When it comes to Virtual Reality (VR), it’s “still a wild wild east” in this part of the world from a content point-of-view.
At least, according to Mr Bryan Seah, senior producer of production and development at Discovery Networks, who shared this insight to the hype (or not) of VR at the Digital Matters conference on Thursday (Sep 15).
Held at Marina Bay Sands over three days, 1,200 people attended a slew of conferences ranging from digital and marketing, to sports and music, all of which fall under a massive conference gathering called All That Matters.
During the day at the Digital Matters conference, industry experts held panel discussions about VR and the rise of mobile video (among other topics). Heads of media companies also shared their growth and development insights with audiences.
Marketers are also getting their hands dirty by dabbling in VR to market their products or services. Take HTC for example. It sees a great future in VR and has separated its Vive VR Headset from its mobile phone business and created a subsidiary, “HTC Vive Tech Corporation, as a vehicle for developing strategic alliances to help build the global VR ecosystem,” said its statement in The Verge report.
Mr Alvin Graylin, China regional president for HTC VR, said during the panel discussion, that HTC is the only company that has a “business edition of VR” and that the travel industry has been quick to experiement with it. One example brought up was Etihad’s VR short film starring Nicole Kidman showing the finer points of its first class cabin.
While VR is still considered experimental and new in Asia, YouTube’s global VR evangelist Scott Broock, highlighted that VR is “disruptive technology,” and “you may be overbuilding for a limited audience” but the overall takeway from that panel was to “give it a shot”.
“Now is a matter of either being left behind or in front of the curve,” said Mr Broock.
This thought also applies to the rise of mobile video.
Strong connection for data is key so that content can flow quickly to mobile devices.
“It’s about making sure that the streaming experience is good,” shared Mr Khush Kundi, head of TV & media solutions, APAC at Ericsson.
“The rate of bandwidth is incredible, serving the means and demands of people on mobile networks,” added Mr Kundi.
The future of mobile is in the inter-connectivity of technology and content, especially with 5G.
It should “open up doors on how to innovate experience,” said Mr Kundi.
spanaech@sph.com.sg
