It’s hard to plan events, team bonding sessions, sales enablement or really any corporate event these days and more so where just a standard zoom catch up or Microsoft Teams call would not be good enough. You need something special. More so, because teams are globally placed at different locations and the working life looks so different post COVID with many choosing to WFH or even hybrid.
“Virtual engagement is becoming a way of life mostly due to the rapid uptake of digital channel during the COVID-19 pandemic”
says Mike Vasavada, Director at Mobiddiction.
Travel is tough, international travel is off the cards for most businesses considering times and budget squeezes, tech industry is going through lay offs…It’s almost impossible to plan a corporate event or that fancy award nights with presentations that engage your team, customers or just visitors.
In the recent past, we saw various events such as WWDC from Apple move onto digital, we noted there were just a few platform which were “digital” but really it felt like there were pre-designed 3D places with screens to display the presentations. We even looked up so many digital event platform but most of them were really a presentation from one place to another, some of them providing one to many video cast services with live-chat. We wanted to bring in real-world interactions and digital events closer.
So, our team took this up as a challenge and as we do love to use some latest tech toys we came up with the idea of trying to mix virtual and real and termed it “virt-real” and use virtual events with real themes. We then mix Augmented Reality (AR) based assets for users at multiple locations to engage with the content. We use real 360º places for holding your events digitally and have speakers pop in from their locations. So, lets think about Sydney as an outdoor theme for your event, users are virtually logged in to Darling Harbour and your speakers in L.A is presenting in a virtual screen popped in front of the Darling Harbour. Once the session is over, we change the theme or the scene as we call it and users are able to go out for a break overlooking Bondi Beach live-chatting and sharing pics from their locations in real-time on a virtual screen.
So, how did we do it?
The team set out and created 360º VR ready content across 75+ venues in Sydney, Cairns, Beaches and even used dived underwater at the world-famous Great Barrier Reef. Powered by our platform Mobiconnect™ we built the world’s first “virtual-reality” event platform which is great to use for corporate showcases, team bonding, customers or sales enablement sessions.
“We needed to research and experiment with colour grade changes at various depths as the scenery all turns “bluer” as the water depth increases. We needed to research can experiment with the effect of cloud cover and non-direct sunlight on underwater exposure, contract, and colour grading” recalls Iain Chalmers, Tech Director at Mobiddiction who joined the team at the Great Barrier Reef for the underwater shoot.
What equipment did we use?
- DSLR camera
- 360 cameras – non underwater (x2, Theta Z1 and ThetaV)
- Drones (x 2, Mavic Mini and DJI Spark)
- iPhone
- Android
What services did we use?
- Professional Photographers
- Drone pilots and spotters
- Underwater snorkelers
- Professional underwater scuba divers and photographers
- On site management and logistics
- Off-site logistics and accommodation
As an Australian first, we believe the platform has more engagement to offer as virtual reality and mixed reality start to power experiences.
Speak to our team before you plan or plan to cancel your corporate event. You ought to see this. Perhaps doesn’t really make sense unless you see it, virt-really.
The best use case is when you have a real event and want an online version of the same, or even something to complement your real ie. physical event. There is so much you can do ‘virt-really’
Our team at Mobiddiction is constantly looking at newer ways to engage digitally!
