The Third Media Age – Immersive Communication
- Vassia T.
- Jul 16, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 19, 2020
For many years people and scientists have been envisioning technology that would communicate sight and sound, or even the sense of touch. In recent years, it seems like technology developers have been inspired by popular Sci-Fi and Fantasy movies such as Metropolis, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Trek, and Star Wars which depict clearly these fervent hopes.
In the ’90s, scholars started to talk about virtual reality technology and agreed that its ultimate destination is to become a multipurpose communication medium. Given that visual is a key element in effective communication (80% of people remember what they see and do, visuals are processed 60.000x faster than text, The average person gets distracted in eight seconds) and the fact that this evolving technology is focused on visual, one would expect from the majority of communication and marketing professionals to be the early adopters.
Nowadays, scientists and communication experts are discussing Immersive Communication that could experience in the form of 360o videos, Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), and Haptics. Statistics show that, by 2021, global VR revenue is going to be $74,82 billion while the spending on AR and VR products and services will be $200 billion. Therefore, it is logical for scholars to wonder whether this is the future of communication.
Li referred to Immersive communication as “The communication paradigm of the third media age” and explains that, in this artificial reality, everything is a medium, from the depicted environment to human beings. But what exactly Immersion means? It is when you enter into a manufactured reality and forget entirely about the message or the fact that you are the audience.
Some interesting facts about the Power of Immersive Media in Communications were presented in the VMA Group event in Digital Catapult, which is the UK's leading advanced digital technology center. Based on their findings, this new mode of communication can create greater empathy and more impactful messages to users while the engagement levels increased by 2-3 times. Common challenges that communicators face, such as information overload, engagement, and visibility, could be solved through the utilization of immersive technology. It allows the humanization of brands and provides new and creative ways to showcase them and develop loyal fans. It gives new opportunities for crisis communication and enhances media relations.
Some of the world’s leading companies have already started to use these technologies with huge success. A case in point is Marriot Hotels with the “VRoom Service” marketing campaign. During their stay, guests could request a Samsung VR headset and live a unique travel experience to different places of the globe from their hotel room. The company also launched “VR Postcards” which contained short travel stories from places like a gelato shop in Rwanda. Interestingly, 51% guests who have tried it said that they wished more Marriot Hotels to include this experience. Michael Dail, the vice president of global brand marketing at Marriott Hotels, explained that with the integration of the industry-leading technology and storytelling, the brand managed to approach and engage the next-generation travelers.
Being immersive by nature, virtual reality can be a powerful storytelling tool for creating engaging narratives. An interesting example of VR in journalism is the project “The Displaced” by the New York Times. The NYT, in collaboration with Google, created a VR film that follows three children across Syria, Ukraine, and South Sudan whose lives have been destroyed by war. The newspaper sent out over a million headsets to its subscribers to experience this compelling storytelling.
The Displaced- 360 VR Video by The New York Times
Therefore, one can easily understand that immersive technology creates many opportunities to generate innovative and engaging content for various fields such as journalism, communication, and marketing. Virtual Reality can be used as a new communication tool to convey a brand’s message through an immersive storytelling experience that has the power to approach the new generation of consumers.
To learn more about Immersive Technology click here.
Sources:
Biocca, F., & Levy, M. R. (1995). Communication in the age of virtual reality. Hillsdale, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates.
How Virtual Reality Can Boost A Brand's Storytelling. (2019, November 15). Retrieved June 10, 2020, from https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/how-virtual-reality-can-boost-a-brands-storytelling
Hussain, A. (2014). The Power of Visual Communication [Infographic]. Retrieved June 17, 2020, from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/power-of-visual-communication-infographic
Is the future of communication immersive? (2019). Retrieved June 10, 2020, from https://www.vmagroup.com/blog/2018/10/is-the-future-of-communication-immersive
Kim, L. (2020, July 14). 16 Visual Content Marketing Statistics That Will Wake You Up. Retrieved June 17, 2020, from https://medium.com/marketing-and-entrepreneurship/16-visual-content-marketing-statistics-that-will-wake-you-up-59c4c0b80465
Li, Q. (2020). IV/Communication industrialisation leads us to the future. In Immersive communication: The communication paradigm of the third media age. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Marriott's Virtual Reality Transports Guests 'Around the World'. (2015, December 31). Retrieved June 8, 2020, from https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Marriotts-Virtual-Reality-Transports-Guests-Around-World/1013409
Pictures Sources:
Unsplash - Photo by Becky Fantham
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