We won an award for this one. In a small ballroom at the Parker Resort in Palm Springs, we hosted about 125 of the most influential executives in global media for a conference featuring some of the most influential thought leaders in the world, presenting on topics from Artificial Intelligence to Third-World Architecture to Middle Eastern Politics to winning the Tour de France .
Through a generous donation, we got our hands on 125 Samsung GEAR VR headsets with handsets and 125 over-ear headphones. We configured them and installed software to allow the playback of a short VR movie produced specifically for this audience. Since we couldn’t guarantee internet bandwidth to send the video to all attendees simultaneously, each video file came pre-loaded on the device. We then worked with software developers to design a remote cue system so that once all attendees had their headsets on, we could cue the start of the film.
It was amazing to watch in a silent room while everyone moved and flinched and reacted in their own virtual world to the same things. As the film ended and the audience removed their headsets, the sense of awe was incredible and would not have been the same if their experiences were not in sync with each other. Truly memorable.
We had to put most of our crew in a Star Waggon in the back parking lot due to the limited space at the venue. It ended up raining cats and dogs that week. Who would have thought in Palm Springs?
