What are immersive experiences?
Immersive experiences combine real and virtual elements of the world using wireless, 3D interaction that transports users to parallel realms in space and time. They are all mesmerising rides and create the perception that you are surrounded by, and part of, a completely different environment. They are destined to take museum and science centre displays, as well as corporate marketing strategies, to a new level.
Immersive experiences are created by an amalgamation of various technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality, extended reality, machine learning, artificial intelligence and generative AI.
What can an immersive experience give the user?
An immersive experience is transportive by nature – the sights, sounds, energy and sense of space that you encounter take you to another place entirely, maybe a 3D voyage through the cosmos with constellations that expand as you travel through time, an underwater dive into the forbidding ocean depths, or a futuristic re-creation of your favourite movie. You become enveloped in a captivating environment that stimulates the senses, deceives perception, and tests the limits of your reality.
What has fuelled the development of immersive experiences?
Human curiosity, the constant desire to explore new places, and the search for alternative realities have fuelled the growth of immersive technologies. Modern technology now potentially gives everyone access to new frontiers, such as live feeds from the International Space Station, video footage from the Perseverance rover on Mars, or new discoveries from the James Webb Telescope. Sport broadcasting and camera technology has evolved in such a way that you can be on the playing field or inside a Grand Prix racing car. The rapid development of VR headsets has also greatly facilitated the development of immersive technologies.
How are immersive experiences used to drive engagement and brand awareness?
Immersive experiences help to create a memorable engagement with the brand. Immersive marketing helps customers to connect more closely with brands, which helps to increase brand credibility and brand value.
What are the benefits of using immersive experiences?
Immersive experiences give people the ability to do what they are not able to do in everyday life, or to do things in unique ways. They allow you to explore macroscopical and microscopical environments, to experience life in other cultures, and to travel back and forth in time.
How can brands measure the effectiveness of immersive experiences?
Before and after surveys are normally used to test the impact and effectiveness of immersive experiences but the use of radio frequency identification (RFID)tags that record the experiences of visitors at different multimedia experiences are becoming increasingly popular.
Are immersive experiences expensive to produce?
Immersive experiences are more expensive to produce than standard interactive displays as they require careful conceptualisation and design. They make use of multimedia technologies, but the extra cost is absolutely justified by the vastly improved visitor experience and word-of-mouth marketing. When operating immersive experiences, it is important to constantly monitor and maintain the back-end systems that are responsible for the smooth functioning of the product exhibition.
What are some examples of successful immersive experiences:
Examples of popular immersive experiences include interactive polls, animated data visualisations, and the use of 3D images and video. 360° VR experiences place learners in a fixed position and walk them through pre-recorded sessions with 3D information pop-ups, whereas full VR experiences suspend the learner in a metaverse for high-level interactions with complete freedom of movement.
Immersive experiences have been produced that allow visitors to explore in depth the art of Vincent van Gogh and Gustav Klimt. These experiences start with introductions to the artist’s most famous works mounted on canvas combined with alcoves filled with glowing digital renditions of their artworks. In the Van Gogh experience a visitor is greeted by shimmering, 360⁰ visions of his masterpieces, such as ‘Starry Night’ or ‘Sunflowers’.
The Klimt immersive experience is a stunning digital, hands-on interactive world full of whimsical, gold-dusted colour and shape with emphasis on his famous pieces, ‘The Kiss’ and ‘The Tree of Life’. In separate galleries you are able to explore little-known facts about Klimt’s life, techniques and influences with re-creations, large-scale panels and interactive activities. A 10-minute VR experience takes you through a day in the life of the artist, chronicling his career and eight of his most iconic works.
Can immersive experiences be used for B2B marketing?
Creating intelligent immersive experiences works wonders for growing your audience base and helps you to present 360° coverage of your products and services and to promote them in a way that is visually stunning. In contrast to investing in technology fads such as glossy e-brochures or over-the-top data irrigation, which can cause you to run into losses, immersive experiences are a sound investment.
We predict that immersive experiences will be a game-changing trend that every ambitious company will adopt in future. They are capable of transporting your clients, through an impeccable ‘start-to-finish’ journey, to a higher state of mind in which they are 100% certain about your service or product’s value.
