things that will allow us to see the real world in new ways and allow us to stretch our minds beyond anything we can imagine.” – Jeremy Bailenson (Experience on Demand)

One of the best films I watched was Ready Player One by Steven Spielberg [Figure:1]. Here he was showing his perspective of how Virtual Reality would look like in the future. The idea of transporting yourself to another world is like science fiction until the virtual reality headset arrived on the market. How will this affect our everyday lives and how will this impact the entertainment industry like film making and animation?

As of now, in the 2023, there are many examples of using the virtual reality in films, trailers, and digital marketing material to stand out and excite the audience.


Why use Virtual Reality for the Entertainment Industry?

What problem are we solving? Let’s establish why we are doing Virtual Reality. Henry Stuart, CEO of Visualise and the interviewer from his book Virtual Reality Marketing, interviewed Jonathan Waldern, one of the pioneers in VR industry. In that interview, Jonathan stated one of the key things about creating VR content “Obviously, as you know well from producing content, it is the immersive sensation and the fact that you are there and actually in the environment interacting in the world”. (Virtual Reality Marketing p.16)

Although in the past few years I’ve seen a lot of 360o video content, such as movie trailers which I enjoyed, but virtual reality caught my attention the most – for example The Spider-Man: Homecoming VR Experience released in 2017. In another interview in the book Virtual Reality Marketing (Virtual Reality Marketing p.62) with Andy Corcoran, managing partner creative services, head of UM Studios, they mentioned the trailer for this film as an example of VR in the Entertainment Industry. Spider-Man: Homecoming short game was a freebie on PSVR [Figure:2] and since VR audience is still small, Marvel made sure to create an exciting experience that sparks conversations.

This short game allows the player to be Spider-Man in the virtual reality experience and it’s a great example of how VR can be used for promotion of the film.


Figure: 2

Source Image of Courtesy Oculus.com 2017 [Experience Rift / Spider-Man Homecoming]


These are experiences that wouldn’t be possible in the real world. We can make fantasy world come true and experience the immersive environment that gives the feeling of being a part of that world. In virtual reality, the storyteller can create an immersive world and allow the audience to build an emotional connection with that world. By taking the audience to places that they can explore and engage, VR provides unique value for both the creator and the audience. 

Figure: 3

Source Image Courtesy the Void 2015 [YouTube] [youtube.com/@THEVOIDvr/]

Another great example is The Void [Figure:3], a virtual reality entertainment attraction in the USA that became successful by creating the environment using virtual reality, haptic technology and physical environment that gives a real feeling that the audience is in a new world. They have already produced VR experiences based on big titles such as Jumanji, Avengers, Star Wars and many more.5 This is at a new level of entertainment and an excellent example of how films, theme parks and gaming can be made to be more exciting and memorable.


Why Adopting New Technology like VR?

According to my research there has been a growing market for VR since the pandemic because everyone is locked down in their homes and can’t go anywhere6. Virtual Reality has been an escape from their home without physically leaving the house. There are also psychological benefits of using the virtual world as entertainment or a means for social connection. Although we are lacking quantitative benefits on the user, there is an ongoing experiment since this technology is still in the early stage for adoption7. Technology and human interaction have been studied for decades, since technological advancements are changing the ways of the individuals discern the environment and their interaction with people and experience emotion. In this research, I hope to bring together the marketing use cases and studies to confirm the psychological benefits on the users and audience.

Over the years we have seen a significant increase in the amount of content created for Virtual Reality. Ever since Oculus launched a more affordable VR headset a lot of people have been curious to try this new technology. In a statistic forecast, people will continue spending more time on social networks, cinema, music concerts, games, and amusement parks, etc. It also mentions that cinema will grow significantly by 18.9% annually between 2022 and 20268. However, from my research the number was not reflected on the graph [Figure:4] 11. I checked the resources where they get the number and the latest projection for AR/VR headset to be shipped around the world in 2025 is around 59.7M according to Statista.9

These statistics show how virtual reality can potentially become big in the future and therefore there is an opportunity for VR adoption.


Figure: 4


Source Image Courtesy of statista 2022


Entertainment Industry and Adopting a New Way of Engagement

With just a VR headset and a room from anywhere, the audience can experience a whole new environment. Virtual reality creates this sense of presence in the film that allows the audience to participate in the narrative. In addition, the audience are more likely to revisit the scenes to create a different outcome or just to see something new to interact10.

It’s important for brands to be easily remembered by customers. By creating a memorable engagement and enabling the audience to engage in interactive storytelling, we can create an impactful and shareable experience. That will lead to longer and deeper emotional connection. 





References:

  1. Stuart, H. (2018) Virtual Reality Marketing. 1st edn. Kogan Page.  London, New York, New Delhi. 3 October.
  2. Bailenson, J. (2018). Experience on Demand: What Virtual Reality Is, How It Works, and What It Can Do. W. W. Norton & Company.
  3. Ready Player One (2018) Directed by S. Spielberg [DVD] United States. Warner Bros.
  4. Matt () What is the Future of VR Film & VR Movies. (online) Available at: https://filmlifestyle.com/what-is-vr-film-future-of-vr-movies/ (Accessed: 7th May 2023)
  5. The Void. (2015) Dimensions. November 26, 2019, Available at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgDZwoRAyN2NHSj-FFu38daG0FBOnKbnd (Accessed: 9 May 2023)
  6. Barrenda-Ageles, M. and Hartmann, T. (2021) Psychological benefits of using social virtual reality platforms during the covid-19 pandemic: The role of social and spatial presence. USA, National Library of Medicine. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563221003708?via%3Dihub (Accessed: 14th May 2023)

  7. Flavián, C., Ibáñez-Sánchez, S. and Orús, C. (2019) The impact of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies on the customer experience, Journal of Business Research, Volume 100. July 2019 (online) Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.10.050 (Accessed: 14th May 2023)
  8. Guttmann, A. (2022) Growth of the media and entertainment spending 2022-2026, by sector. Statista, November 10, 2022. (online) https://www.statista.com/statistics/262509/growth-of-the-global-media-and-entertainment-spending-by-sector/ (Accessed: 15th May 2023)
  9. Alsop, T. (2022) Consumer VR HMD device shipments worldwide 2020-2025. Statista, December 13, 2022. (online) https://www.statista.com/statistics/1222854/worldwide-virtual-reality-head-mounted-display-shipments/  (Accessed: 16th May 2023)
  10. Sheremetov, D. and Slesar, M. (2022) How VR is Changing the Entertainment and Film Industry. Onix-Systems. December 8, 2022 (online) Available at: https://onix-systems.com/blog/revolutionizing-movie-industry-through-vr-movie-apps (Accessed: 15th May 2023)
  11. Breia, R. (2022) Best Virtual Reality Movies To Watch in 2023. Sensorium. November 28, 2022 (Accessed: 16th May 2023)


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