If you missed our Design-Build-Market event on VR that took place last Thursday (or didn’t make it because of the heaviest traffic we’ve ever seen in Bristol – thank you very much Doris…), here is what happened in a few words and pics.

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Design

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Jack Norris and Chris Price from ZubrVR kicked off the evening with expectations, reality and challenges when it comes to designing for VR.

Designing for a new medium like VR comes with a lot of excitement for designers. In theory, you are free of any limitations since you are creating another reality, something that doesn’t need to follow the same rules of our world. However, the technology in itself is limiting. Resolution, user interfaces and interactions, graphic capabilities for example all need to be taken into consideration.

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So what designers need to be doing at this stage is write a rulebook and figure out creative boundaries, take the time to experiment and learn, but above all put the content first. Content is all that matters.

Build

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Scott Fletcher from Play Nicely gave us a very dynamic presentation on building VR. After a quick overview of the main players in Bristol, he went on to talk about the skills needed to make a VR project successful: not only do you need a talented Unity developer, but more importantly, you need a whole team to bring the project to life and make it a success: a producer, a creative director, designers and testers.

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Agencies in Bristol usually don’t have in-house VR developers. And that’s ok. They bring all the other skills to the table, and hire freelance developers for the technical part, a model which so far seems to work really well. But watch this space, great things are about to happen for VR freelancers around here…

Market

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We finished the evening with Dan Page from Opposable VR who gave us an overview of different ways you can use VR to market your brand. More than just a cool and trendy thing to use, VR allows brands to create a truly memorable experience through brand immersion. From the simple and inexpensive 360 videos and seated experiences, to the seriously immersive ones with a definite wow factor, you have a broad spectrum of options. It all depends on the time and money you are prepared to spend on it.

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Dan also organises the VR World Congress, which takes place in Bristol in April. Talks, expo and meetings, if you’re interested in VR, this event is for you! Check out their website for details on the agenda and tickets.

And more…

Everyone had the opportunity to experience VR for themselves, thanks to Chillblast, who came with a full HTC Vive set. I believe everyone really enjoyed that part of the evening, so many thanks to Tig Khamoian who came all the way to Bristol to set up the demo station!

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We will announce our next event very soon, so keep an eye on our Meetup page. And if you have any ideas or feedback on our Design-Build-Market series, please email us at strong>[email protected].

Main image: Collaborate by Death to Stock