Do you remember the time when some technological devices such as USB key or tactile mobile phone already appeared like the great new technological revolution? Sometimes, it is funny to look back and consider the idea that at one point, we used to live without high tech items. But we took an unexplored path and we learnt to grow and to adapt our way of living with them. Now, we are always connected with each other: distance has no meaning anymore as we can talk when we want with a person from the opposite side of the Globe.

As we can notice every day, high technology is evolving day by day and makes our daily life constantly easier. For instance, during the Covid19 crisis, high tech items appeared as the perfect solution to keep in touch and to keep working together: applications, videoconferences, social media have all been instrumental in bringing us together. High technology is a fantastic tool that can be used to create solutions and to enhance communication, even if we are home alone.

However, it can also be a powerful tool to entertain people. Indeed, high tech items can take various forms that enable us to have fun and sometimes, to escape from reality. One of these latest little marvels of technology is certainly Virtual Reality Experiences, that are getting more and more important in our daily life as well as in the event management industry.

The major positive impact they can have on events is one of the multiple reasons why event organisers tend to use them more. Indeed, virtual experiences are not only about entertainment, but they can also be an efficient marketing argument and a true added-value to a team-building activity, a conference or an exhibition. However, before exploring the benefits of these virtual experiences in the event industry, let’s focus on the concept of virtual experiences itself.

What are Virtual Experiences?

To better understand this new technological phenomenon, we have had the opportunity to interview Jamie Eussen, the fantastic COO of Enversed, a Dutch company specialised in virtual experiences and in the development of virtual softwares. During our insightful zoom call, she shared her expertise and explained to us what virtual experiences are and their benefits in the event industry.

The best known virtual experience is virtual reality, commonly called VR. To define it, it is a fully immersive experience that stimulates senses: the sight, the hearing, the touch, but also the balance thanks to hardware such as goggles, helmets, head-mounted display or gloves. This hardware has been made to trick the brain and blur the lines between virtual reality and actual reality.

However, Virtual Experiences are not only about a fully immersive universe. Indeed, other experiences called Augmented Reality or AR consist in adding virtual elements to it. This is what some applications such as PokemonGo or Snapchat do for example. In this case, as the concept consists in adding digital elements to the real world, AR lets the user play with reality by giving him the possibility to enhance it.