Game Changer: Immersive Experiences Will Change Your Future

The tailor-made partnership of 360-Degree Video and Virtual Reality set to deliver an immersive unparalleled media experience has now entered a new chapter in our digital transformation.

When 360-Video is delivered to audiences through a virtual reality headset it brings an immersive news and entertainment experience that is both mobile and social. Early indications suggest that this emerging technology is set to dramatically change how we view the world and digest news stories thanks to these two new services that seem made for each other.

There has been a great deal of publicity surrounding the possibilities of Virtual Reality that is sure to dominate the headlines in early 2016 with a wealth of headsets expected from the usual suspects of tech, but it’s their future partner in crime that looks certain to make this evolving platform a success.

The trend that hasn't quite captured the attention of mainstream audiences just yet is the steady rise of 360-degree video that ticks every box for both digital natives by being social, mobile and offering an unparalleled immersive experience, especially when paired via a VR headset.

Earlier this year we witnessed the raw potential of 360-degree videos when YouTube revealed their support for this ground-breaking technology. Early adopters were understandably impressed at being able to rotate their tablet slightly to obtain an entirely 360-degree view and the potential of this new vantage point quickly raised a few eyebrows.

Fast forward a few months and the New York Times were looking for a new way to evolve the art of storytelling. The 164-year-old newspaper refreshingly delivered an innovative concept to its US-based subscribers to offer an immersive news experience by asking their readers to place their smartphone into the provided Google Cardboard VR.

The words game changer are often overused but in many ways, this felt like an incredible watershed moment that allowed their subscribers to experience the future of news during this digital transformation.

This particular experience allowed users to put on the cardboard headset and be instantly transported to the South Sudan and hear cargo plane fly overhead before turning around to see a food drop as this technology places the reader right in the heart of a compelling story.

The sight of New York Times readers wearing cardboard VR headsets in November certainly looked bizarre and completely out of place and yet a few months later we now find ourselves in 2016 anxiously waiting for the release of Facebook’s Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Sony’s PlayStation VR or Microsoft’s augmented reality headset called Hololens.

The recent arrival of the Littlstar app on Apple TV also allows viewers to use the trackpad on their Siri remote to control their viewpoint is also illustrating how this 360-degree video revolution is completely shaking up the entertainment landscape. Imagine your favorite band playing one last concert 2,000 miles away from your home and wishing you could be there to soak up the atmosphere.

This technology could allow music fans to view the gig and immerse themselves in the experience and take a look around at their surroundings, in the same way, you would if physically in the venue. This would also open up another income stream for artists, which is a big incentive for the music industry to make it happen. 

These are very early days for this disruptive technology that is ruffling a few feathers right across the board. However, the potential immersive, social and mobile experience 360-degree videos can provide, make this Hard Trend impossible to ignore. 

The world of entertainment and journalism are waking up to the possibilities of how the perfect partnership between VR and 360-degree technology can bring our oldest methods of storytelling and entertainment kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

We are still getting to grips with the initial novelty factor and many reading this might feel that this is yet another gimmick or passing fad. But it's the road that this technology is taking us down that is incredibly exciting. For a moment imagine sitting in your favorite armchair and having the ability to be transported to any significant sporting event in the world and feel that you are seated in the venue and can almost smell the hotdogs as you look around at all the smiling faces.

This technology also has the ability to bring people together and feel genuine compassion to emotional news stories by placing yourself in the middle of a refugee crisis for example. For these reasons alone I predict a dazzling future for the new golden couple of VR and 360-degree videos that will ultimately transform and revolutionize the world of journalism and entertainment.

Do you think this new partnership will disrupt the world of journalism? I would love to hear your thoughts on this evolving technology.

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Thanks for reading. You can find my previous LinkedIn articles here, and you can also connect on Twitter at @DanielBurrus

DANIEL BURRUS is considered one of the World's Leading Futurists on Global Trends and Innovation, and is the founder and CEO of Burrus Research, a research and consulting firm that monitors global advancements in technology driven trends to help clients understand how technological, social and business forces are converging to create enormous untapped opportunities. He is the author of six books including New York Times & Wall Street Journal best seller Flash Foresight.

Daniel Burrus is also the creator of  The Anticipatory Organization™ Learning System, a training process for executives and their teams to develop the skills to accurately foresee and take critical actions before disruption strikes.

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