This past week, AllSeated announced that its 360 RealPlans-3D, the event planning industry’s first and only genuine virtual reality capability, is now available on a wide range of VR headsets including Facebook’s revolutionary Oculus, HTC’s Vive, and the Samsung Gear VR.
To celebrate this industry milestone, we sat down with AllSeated CMO and co-founder Sandy Hammer to discuss the evolution of Virtual Reality and what it means for the event industry.
Tell us a little bit about AllSeated
As the long-time pioneer in event planning technologies and innovation, AllSeated’s collaborative planning tools are used today in more than ten percent of all corporate and social events in North America. We strive to drive product innovation, customer service support and simplification of event planning. We have created an ecosystem where venues, caterers, planners, and other vendors can collaborate with their clients and hosts. Our programs help for clients and vendors to see their event setup in 3D floor plans that are to scale as well as 360 Realplans – 3D and our newest innovation of virtual reality walk through, which is the first in the event planning industry.
How does the virtual reality aspect work?
Clients can purchase a pair of goggles from us that are capable to use with an Apple or Android products. Then they download the AllSeated VR app and it will link to the event they are working on in there AllSeated account all updates are in real-time. They then get to see the entire venue/floor plan as if they are standing in the room and they can move about to explore the space. Our program will also be made shortly available on a wide range of VR headsets including Facebook’s Oculus, HTC’s Vive, and the Samsung Gear VR. This vivid visualization pre-delivers experiences to venues and vendors’ clients in a way that has never previously been possible in this industry and it is now even more accessible.
How will this change the way we plan events and meet and collaborate with clients?
This new technology will allow hosts of events to plan events from afar with more ease and peace of mind since they are able to be in the space before they set foot in it in real life. Before when a planner or venue would describe a room setup you would just have a drawing or a photo from a previous event. Now couples and event hosts will be able to walk through the space as if it is the day of the event making it easier to sell your client on a particular set up, look or feel.
How will this help sales in the long run?
Some of our customers have reported closing more than 10 new events a year solely due to the event visualization that we provide. With the addition of VR we anticipate that number increasing as we move forward.
Imagine being at a tradeshow or bridal show and being able to transport your potential customer right into your ballroom so that they can see the stunning staircase that they will enter their reception from and experience the stunning chandeliers that hang from the ceiling and you didn’t even have to schedule a site visit. This could mean booking right on the spot not just taking their information to see the venue or schedule a consultation.
How accessible will this technology be?
Facebook pioneered the Oculus, which was a shift in virtual reality to non-gaming applications. Now that they have developed Oculus Go, which is the first standalone headset, that is set to deliver this technology to the masses within the next few years.
