Lawrence Weber, Karmarama shares his story behind BIMA’s VR Open Studio Day.

By Rachel Johnson
07 Aug 2018

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VR is a technology with real impact that they should be exploring now – and that BIMA is a good guide to help them with that exploration. Lawrence Weber, Karmarama

What is the reason for the VR Open Studio Day? Is it a first of a kind?

There is a huge amount of potential in VR across multiple industry sectors and use cases and the UK has some of the world’s best talent in this emerging field. Often though, people have misconceptions about the tech. The VR Open Studio Day is an attempt to get people experimenting with and understanding the tech. We think it is going to be the biggest simultaneous VR experience yet.

2. Where did the idea come from?

It came out of a discussion in a BIMA Immersive Tech Think Tank meeting. We wanted to find a way to get more people experiencing VR and raise the profile of the individual studios, the Think Tank and BIMA itself.

3. What sort of client-side queries/challenges are you seeing in relation to emerging tech?

The biggest challenge by far around emerging tech in general is quantifying and identifying ROI. Early adopting clients will get a PR bang out of being the first to do something, but it takes an investment of time, energy and budget to properly learn about the potential impact of a new technology to your business. It also takes courage and a long term view.

4. In what ways can Open Studio Day help agencies?

It can help agencies and their staff better understand the potential of VR and how that potential might be harnessed for the advantage of the agency’s clients and – of course – for the agency themselves.

5. For any BIMA member considering doing more with emerging tech, what questions would you expect the day to answer?

What might be the power of VR for me and my clients and what kind of experiences can I build with it?

6. If there was one long-lasting effect of Open Studio Day on the people who attend, what would you want it to be?

That VR is a technology with real impact that they should be exploring now – and that BIMA is a good guide to help them with that exploration.

Get involved:

There are 13 studios across the UK taking part in our VR Open Studio Day on the 20 September. It is a free event but places are limited. To book your place click here.

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