Two entrepreneurs have launched a 3D virtual reality (VR) photography firm to curate immersive content for businesses across northwestern England, the Lancashire Telegraph reported on Friday.
Tomas Garl and Justinas Jelin founded the Burnley-based VR Pixel to create interactive tours for clients.
The startup has collaborated with Burnley Borough Council and James Hall and Co, SPAR’s northern England wholesaler, to create VR 3D tours of venues in the region.
VR Pixels has recreated sites such as the Towneley Hall’s Museum and Art Gallery, Lancaster University SPAR store, and others as VR-based digital worlds.
Mr Garl said it was “fantastic” to work with Towneley Hall, namely when people were unable to visit during lockdowns due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
His firm had built walkthrough virtual tours of the facility to “showcase the main art gallery and temporary exhibitions” online and “share the [Hall’s] historic architecture and extensive art collection.”
Firms Seek VR Content amid COVID-19
According to Garl, lockdown restrictions had sparked a massive boost in customers seeking VR products.
He explained that many organisations had to “embrace” virtual meetings over the last 12 months and that 3D technology had taken “the virtual experience one step further”.
Garl explained:
“3D virtual tours have been shown to be 300 per cent more engaging than 2D imagery and can be used for multiple scenarios including residential and commercial property, showcasing hospitality venues to attract potential events bookings, and also offering customers who are unable to travel, the opportunity to explore places of interest, shops and exhibitions”
Both Mr Garl and Mr Jelin said in the report they hoped to build more 3D tours and scans for additional clients, such as museums, retail outlets, and others, following their work in Lancashire.
Garl added the scope for VR content and marketing software was “huge” and, as the United Kingdom began to reopen, VR Pixel was “excited” to help businesses attract customers.
He concluded: “If you want to stand out from the crowd and attract new clients, 3D Virtual tour technology could be just what you need to engage new and existing customers.”
Businesses, Organisations Seek VR Content to Attract Audiences
Businesses and firms have begun tapping into the VR content market due to COVID-19, which has shuttered tourists amid national lockdown efforts aimed at controling the virus.
A report from the World Economic Forum revelaed the global tourism industry could potentially recover post-COVID-19 with virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) to attract new clients and customers.
Such “human-centric” content could become a “game-changer” with VR/AR and mixed reality (MR) technologies, findings from the Switzerland-based organisation added.
The Art of London also launched an “Augmented Gallery” in the capital’s West End in early May, which aimed to display numerous digitally-curated masterpieces across a mile-long trail.
The exhibition partnered several top institutions—the Heart of London Business Alliance, National Gallery, Royal Academy of Arts, National Portrait Gallery, Sky Arts and creative communications agency Premier—in the first exhibition of its kind for the country.
