Virtual reality (VR) technology has advanced significantly in recent years, and its current standards have greatly enhanced the experiences people have in a host of environments. It’s continually improving across various dimensions such as immersion, accessibility, content availability, and hardware design. Giving business owners, event hosts and media outlets a versatile addition to their armoury. How good VR is, however, depends on the context in which it’s being used.
Businesses are always looking to draw attention at exhibitions and trade shows and create the best event experience for their visitors.
Virtual reality (VR) can significantly enhance a trade show experience in several impactful ways. By leveraging the immersive and interactive capabilities of VR technology, exhibitors and organisers can create engaging and memorable experiences for attendees, while also overcoming some traditional limitations of physical space and location. In this blog, we look at how you could benefit from adding VR to your event and incorporating its use into your exhibition stand.
The benefits of using virtual reality at trade shows and exhibitions
There are a great deal of benefits that diving into the world of virtual reality can bring you at an event. Some will deliver the potential for sales others may enhance brand awareness and others can be useful for lead generation.
Immersive product demonstrations
VR allows for immersive demonstrations of products or services, enabling attendees to experience them in a way that might not be possible in a traditional trade show setup. For complex or large-scale products, such as machinery or vehicles, VR can offer a detailed exploration without the need for physical space. No matter what trade you are in and what product you wish to demo, VR can put people in what feels like a genuine user experience without the need to go anywhere!
Interactive and personalised experiences
VR can provide interactive experiences that engage users more deeply than traditional media. Attendees can customise products, participate in simulations, or engage in gamified learning experiences that are both fun and informative. Each experience is unique to the person using the VR. How they interact with it alters what they get from it. Plus, as the event presenter, you can alter the VR programme for different users, truly creating a unique event experience.
Education and training
Through VR, trade show participants can undergo training or educational sessions that are interactive and immersive, leading to better retention of information and a more engaging learning experience.
Networking opportunities
VR platforms can facilitate virtual networking opportunities, allowing attendees to interact with each other and with exhibitors in a more dynamic way than traditional networking. Avatars, virtual meeting rooms, and interactive environments can make networking more engaging and less intimidating.
Data collection and analytics
VR platforms can offer sophisticated data collection and analytics, allowing exhibitors to gain insights into attendee behaviours, preferences, and engagement levels. This data can be used to improve future offerings and help you convert event leads to sales. With your event being so immersive, it is more likely to stick in the minds of the visitors, so when you do follow up and begin forging a regular path of communication, it’ll be your brand that the prospect remembers above others!
Virtual display stands
Companies can create virtual booths that attendees can visit from anywhere in the world. This not only increases the reach of the trade show but also allows for more creative and expansive presentations than what might be feasible in a physical stand. Your exhibition stand may tell part of the brand story, but the addition of VR will allow you to maximise the event space by taking users into a world of unlimited space where they can dive deeper into the product and the company than they could if just using literature and demos at the stand. Imagine you have a range of 30 key products, but you only have space for 5. This fully immersive world allows you to bring the other items to a prospect without needing to bring them all!
Sustainability
Virtual trade shows or hybrid models that incorporate VR can reduce the carbon footprint associated with travel, shipping, and the construction of physical booths, contributing to a more sustainable approach to trade show participation.
It is important to understand the challenges and limitations associated with VR. Such as the need for specialised equipment, potential accessibility issues for users, and the importance of ensuring that virtual experiences are high quality and free from technical issues. Despite these considerations, the potential of VR to enhance exhibition experiences is significant, offering innovative ways to engage, educate, and connect with audiences.
If you are interested in incorporating VR into your next exhibition stand design, and making a statement that puts you at the forefront of the event, speak to the team at Starlight Exhibitions. We are the official supplier of Nomadic Display products and offer bespoke reconfigurable displays suitable for all event spaces. Browse our modular stands for exhibitions today and see how we can revolutionise the way you present at every show you attend.