Augmented Reality at events

As event professionals, we are constantly looking for ways to expand and develop our offerings to clients. Following on from a great article from Quick Mobile about event trends in the future, we have decided to offer our thoughts on an exciting piece of #eventtech, augmented reality.

We recently incorporated augmented reality into one of our showcase corporate events, and the reaction it got was amazing. It was great to see such a high level of audience engagement, and we were pleased to provide something that they had never seen before.

The success of the AR got us thinking, how else could we incorporate Augmented Reality into our events? We made it our mission to find out AR’s capabilities at the moment and its potential in the future. Where to start? This video proved to be as good a place as any.

Anyone can see that this is amazing technology, but how can we utilise it for our events?

Exhibitions

Okay, so it may be the most obvious use for AR, however as our recent event proved, people love interacting with fun new technologies. Augmented Reality, to a large number of people, still seems like something out of a Sci-Fi movie. Awaken their sense of wonder at your event by incoporating AR. It doesn’t have to be show stopping, a small exhibition can really generate a buzz. We set up a demonstration of the AR app Anatomy 4d by DAQRI. Simple, effective and popular. What else could you want? And the app is free to download!

Event Planning and Operations

AR would be a great addition to a presentation or proposal. It is important to be able to communicate and visualise your ideas, especially to your clients. Imagine creating a fully rendered, to scale, 4D projection of your plans for an event.

Planning out a site, Augmented Reality could be an extremely useful tool. AR could give event managers the ability to see how different structures and props would look in different locations, without the heavy lifting.

For large scale events, registration can be a major headache. While systems like Eventbrite have made managing this a lot easier, there is definitely room for development to be made. This will no doubt raise questions about privacy, but what if you could register guests by simply looking at them? This video shows the concept from a security viewpoint. Certainly something to think about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO2QR0vrKHA

Branding and Marketing

Augmented Reality has the potential to change the branding and marketing game. Increasingly brands are looking for a chance to tell their story and communicate with their audience on a more meaningful level. AR provides an effective new way to connect with your audience. Have you seen the Jose Cuervo Augmented Reality Ad campaign?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrFWJvyrEpU

The beauty about this campaign was that it provided a platform for Jose Cuervo to tell their story, not in a pushy way, but a fun and interactive way. People wanted to download the app, and wanted to hear the story. Create events people want to engage with. Create experiences that people talk about.

Full Virtual Reality Events?

Augmented reality is the blending of virtual reality and real life, Virtual reality is all about the creation of a virtual world that users can interact with. While there is huge potential for events including Augmented Reality, what about a step further… full Virtual Reality events. Sounds a bit far fetched, right?

Facebook’s recent acquisiton of the Virtual Reality headset Oculus Rift shows that the vision for Virtual Reality extends beyond gaming. Oculus Rift is due to be released November next year and with a global social heavyweight like Facebook involved, the possibilities are literally endless.

Virtual Event Professionals? This technology may mean that event professionals will not only be responsible for organising and creating great events, but organising and creating dreams. Sounds vaguely familiar…

Conclusion

The sheer amount being invested in Augmented Reality means that, sooner or later, it will be part of our everyday lives. It is integral that we, as event professionals stay ahead of the trend. By not being informed and up-to-date with what is out there, you not only limit your offerings to clients, but also limit your own creativity. Remember there is always opportunity to learn and grow.