Dept and disguise launch metaverse guide
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Hosted by Isabel Perry, director of technology at marketing technology agency Byte (part of Dept), and held on disguise's xR stage in London, the real-time xR experience took exclusive attendees on a journey through the metaverse to show marketers how xR can create ‘truly spectacular live brand experiences and ultra-efficient production capabilities’. Dept co-hosted the event with disguise.
Perry took viewers on a journey, opening the experience in a seemingly simple Zoom call which soon transformed into a fantastical xR world featuring stunning interstellar spaces, waterfalls, gravity-defying cars, a fashion show where Perry chose her virtual outfit in real-time and a scene that showed her taking selfies in different locations before seamlessly uploading the images to social media. Throughout the experience, Perry interacted with virtual elements, showcasing newly enhanced ‘occlusion’ capabilities in Augmented Reality (AR) by creating the illusion she was walking around the items, even though they didn’t physically exist.
The experience ended with a panel discussion between Isabel Perry herself; Paul Doyle – director, Product Marketing & Business Strategy at Epic Games’ Unreal Engine; Tom Rockhill – chief commercial officer at disguise; plus Louis de Castro, CEO, and Quentin de Fougeroux, CTO, at Mado XR, the creators behind Balmain’s seminal xR fashion presentation. As further proof of concept, the ensuing panel discussion also took place within the xR world with a virtual aquarium behind the speakers while panellists on Zoom were “beamed” into the scene.
The experience additionally included a demonstration of Unreal Engine’s new MetaHumans tool, which enables sophisticated but efficient creation of hyper-realistic, hi-fidelity digital humans. The MetaHuman was created by Dept by recording one of the team’s facial expressions as they read the MetaHuman’s script. The resulting expressions were then applied to the digital human so that it could deliver its lines authentically within the experience, thus showing how brand avatars can help smooth a brand’s transition into the metaverse.
Bringing all virtual elements together was disguise’s xR workflow, an award-winning platform that combines leading LED, real-time content, and camera tracking technologies to power immersive virtual environments that presenters and performers can see and interact with naturally and in real-time.
Isabel Perry, Director of Technology at Byte said: “xR marketing is fast becoming the savvy new way for brands to satiate audiences’ hunger for new experiences as consumer behaviour shifts even deeper into the virtual sphere. xR metaverses are jam-packed with innovative marketing potential. From live shopping to virtual stores, fashion shows, product launches, content production, live flagship events, enhanced social and pimping-up of Zoom calls, the possibilities that this hybrid digital/physical world offers are near-endless.”
Tom Rockhill, chief commercial officer of disguise, said: “Since 2019, xR has grown eightfold, and is on track to reach an estimated market size of more than $209 billion by 2022. Brands that want to create amazing experiences to reach their customers can now let their imagination run wild - opening up huge possibilities for creative storytelling.”
