Blend Blog

Best 360 Cameras for Virtual Tours

Noor Anwar / a month ago

In order to create a 360 virtual tour, you need to have a camera that captures video and imagery in 360.  360 or immersive content is video and imagery where a view in every direction is captured at the same time, providing a 360-degree panorama.   As virtual tours become increasingly popular, it is now also easier than ever to shoot super high quality 360 content and help prospective customers visualise a space.  It’s a good idea to go with a camera that you can attach to a phone, as that makes it easier to upload and also does the stitching for you. Here are some of our favourite options:

Read More

VR Makes a Whole Lotta Sense

Greg Bond / a month ago

A close look at how virtual reality and its future provides a unique opportunity for different industries - from luxury to the corporate brands sector. While the virtual reality industry is still experiencing some growing pains, it was extremely encouraging to see, or more accurately NOT see, VR anywhere on Gartner Research’s newest Hype Cycle curve which was published in August.  It’s absence indicates a graduation from the Trough of Disillusionment, as it swiftly advances through the Slope of Enlightenment to the Plateau of Productivity just ahead.  I recently had the opportunity to take a four corners tour of the US, attending a number of events that reinforced this distinction and revealed some specific and immediate needs that a maturing VR industry is well-positioned to solve. At a luxury brand conference in New York, most of the talk was centered around the idea of creating a luxury ‘experience’ for customers.  What does that look like? Luxury is high-end, not highly accessible (maybe even exclusive at times), high touch and one-of-a-kind. Luxury is the feeling of belonging to a small subset of people who have been let in on a secret the rest of the world either doesn’t have the means or the interest in pursuing.

Read More

Real Estate: Dominate your Competition with Professional Virtual Tours

Noor Anwar / a month ago

Immersive technology has transformed the old-school world of real estate where you had to book an appointment with a real estate agent just to figure out your initial impression of a space.  In today’s millennial-driven market, what the customer can discover and view online beforehand is what will drive them to make contact with a real estate agent. As the type of customers and the real estate industry itself shifts and changes along with today’s technology, companies and agents working in this business must also adapt themselves as well. Thanks to 360 and immersive content, the playing field has completely changed.  360 or immersive content is video and imagery where a view in every direction is captured at the same time, providing a 360-degree panorama.  When looking at 360 content, the user is able to enter an immersive environment and experience a place without physically being there.

Read More

Using Virtual Reality to Train your Employees

Noor Anwar / a month ago

Interactive virtual trainings are transforming the way organizations recruit, train and develop their employees, using 360 video and virtual reality (VR) to simulate real-world, on-the-job scenarios for enhanced learning.  Virtual training is being hailed as ‘The New Powerpoint’ - as VR engages people in immersive and social environments, ultimately solving the problem of isolation and lack of engagement. Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, is now using VR to train one million employees in topics such as management and customer service which require employees to have higher empathy and emotional intelligence (EQ).  Their pilot study showed that VR training boosts confidence and retention, whilst improving test scores by 10-15%. 89% of learners said they felt more prepared after a VR training session.

Read More

Immersive Storytelling for Brands on Halloween

Noor Anwar / a month ago

Halloween is a fast-growing sector, spreading its spooky excitement beyond just the United States.  It is being largely driven by millennials around the globe and so if that is your brand’s key demographic, it provides a perfect occasion to engage with them.   78% of Millennials say they would rather spend money on experiences rather than material things - highlighting just how much the Experience Economy is booming.  Humans retain only 20% of what they read and hear, 40% of what they observe and a staggering 90% of what they experience! Immersive content has become a benchmark for showcasing which brands are successfully adapting their digital approach to be more innovative in a highly competitive market.

Read More

Creating a one-of-a-kind Immersive Experience

Simon Brooksbank / 3 months ago

We recently partnered with M Booth to create the content for an interactive experience for The Macallan. The final project included a 20ftx20ft projected cube, 4D multi-sensory VR experience in New York’s Grand Central Station, enabling visitors to this experience feel closer to the brand by virtually visiting its new £120m distillery and spiritual home in Speyside, Scotland. Every ambitious creative is always looking for new and dynamic ways to tell stories and for creatives who want to push the envelope and create one-of-a-kind interactive experiences, its a constant learning process. I’ve been producing video content in one form or another for 25 years now and I wanted to share some experiences, learnings and anecdotes from producing what was a big production for a major brand using a new medium. Always exciting...

Read More

Introducing Our New 360 Content Collections

Noor Anwar / 4 months ago

As immersive content and the technology driving it develops, we strive to bring you the best 360 content from around the world at prices that everyone can afford. We’ve built the world’s largest library of premium 360 videos and photos created by our growing global network of expert 360 creators. Our customers are some of the world’s largest brands, corporations and publishers - including Google, Samsung, Sony, T-Mobile, Facebook, Coca-Cola, NASA, The Macallan, L’Oréal, P&G and McCann.   We are pleased to announce that we’ve added three new collections of content, that make it super easy to find exactly the type of content you are searching for and decide what fits your budget - highlighting some of our lowest prices yet. The collections are divided into Rights Managed and Royalty Free content: Rights Managed (RM): Our premium collection which includes the most unique and exceptional content of top quality.  Pricing for this content will be determined according to how you want to use the content, in which regions and for how long.  You will be asked to request a price quote on the website for all RM content.

Read More