If someone hands you two cans of spray paint—and those cans hold an infinite array of colors, shapes, and textures—and grants you permission to graffiti an entire cityscape wall…what would you create? No doubt you’d spray paint your name in fuchsia with plenty of stars and curly cues right?! Not only did I do JUST THAT along a wall over in Chicago’s Fulton Market, but I walked right through each letter and shape, too. My colleagues walked through rainforests and changed tires on cars…Yes this excitement and more captivated our audience of Virtual Reality Enthusiasts at WunderLand’s most recent CIDD Meetup held over at the friendly, welcoming loft of Next/Now, a leader in the digital marketing experiential space here in Chicago’s West Loop.
The response to our VR/AR event’s invitations ranged from immediate “Yes, count me in!” to more tempered, “Eh, it’s just a fad.” However the crowded room clearly showed there is a real interest in how VR/AR can be leveraged beyond gaming to build a brand’s experience and message. The onsite VR experiences Next/Now’s staff graciously provided were educational, immersive, and certainly cool to try out. The crowd was open and raring to learn more from our panelists that included thought leaders in the Virtual and Augmented Reality space including Alan Hughes, Founder of Next/Now; Davinder Kohli, Founder of XentStudios; Rob McCutcheon, Sr. Marketing Manager at Gatorade; and Maureen Boyle Senior Director, Creative Services & Events at Trunk Club. Moderated by WunderLand’s managing director, Kristen Storey, the event included practical use cases of how AR/VR is being integrated into digital, branded experiences across industries such as retail, medical, and education.
Thank you to the welcoming, smart, and innovative folks at Next/Now for graciously opening their doors and technology to WunderLand and our guests. Thank you to our speakers for providing insight into this technology to our interested and vibrant community.
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