SpaceoutVR – Introducing Unobtrusive Click-Through Advertising in Virtual Reality
A virtual reality startup is launching a new feature this week that enables Facebook photo browsing in virtual reality. The company is also introducing a click-through advertising feature that unobtrusively transitions users from their VR experience to mobile sites.
“Virtual reality has not yet found a way into people’s everyday lives because sharing personal media in VR has been very awkward,” said V. Owen Bush, CEO of SpaceoutVR, Inc. “We are creating tools to make this a personalized medium in a way that is seamless for users.”
Yesterday, the company released a “VISION.VR” teaser, which they believe is the first virtual reality application that lets Facebook users browse their photos in a VR setting. Once in the demo version, VISION.VR users log in to their Facebook account and the software automatically retrieves photos from their Facebook photo library. The app then displays those photos on billboards along a 360-degree view of a virtual reality highway. Players also have the option to select music from their own Soundcloud account or smartphone.
The app was developed using the Facebook Software Developer Kit and was submitted to, tested and approved by Facebook.
“We are creating an entire world out of personal media,” said Dennis Adamo, SpaceoutVR, Inc. chief operating officer. “This is only a preview of what SpaceoutVR, Inc. has planned to make virtual reality a leading destination for viewing and experiencing personal media.”
VR’s Next Phase Must Have Emotional Connection To Users
“Virtual reality is not in the ‘wow’ phase any more. People expect to see VR applications that retain audiences on a daily and weekly basis,” said Bush. “When the web first came out, people didn’t spend much time there looking for content, because it was just like the yellow pages. Now everyone uses the web all day long because they have an emotional connection to their personal media there. Until SpaceoutVR, Inc., no one was providing this personalized, emotional connection.”
Public Debut @Microsoft, Sept. 8
The Vision.VR feature made its public debut at Envision Entertainment, presented by the VR/AR Association and hosted at Microsoft Technology Centers in Times Square, New York City last Thursday, Sept. 8.
In addition to the Vision.VR preview, SpaceoutVR, Inc. rolled out five new completed features in its integrated VR content platform, available as a free software package for the iPhone and Android.
This brings three major platform integrations into the Spaceout.VR app. The current iOS and Android versions allow you to use Google StreetView, SoundCloud and Facebook in virtual reality.
First Of Its Kind Advertising Creative For Virtual Reality
Another breakthrough feature debuting with the new platform is “Spaceout.VR Creatives,” a click-through advertising platform catered specifically for the virtual reality experience.
“This is a gaze-activated click-through ad program that lets you explore advertiser’s websites after you leave your VR experience,” Adamo said. “What that means is: you’re in VR, you see an ad you like and you gaze to activate it. The software then knows you clicked on it, and once you leave VR it launches the advertiser’s mobile website on your phone.” The program works this way to prevent a jarring advertising experience in the VR environment itself.
Partnership Gives Advertisers Access To 20,000 Monthly Users
According to Adamo, the Spaceout.VR app has been downloaded more than 80,000 times, with more than 500 new downloads per day. The app has 20,000 monthly users, he said.
Last week, Spaceout.VR partnered with the first VR advertising network, Immersv Inc. from San Francisco, to integrate the Immersv software development kit into the Spaceout.VR app. This will allow advertisers direct access to the rapidly growing Spaceout.VR audience. The feature will allow users to enter into a theater which will display compelling VR videos with unique messages related to VR and non-VR products and services.
“Immersv’s focus is to help drive the mobile VR market to consumer adoption. Spaceout.VR brings a vast amount of inventory, which aids in that focus and helps diversify our network of content to include entertainment, games, 360 experiential, and more,” said Christine Lee, vice president and GM at Immersv, Inc. “We are excited to offer enhanced and highly relevant advertising content to apps like Spaceout.VR and others.”
Download SpaceoutVR App
To download the Spaceout.VR app, search for it in the Apple App Store, get it on Google Play, click the “Use App” button on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/spaceoutvr or visit: http://www.spaceoutvr.com.
About SpaceoutVR, Inc
Founded in 2015, SpaceoutVR, Inc. is a “Start-Up New York” company. Headquartered in Troy, N.Y., with offices in New York City and Montevideo, Uruguay, SpaceoutVR, Inc. is a developer of Mobile VR Apps and an integrated VR content publisher. Spaceout.VR integrates entertainment, gaming and communications into one personalized VR App. Spaceout.VR transforms your digital life into sociable VR spaces automagically. Spaceout.VR thrives on the emotional connection between a person, their phone, their networks and their personal media. We monetize with freemium, subscription and advertising. The latest release includes music streaming via Soundcloud, Facebook photos, and streetview Geospatial User Interface. Spaceout.VR has more than 80 000 users and expects to complete its entire app in early 2017. SpaceoutVR, Inc. is a member of the VR/AR Association, the Tech Valley Center of Gravity and Hacker-Unit.
