This panel explored how VR and AR are being used by advertisers today. The first conclusion: no one is making money in this area right now and there is no good way to measure return on investment. There is a lot of interest from brands in this new medium, but the panelists all agreed that the first step is always education of the client about AR and VR technology, storytelling and when and where it might be appropriate to be used.
VR hardware is just becoming available in 2016 but it is not cheap, so this is clearly a niche market today. There is a real danger that bad VR content and hardware will kill any momentum the market has today, which is why these agencies want to work with clients to do the best job they can.
There is a clear surge in developers moving on from the mobile/app phase to the AR/VR phase, but you need to do a lot of evangelizing so that people understand the strengths and limitations of the new medium.
The panelists were a bit divided on how they see 2017 shaping up, however. Some see slower than expected sales and some disillusionment while others are urging continued experimentation and others expressed unabashed excitement about the market.
Analyst Comment
Matt Brennesholtz of Display Daily asked the panelists if they think VR will follow the path as 3D TV did some years ago? The answer was no. The downfall of 3DTV was the lack of content and poor content, plus the 3D glasses compatibility issues and the need to wear them.
Seems to me, the same issues currently exist for VR so I am not sure why they are so optimistic. (CC)
