Market discusses Virtual Reality as a tool for production and new digital narratives

During the presentations at the 2018 Set Expo Conference, one of the first day’s highlights was the debate Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, 360 Degree Video. José Renato Bergo, a scriptwriter taking a master’s degree in Audiovisual, brought to the discussion his academic approach as to how the disposition of the screen, vertical or horizontal, has established different standards of content consumption. While televisions now come with (horizontal) wide screens, some content intended for the internet and social networks has popularized the production of vertical videos – such as Instagram and its IGTV. The paradigms are changing at a rate of knots. “The business models are changing. The forecast is that virtual reality will increasingly grow, imploding the panoramic picture models”. The Singularity University, a partnership between Google and Nasa, foresees that the use of virtual reality will be omnipresent by 2026, totally occupying the space dominated today by conventional videogames.

But these resources are already taking the shape of products, as well as windows for investment. For speaker Marcos Alves (partner and head of Ventures at Dream2B and President of HUB XRBR), this is an opportunity within the audiovisual industry. One of the reasons is that the hardware required has become cheaper, not to mention the size of the volume of investments in extended reality, XR products Of a global universe of US$ 155 billion of turnover in venture capital during 2017, US$ 3 billion were channeled to the XR segment. Brazilian companies with the capacity to think up global products have a chance to expand their audience One of the examples is the game exclusively for Pixel Ripped 1989 virtual reality devices, a Brazilian production showcased by Rodrigo Terra (president of the EraTransmidia Association and co-founder of ARVORE Immersive Experiences). The game was nominated for this year’s VR Award, along with electronic entertainment giants like Bethesda.

Besides the possibilities intended for the end-consumer, virtual reality has also increased the agility of producers. This is the product that Kingsley Cook, Business Development Executive of British company, Ncam, presented. The technology can be attached to audiovisual production cameras and, during filming, it allows directors, cameramen and others involved to preview in real-time the effects of the digitals that will be added to the production.