Once a temporary solution when in-person gatherings were not an option, online events have enjoyed an astronomical surge in popularity, as many planners today specifically choose to go virtual and hybrid in favour of fully on-site events. Read on to see how virtual and hybrid conferences, exhibitions and alike in the Metaverse will define the event industry’s future.
Immersive & Interactive Environment
With visually stimulating 3D graphics and game-changing features, event planners can provide an environment that can maintain a high level of consistent attendee engagement around the clock. For example, Silversea Media Group’s Immersive Virtual Event Solution can mimic a real conference, where users (e.g., attendees) circumnavigate the various areas of an event space, with live or recorded content and the ability to set up meetings and/or see 3D product demos.
Digital Avatars
The use of digital avatars will continue to grow in popularity. Attendees can build their own avatars to walk through virtual events and have conversations using 3D spatial audio and voice.
For example, Silversea Media Group created an avatar-based virtual event for one of Indonesia’s largest virtual exhibitions, where visitors were able to personalise their avatars, making them resemble themselves as much as they wanted. They were able to interact with other avatars, visit virtual booths, ask questions using a live chat feature, and click on the embedded e-commerce platform button to shop for products on display in the event store.
Smart Virtual Conferences & Exhibitions
It’s time to throw out the traditional conference model and create a smart, engaging virtual conference model instead. Virtual conferences now represent a tried and true formula that successfully combine entertainment with informative content. The availability of chat rooms and the possibility of audio, video, and text chats allow all participants to form lasting ties in an effective way.
Event organisers must utilise more immersive virtual components to maintain a high level of virtual interactivity at a smart virtual conference or exhibition, for example, by including:
- One-on-one communication channels with exhibitors, sponsors, or other visitors
- Real-time live polls and Q&A sessions
- Networking lounges
- Gamification
- Virtual booths
- Virtual sponsorship promotional areas
- . . . and more.
Integration of More Augmented/Virtual Reality
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) can be used in product demos, entertaining and engaging attendees at virtual or in-person events. For example, event promoters can add an extra dimension of interactivity to their next virtual event with a VR-enabled experiential room. Whereas at in-person events, one can provide smartphone compatible headsets or QR codes to offer a more take on the traditional printed information handout.
Metaverse gatherings leverage the power of immersive technologies to create engaging, social, and inclusive events, which readily attract high-paying sponsors, contribute to greater attendee registration levels, and generate superior ROIs.
Hybrid Events Become More Frequent
Hybrid events can entice unlimited numbers of attendees, considering the broad inclusion of both offline and online audiences. Therefore, hybrid event organisers need to provide a seamless integration of technology that allows interaction between the in-person and virtual audiences.
Hybrid event attendees will want to choose the content they consume to help their decision-making. Instead of offering content that feels like a webinar, where every virtual attendee sees the same generic content, event organisers can offer multiple simultaneous sessions that happen both live and virtually.
Data Collection As A Driving Force
From improving customer engagement to creating more personalized content, data analytics helps event organisers stay in sync with your event’s vertical and grow it to new heights. A virtual event platform must have a powerful analytics dashboard that can give access to active data to measure engagement and ROI.
In Summary
With the Metaverse at its core, virtual and hybrid events are here to stay. They offer enormous untapped potential to achieve laser-focused user engagement and deliver personalised content to audiences, wherever and whenever they want. Event audiences are expecting unprecedented levels of connection and authenticity. Players who can offer an immersive space that connect people and makes the world accessible will be well ahead of the curve in 2022… and beyond.
Create jaw-dropping virtual and hybrid experiences with Silversea Media Group now: https://silversea-media.my/immersive-event/
