Presenter at BBC Click Spencer Kelly said virtual reality will continue to be a ‘niche industry’ during the Virtual reality and 360° storytelling event held by the RTV at the Hospital Club in central London last night.

 

 

“It will continue to be a niche until occluded reality systems are available,” said Spencer, adding that comfortable glasses should replace the headsets. “It could take decades and, in the meantime, it will be a luxury.”

 

Ken Blakeslee, WebMobility Ventures, Neil Graham, Executive producer for Sky VR and Sky Cinema, and Tamzin Taylor, New Business Developer, disagreed with him, focusing on the fact that technology is mature enough for VR and that 3D is far less emotional.

 

Kelly admitted Virtual Reality is more like ‘live theatre’ than TV, since it really seems to be ‘into it’, but he still thought it won’t take off soon.

 

Before and after the panel conducted by journalist Kate Bulkley, a small audience had the opportunity to experience the latest kits of the industry.

 

 

The major companies were: 360events, AVR Centre, Coventry University, Homido, Inception, freelance producer designer Jane Gauntlett, Mativision, Matterport, Mindplay, Nexus, Octagon and Sky.

 

They answered audience questions and explained in detail how long it takse to film and edit a video.

 

“It took four months to make the video of those tracks,” said Gawain Forster of the 360events, referring to the video of a moving train. “We are proud about the result.”

 

Blakeslee, Graham and Taylor were confident that when other big companies like Apple join, there will be a rapid growth in this industry and that, despite the uncertainty of a successful monetisation through a common business model, better chances are seen in the use of social media.