Nick Cowen

Anyone with even a toe in the tech news cycle pool will know that Virtual reality (VR) is fast becoming the Next Big Thing. Where it was once the stuff of science fiction novels and cyberpunk Anime, VR is closer to becoming a part of the modern household than ever before. The technology’s big draw revolves around the videogame industry – not just because gaming is cool, but also because games have been the primary driving force behind the technology’s development. The first VR headset out of the gate was the Rift VR Gaming headset, developed for games by Oculus, a company that was later snapped up for a cool $2bn (R27bn) by Facebook. As serious money started being pumped into VR, Oculus found competitors popping up like mushrooms. HTC brought out the Vive, Google Cardboard became the budget VR experience and Sony ploughed millions into the PS VR for the PlayStation 4 gaming console, which saw release in South Africa in January.

But virtual reality’s potential isn’t limited simply to gaming. Like many technologies that sprang from the gaming industry – motion control and augmented reality (AR) among them – VR is being adapted by savvy entrepreneurs throughout a whole host of fields in media, advertising and even education.

Travelling without moving
Picture the scene: you’re standing at the base of Christ The Redeemer, the towering statue of Jesus Christ that looms nearly 40m tall over its visitors and 700m over the city of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. As you gaze around you, the clear blue sky is visible above, while fellow tourists mill in different directions. The very next moment, you’re standing on makeshift steps in the favelas in the same city. Graffiti climbs the walls, children skip past and your perch gives you a panoramic view stretching down into the bay. You can drink it all in and never even leave Johannesburg. This experience is available thanks to Google Cardboard – the least expensive

version of VR currently available – and it gives holidaymakers the best taste of a foreign experience possible. Why browse through a brochure when you can see your holiday destination up close and personal in VR? “It’s the most immersive technology anyone’s ever encountered,” says Tyrone Rubin, founder and CEO of SenseVirtual, which plans and implements VR campaigns for a variety of partners. “We went around to agencies and brands with headsets, setting up demos and they could see that something was there. The headsets and controllers just got better and suddenly there was more interest.”

Virtually classy
But VR is capable of so much more than this. Rubin is convinced the technology can be used for more altruistic ends, even when rubbed up against corporate interests. “We spent a day shooting Orlando Pirates for a campaign for Adidas,” he says, “but then we immersed kids to make them feel as if they were training along with the team – from when they got off the bus until the end of the session.” Beyond fulfilling childhood fantasies, VR makes education easier. When a school pupil puts on a VR headset, they’re not only able to put themselves in the boots of their sports heroes, they are

able to perceive their curriculum in a far more immediate and engaging way. Rubin says the reaction is always priceless. “There’s a 100% success rate from anyone – kids or otherwise – from high-end VR. There’s no one who has ever taken off a VR headset and gone: ‘Yeah, that was OK.’ It’s a magical experience,” he says.

You live in a virtual world
While VR isn’t a household luxury just yet, it is slowly making its way into South Africa’s marketing media. A few years ago, SenseVirtual was the only VR business solution on the block. Today, it has myriad competitors. VR is extending its tendrils through the global marketing industry – and South Africa is no exception. “I could always see mainstream awareness in 2014, but at the time, not much mainstream adoption,” says Rubin. “That’s changing rapidly as more big brands get turned onto this technology. “If you look at 2015, just Google ‘VR’ plus the name of a big brand and you’ll see that every single big brand – Coca-Cola, LG, Pepsi and the like – is exploring VR in some way.” So virtual reality is now a part of global and local marketing. And the South African brands that survive will be those quickest on the uptake.