Will McMaster, Head of VR, Visualise, on the future of the technology that enwrapped adland in 2015

2015 was the year of virtual reality in advertising, as every agency and brand sought to out-do its peers with the most innovative and seamless examples of this immersive technology. But what lies ahead for VR? Will McMaster, Head of VR at Visualise, has spotted five trends that need to change in the VR industry in 2016.













1. Stop comparing VR to 3DTV.

I think we can all put this to rest at this stage. 3DTV died because it was a special feature on a regular television. VR is a completely new medium to view content.





2. VR isn’t only another content platform, it’s a medium unto itself.

When television was made available, there was a variety of different shows, not one single one, which caused mass adoption. VR won’t have a killer app, rather, because it is its own medium it will be adopted because of its ability to transport people into another reality. To quote Palmer Luckey “What’s the real world’s killer app?”





3. Shift your focus away from high octane VR experiences and allow the viewer to experience some of the subtler nuances of immersive content.

This all helps to create a greater sense of presence which is one of the main reasons viewers will be compelled to return to VR. Hopefully, as more content creators get used to making VR, they will prioritize presence above everything else.





4. Passive experiences are ok!

Stop thinking live action VR/360 video has to be interactive. I think that you can create a solid story and engaging characters in live action VR if you focus on those things rather than focusing on branching narratives or making stories interactive. People want to sit and watch and if they want to also make decisions, they they’re probably going to be playing a fully fledged game. A choose your own adventure VR story...which only allows for really basic choices...is going to be pretty lame.





5. No more product announcements with bullshit videos.

I think the HoloLens is the biggest offender here. The video, which was highly hyped online earlier in the year and which got 14m views, showed what the HoloLens could maybe do in 5 years, not what it could do today.









Will McMaster is Head of VR at Visualise