[Re-sent] I am back baby! (copy 72)

The Immersive Wire - 18 November 2020

November 18, 2020

By Tom Ffiske // 18 November 2020Been forwarded the newsletter? Consider signing up if you like what you see.

If you're cynical about humans, 'Humankind: A Hopeful History' is an excellent read. Turns out we're not all that bad. Maybe.

Connect with the Igloo Vision team on LinkedIn.

The Main Story

Let's talk about immersive tech in film festivals.

2020 has been a stellar year for film festivals that included strands in immersive.

Raindance Immersive, Venice Film Festival

, and

London Film Festival

(for the first time this year) presented different and interesting perspectives on how to do a festival. 

VRChat was the most popular platform

. Fair enough, as it is easy for deployment; creating a world in VRChat takes less time, making it easier to create fully realised worlds for people to wander around in. It also helps that worlds can be built via Unity, a platform with a large developer-base to tap into. 

I've analysed this year in much more detail

, but here is a quick summary of recommendations: 

  • Pick your platform wisely. I would prioritise accessibility over graphical fidelity, which would already be compromised by developing or standalone VR headsets;

  • Build for accessibility. Design the user experience so that it is as easy and painless as possible for users to enter the festival. Compromise on this, and risk losing customers forever;

  • Add quirks to immersive worlds. The added flairs add life and fun, which makes it enjoyable to discover and interact with;

  • Test the platform as much as you can. Festivals cannot risk glitches on launch day.

If you happen to be around tomorrow, a bunch of us are discussing the future of theature and live events with immersive tech.

Welcome to the embassy. Photo credit: Raindance Immersive.

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Other Stories

Got a news story? Let me know at tom (at) virtualperceptions (dot) com.

  • Want to exhibit / speak at AWE USA 2021?

  • Want to support a VR Charity event?

    • Consider donating money during this neat event, coming up very soon. Nothing like a massive bloodbath to help children in need! 

  • Or learn how to deploy COVID-secure VR installations?

    • This webinar is perfect if you're planning to do it in the next... *checks news*... six to twelve months? Oh, good. Better sign up! 

  •  64% of leading consumer brands are beginning to invest in immersive tech.

    • That's according to the smart people at Accenture. 

  • Also, 30% of people had an AR/VR experience over the last six months. 

    • Can you guess why? It starts with C, and ends in tears. (I joke; the Gorilla in the Room and Verizon Media report is well worth a read).

  • How about VR/AR... for SPACE TRAINING?

    • If you're even a little sane, check out the meetup here. (I adore anything space-related). 

  • Rendever is working with yet another health authority.

    • This time Rendever is working with Health PEI to supply VR services. Next, the world? 

  • As mentioned, we're running a webinar about live events / theatre.

  • Sheffield Doc Fest (which I love) is running another programme.

    • This time it's called Ghosts & Apparations (ooooOOOOooo), and it looks pretty good. Worth checking out! 

  • Igloo Vision has secured a £787,000 EIS investment.

    • Congratulations! Pop out the champagne 🍾

    • (I'm not biased or anything, considering they sponsor the newsletter. Ahem. Anyway, another round (of funding)?

  • James Watson has launched XRTechMarketing.

    • Basically if you need a marketeer for immersive tech, hit him up and he may be able to help. 

  • The folks at Leeds are doing another webinar.

  • Realize Medical added a new feature to their platform, Elucis.

    • Users of the platform can now safely ‘meet’ with their peers in a secure, collaborative VR environment. Cool. Should see more features like that with other medical platforms in the future. 

  • FaceCake was awarded an AR patent.

    • Not news by itself, but it impacts search, digital advertising, and virtual retail. All key areas for the future of AR commerce. 

    • 'This additional and valuable patent award helps ensure FaceCake’s innovations are protected and maximizes opportunities in this sought-after space.'

  • Immersal announced a cool product. 

    • The so-called AR@5G is their 'Cloud Service solution for network operators that can be deployed to 5G MECs to enable AR experiences with low-latency and high bandwidth needs.' I'd love to try it out, someday. 

  • A new publisher has entered the game! 

    • Resolution Games announced a partnership with the creator of Carly and the Reaperman, Odd Raven Studios. Nice! 

  • Oculus provided guidelines for accessibility. 

Jobs Board

Senior Unreal Developer

– London - 

QA Lead –

South Yorkshire -

Technical Artist (Unreal Blueprints)

– London -

Junior Release Manager

– London -

Technical Producer

– Finland -

Senior Network Programmer

– London -

Principle Technical Designer

– South Yorkshire -

Jobs provided by:

Connect with the TechNet team on LinkedIn.

That's all for this week! Want to have a chat, let me know about a news story, or talk business? Either reply to this email, or contact tom (at) virtualperceptions (dot) com. Have an excellent day!