Latest & Greatest Session #01
We believe that we are in the midst of a rapidly moving technological revolution that promises to disrupt and change the employment market, with potentially millions of jobs rendered obsolete in the future. On a positive note we can see how many new exciting positions and progressive industries will be created. Our research tells us that the pace of this transformative change will continue to accelerate rapidly; it is predicted that many jobs that exist today will disappear within the next few decades.
Digital tech, including Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality are all part of this disruptive technological story. We know not of where it will take us, or where it will end. How it may look, or what it may hold. All we can do is maintain engagement, imagine the future, and continue to progress toward a brave and exciting new world.
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Our Senior Digital Designer, John Walker, presented a small talk to all our team exploring recent examples of virtual, augmented and mixed reality. John wanted to get a better understanding of this sector to share with us, focusing on some really exciting and recent examples from several different industries, and even brought some bits of kit in for us to play with!
Here are just a few golden nuggets we’ve picked out for you from his detailed research presentation:
Field Trip to Mars
The first of it’s kind, headset free, VR experience ‘Field Trip to Mars’ was designed by Framestore and sponsored by Lockheed Martin. Together they launched a national educational program – Generation Beyond – to bring science and space into children’s environments.
Built within a classic yellow school bus the vehicle is home to a virtual experience, with no need for headsets, that transports the passengers to the surface of Mars. Through cutting-edge technology, including geological configurations, mapping and programming, they devised a system that enabled the translation of real time movement, vibration, speed and GPS. Ultimately, they created a ‘1:1 relationship’ between Earth and Mars and a fully immersive experience – the bus became the headset. Through specialised screens for windows, the passengers route was transformed into a journey across the rocky red surface.
Click here to watch the short video
Merrel Trailscape
Framestore were tasked to create an experience for the launch of the new Merrell Capra, ‘the most technically advanced hiking shoe yet.’ They worked with agency Hill Holiday to design a virtual reality world in which the capabilities of the kit were showcased in extreme scenarios – the kind of landscapes that would really speak to Merrell’s thrill-seeking, outdoor-loving audience.
To launch this exciting new product the marketing team took over the Sundance Film festival with an immersive VR experience where participants could trek across the Dolomites in Italy, whilst wearing their new shoes. A motion capture system, vibrating bridge, ‘real’ rockfall and wind were just a few of the physical elements that were created to intensify this mixed reality experience.
Click here to watch the short video
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From this talk, our conclusive prediction for the future is that AR will overtake VR. This is because of one of its components – it’s ability to be adopted en-masse. “The global augmented reality market was valued at around $3.33 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach approximately $133.78 billion in 2021″ (Ramella, 2018).
Why is this? AR’s boom is largely down to one thing – mobile devices. A huge percent of the worlds population owns one. AR is widely more accessible and less cumbersome than VR, it allows for the virtual interaction without having to stray to far from the real world.
The future of AR is also creeping in as the big tech companies unveil their platforms – Apple’s ARKit, Google’s ARCore, and Snapchat Lens Studio. Their introduction will allow more developers and companies to create their own augmented reality apps and features. For these reasons, by the year 2025, all will see that AR has a more logical place in business than VR, we predict. The leading global tech companies however have sunk billions into VR over recent years, but they aren’t quite ready to give up on VR just yet. The future of these two technologies are tied to one another. Developers in the space are still committed to launching VR and this technology still poses massive benefits to both businesses and consumers.
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Click here to view our work with Santander in the Augmented Reality space.
