XR events in XR environments: Stereopsia 2024 on Arrival.Space

16.12.2024
Marja Konttinen
http://Nainen%20seisoo%20metaversumissa%20virtuaalise%20noven%20äärellä%20joka%20vie%20Stereopsiaan

In the post-Covid world and age of immersive technologies, the way we experience events is undergoing a paradigm shift. While physical conferences and gatherings remain irreplaceable for true human connection, virtual spaces are powerful new ways to facilitate events, break geographical barriers, and provide audiences with spatial, interactive experiences in addition to physical events. These innovations are particularly important in the XR (extended reality) industry where showcasing the potential of one’s own field is essential.

Hybrid event for Stereopsia

Founded in 2009, Stereopsia is an annual event for XR professionals, creators, and enthusiasts held in Brussels. It advances XR technologies and fosters collaboration between different communities—from content creators and startups to policymakers and academics.

Stereopsia celebrates innovation in XR and accelerates the adoption of immersive technologies across industries. They facilitate The Booster Program, a content accelerator designed to empower XR creators, and The European XR Awards, which recognize excellence in AR and VR storytelling and technology, as well as networking and showcasing exhibits.

For the last two years, Stereopsia has teamed up with Arrival.Space, a web-based 3D platform, to provide a digital component to its physical programming, making it a phygital event (physical and digital). Developed by an Austrian startup Stratum1 GmbH, the Arrival.Space platform debuted at Stereopsia last year. Described as “Social 3D Web”, it offers a virtual environment that hosts different media content in a 3D space, explored via avatars. 

This partnership reflects broader trends in hybrid engagement models. By bridging the physical and digital worlds, metaverse environments like Arrival.Space enable better access to experiences that were previously confined to physical spaces (Cheung et al., 2024).

Sustainable hybrid events

Virtual and hybrid events align with sustainability goals by reducing the need for travel and physical resources, which minimises the carbon footprint, but without compromising engagement or accessibility. Arrival.Space doesn’t require any special XR tools or account creation to view and explore content, as it’s accessible through a normal web browser, and its content loads quickly. It even provides a long-term service, as last year’s Stereopsia event remains available as an archive, enabling revisiting past content at any time. 

The platform is an immersive alternative to a website, combining 3D spatial environments with interactive ways to explore videos, text, 3D assets, websites, AI content, and much more. Upon entering Arrival Space’s Stereopsia Lobby, attendees are greeted by Alexandra, a NPC (Non-Player Character), who delivers a voice-recorded welcome. Visitors can explore features such as the European XR Awards nominees, The Booster program’s XR creators’ showcases, watch videos and scroll through Instagram posts

Virtual Stereopsia and the Experience Economy framework

Pine and Gilmore’s Experience Economy framework (1998) highlights how engaging participants in Entertainment, Education, Escapism, and Estheticism creates meaningful and memorable experiences. This framework can be applied to virtual events to assess participant engagement. Stereopsia experience aligns its programming with these four realms ensuring a multidimensional experience.

  • Entertainment: Visitors, represented as avatars, can converse with NPCs and other attendees, explore 3D rooms, and use portals to view multimedia content such as live streams. It’s more of a fun experience than browsing a traditional website.
  • Education: Content is available as interactive, byte-sized portions. Even those with less attention span can read through the short introductions and recaps. The platform itself is an educational showcase of XR in action, presenting information in visual, auditory, and spatial formats.
  • Escapism: Spatial internet transforms the virtual world into an engaging and interactive dimension. Visitors can explore and interact in a shared virtual environment, bridging the gap between the digital and the real.
  • Estheticism: Arrival.Space’s design is visually appealing, user-friendly, and intuitive. The platform leverages classic Ready Player Me avatars and seamlessly connected rooms to provide a smooth, immersive experience.

Opportunities For Businesses

In an era when having a website and social media presence is essential, the next step will be defining a 3D brand presence. Platforms like Arrival.Space opens doors to think of new business opportunities. For companies, it can be a scalable way to connect with global audiences while showcasing products and services through immersive design.

Virtual spaces allow customers to test products, from interactive demos to driving a virtual car to trying on avatar-ready clothing. Unlike physical venues, virtual platforms can host unlimited participants, creating new revenue stream opportunities by offering scalable and personalised experiences. Platforms like Arrival.Space provide an ideal starting point, allowing brands to quickly and easily experiment with hosting interactive media and branded content.

The Future of XR Events

The partnership between Stereopsia and Arrival.Space, supported by Creative EUROPE, illustrates the potential of phygital events. Virtual platforms are no longer expensive, hard to develop or just afterthoughts—they are an important part to designing engaging, scalable, and accessible events.

Looking forward, XR platforms will continue to enable year-round engagement, for example fire-side chats with creators and community partners, support diverse content formats, and enhance global reach. Businesses can use these spaces to create experiences that showcase their products and services in ways traditional marketing cannot match.

As XR technologies continue to evolve, hybrid models will become standard for event planning, emphasising the complementary role of metaverse environments in enhancing audience participation by offering immersive, engaging interactions Cheung et al. (2024). Virtual environments serve as powerful marketing tools, allowing broader audiences to sample an event’s offerings before committing to physical attendance in future years. The future of events isn’t just physical or virtual—it’s experiential, immersive, and easy to jump into.

Join Stereopsia 2024 in Arrival.Space

Explore the 3D version of Stereopsia 2024 in Arrival Space starting 9 December 2024: https://live.arrival.space/stereopsia2024

References


Pine II, BJ and Gilmore, JH (1999). The Experience Economy. Harvard Business School Press, Boston

Cheung, M. L., Leung, W. K. S., Chang, L. M. K., Aw, E. C. X., & Wong, R. Y. M. (2024). Immersive time in the metaverse and visits to the physical world: Why not both? A holistic customer engagement framework. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-07-2023-0999

Marja Konttinen (Metropolian amk) toimii asiantuntijana Euroopan unionin osarahoittamasa LUME-hankkeessa, joka keskittyy luovan alan uusin ansaintamalleihin.

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