‘An entirely new experience’: What top marketing and publishing execs expect from VR
Is virtual reality the next big thing or the next big fuss over nothing? In advance of our one-day deep dive event WTF Virtual Reality in New York City on May 11, Digiday caught up with four speakers about whether VR is really here to stay.
Ben Kosinski, head of collaboratory, iCrossing
Facebook, Google, Samsung, Microsoft, Sony and HTC are all building hardware and platforms in VR. Their involvement, resources and audience scale will make this the next great storytelling platform for brands.
Sebastian Tomich, svp, advertising and innovation, The New York Times
VR is going to be something, but my gut is that in the near future, hardware will resemble little of what we see right now. There’s no doubt that being able to twist and turn, interact, and transport yourself to a new experience advances what we can do as creators. I don’t see any fad there. Putting a heavy box on your head to do that? Seems short-term to me.
Niko Chauls, director of applied technology, Gannett
VR is not a feature, a feature enhancement or even a product. It is a new medium. It will live alongside print, radio, film and Internet, not replacing any of them but establishing itself as a new form. When you think about VR as a medium, you begin to understand the power and impact it will have on all of us.
Cory Key, vp, interactive, Discovery Communications
Virtual reality doesn’t just build on an existing medium. It’s an entirely new experience. Being completely immersed in an environment allows users to suspend disbelief in a way that has never been done before, and transports them to locations they may not experience otherwise. Watching others try virtual reality for the first time, you quickly realize this is game-changing moment in technology.
To learn more about WTF Virtual Reality, click here.
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