It’s very easy to label 360 HDRI content exclusively as a tool for lighting and reflections for rendering data, but there is a host of immersive possibilities that these little 360° digital objects can offer us in the creative world. One such arena is the sector of experiential storytelling, or in simple terms, a complete sensory immersive experience from sight through all the senses that can create a digital narrative.
In this quest for the ultimate experiential world 360° HDRI (High Dynamic Range Imaging) emerges as a game-changer, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in narrative experiences. Gone are the days when storytelling was confined to visuals alone, now with 360° HDRI, we can take the user on an immersive journey that engages not just our sight but all our senses. It’s a technology that transforms spaces into living, breathing environments, transporting us to worlds that feel startlingly real, with the highest quality visually startling real-world 360° captures.
Marketers and advertisers are naturally drawn to experiential activities as they allow brands to tell their stories in an immersive way, creating an emotional and loyal attachment to the brand or product gateway that the immersive experience creates. These immersive experiential activities often present the consumer with escapism or desire to engage more with the brand in the experience, as they are immersed fully in the experience with no distractions, meaning the marketeers have the fully focused attention of the consumer.
This therefore means the experience has to be worthwhile, and that is driven largely by the realism of the content, and of course the creativity of the journey in the immersive gateway to the brand. Here at Domeble we often experiment with our renowned 360 HDRI content in VR spaces in order to extract the maximum amount of detail from our content in the immersive realm. This is important to us, as we know that the fast growth of people’s awareness of immersion and full experiential entertainment will mean that content like ours will play a central role in everything from brand promotions to automotive design, visualization and automotive configurations.
There is also the dark side of experiential experiences. While we are all immersed inside our VR headsets during these experiences, the marketeers and advertising scientists will be measuring our reactions, our interactions, and our eye movements and creating heat maps of how we interact with the experience, which ultimately provides them with even more data on how to further target us in a way they know will hit a bullseye most times. Once we accept that our interaction is being data harvested and just enjoy the visual medium, there is a wealth of new visual expressions and experiences that will blow us away creatively.
An area that is yet to be fully explored is that of the content creator and experiential storyteller. We have yet to see fully immersive content gain any significant traction, but it will for sure, and I for one can’t wait to see what the emerging immersive filmmakers and content creators can come up with. We’re excited at Domeble watching how this plays out, and we’ll be continuing our R&D in the sector and seeing how far we can push our 360° HDRI content into the experiential arena.
Should you want to know more, or discuss how our 360 immersive services can help your next project or your next creative campaign, don’t hesitate to reach out to us and we can see how we can together we can create something truly experiential.
Written by Carl Lyttle- Founder at Domeble.