I recently caught up with my friend, Andrew Psarianos, CEO of Picture Perfect Productions, and he showed me a 360 video example that made my jaw drop. Until that point, I’d seen 360 examples, but I hadn’t seen a business case. Now I had.
It was of Singapore’s stunning Marina Bay and rather than just moving around on my mobile to see the Bay’s beauty in 360, there were map markers on key buildings – Marina Bay Sands, the Merlion, the Esplanade Theater, Hotels, and more. When you clicked on the markers, an information window dropped down to explain what you were seeing, and that’s why I got excited. Content integrated into 360 video. The possibilities!
This is a map marker BTW. You’ll see them on every map you use.
I mean, think of the opportunity for Tourism Boards? The Marina Bay Sands complex? The hotel industry? Training? Oh my, it was exciting.
But the boys at the newly launched 360 Video Asia were a long way from being done. They’ve been building an impressive platform incorporating gaming technology, as well as producing stunning proof of concept videos. Since I first saw it, things have moved forward rapidly and they are generating a lot of interest. The future is 360.
I had to spend some time with Andrew and Todd Martin, digital content strategist at 360 Video Asia, to understand this more from a content marketing perspective.
“We believe that visuals need to be dimensional, because we don’t live our life in a flat screen,” said Andrew Psarianos. “I find that most people are still thinking in 2D, even if video is their day job.”
Todd Martin is as excited as Andrew when he talks about 360 video potential.
“It’s a spatial product, so you can use it to describe any space. If you think about any situation that could benefit from describing the space around you, this is what brings it to life. Think about the importance of OH&S spatial awareness in large manufacturing workplaces, or for training crane operators or fork lift workers, and then there are limited inspection sites, like drains or sewers. You don’t need people in tight places anymore with 360 video.
“We’ve taken gaming technology and applied it to video. But gaming takes months or years to develop. We can do this in weeks and it’s cheaper than developing a game.”
Andrew also said: “It’s superb but we also believe 360 needs something to keep you in the bubble. If it’s just visual, it’s boring, so now we can tell the story too. There is only one other company in the world doing something similar, but we’re the first in Asia.”
We discussed some of the ways Andrew and Todd see its potential:
- Gardens by the Bay – take a tour of the gardens from your own couch, anywhere in the world, with drop down tabs telling you what you are seeing. To monetize it, you could get local hotels to buy space in a where to stay section, have a seasonal activities booking tab, buy tickets to the Flower Dome or Cloud Forrest, feature user generated content, and feature some of the smaller stalls at Satay by the Bay
- Tourism Boards for countries like Singapore, which is small enough, or any capital city, you can do 360 video of the top attractions, enticing travelers around the world to come and visit through beautiful videography. Again, you can get this sponsored by the attractions featured, the best restaurants, hotels, entertainment venues, car booking services, and on it goes
- Hotels – in the video below, you’ll see a St Regis proof of concept example, which I’ve seen first-hand. You can take a tour of the whole hotel – including bathrooms, because apparently us ladies like to see the bathroom – but the coolest thing is you then book a room directly through the app. As a person who likes their luxury and is well beyond my backpacking days, I like this a lot. And if you put this into the digital age, AirBnB property owners can do the same for their homes and apartments around the world. It would certainly give me more confidence in renting something unseen
- Behind the Scenes – a concert, work environment, laboratory, or a manufacturing facility that’s too dangerous or secure to welcome guests. Equally, there are many “hidden” spaces in the working world, across industries, but the reason for being hidden – safety, privacy, security, etc… – doesn’t mean the world can’t see them. Sure there are places that are too high security to be seen, but for the others, it opens up a new world of possibilities and educational value
- Car companies – a tour of a car before you buy it? Or a video of the maintenance and after service care? Why after service care? Well apparently many car companies have pointed out customers don’t always pay for after care service, because they don’t value the complexities or its value. This is because they can’t see it. Perhaps this can change that perception and limit the number of customers buying lower levels of service that don’t meet the standards of car manufacturers?
- Virtual facility tours – a lot of time, money and energy goes into organizing facility tours. With 360 video, you can offer this to the general public and save your energy for top paying customers. As an ex-aerospace gal, I can certainly see how this could save businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars, as well as the inconvenience
- Office tours – as the workplace continues to transform for the new generation of work, you can offer virtual tours of facilities to attract employees to your business. Additionally, you can make it part of employee on-boarding, as they can tour the facilities virtually. Integrate links to important services – IT support, operations, cafeteria, local area options, etc… and it becomes a valid, long-term asset. For any global company, they could video every office in the world, so any employee visiting any other office knows what to do and where to go, on their phone. You could link each country to office approved hotels, feature restaurant and entertainment recommendations from fellow employees, important information like police or ambulance phone numbers, or spot lights featuring local employees. Endless possibilities
- Military training – you can record the troops in action, with all participants wearing VR cameras on helmets. For example, if you’re running a training exercise to clear a building, afterwards you integrate all of the footage into 360 and show the team in action, pointing out the errors made and where to improve. It can be someone looking the wrong way or not covering each other correctly in a scenario. 360 provides that layered perspective
Can you see why I got excited? We could have talked about potential all day, and when I was writing the above, it got enthusiastic all over again. This is going to change the world.
As Andrew said: “360 video is limitless, and the only thing that will limit its potential is your imagination.”
I see it and love it. Think about any space you have. How can you use 360 video to build your brand, help your customers, save money or empower your employees? That’s the potential.
I can’t show you the interactive format here, but the team at 360 Video Asia put a demo together and here it is to give you a flavour…
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZaxznWOnKI&w=560&h=315]
What do you think? Have you seen an example that you like? Have an idea on how you think it can be used successfully?
If I’ve inspired you, definitely get in touch with Andrew and Todd. Both terrific people. You’ll not only get world-class results; you’ll have a lot of fun while you’re at it.
Cheers
Andrea
3D map marker image and 360 camera image courtesy of Shutterstock
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