Global CEO Simon Gosling travelled from the UK to Thailand to explain how virtual reality will transform the advertising industry, just as the invention of television did in the Mad Men era. It may not be too long til we re all having virtual experiences by having images projected onto our retinas.
What will delegates at ADFEST learn from your Speaker Session this year?
Look through the history of great advertising and you ll be enthralled by the incredible wealth of striking visual imagery, which has been used to promote brands. My session about Virtual and Augmented Reality focuses on the need to uphold this beautiful aesthetic as we venture further into the Digital Age. It also shows how ubiquitous Virtual Reality is becoming, just one year on, since Facebook s acquisition of Oculus Rift.
What can you tell us about Happy Finish?
Passionate, creative people across the globe, producing some of the most stunning imagery in advertising. Whether stills, motion or interactive, we love it!
You have offices in Mumbai and Shanghai. Why did you launch in these markets? What have you learned from working there?
Our clients are global, so it makes sense for us to be so too. Being closer to our customers enables us to bring them added value. Both markets are emerging in exciting ways, at a time where new technologies are being embraced. What have I learned? Whilst we speak different languages, experience different cultures and come from different areas of the globe, every Happy Finish team member basically shares the same passion; to create beautiful work that they can be proud of, and a hunger to push new technologies to their limits. They re also fiercely individual and have their own styles, which is important if you want to be diverse in what you do.
How will augmented and virtual reality change the advertising industry?
Confucius said: Tell me something and I will forget. Show me something and I ll remember. Involve me and I will understand. Augmented and Virtual Reality are the most immersive and exciting new pieces of tech to hit advertising since the days of Mad Men, when the focus moved from print and radio ads to TV. The possibilities are as infinite as our imaginations!
What will a virtual future look like? How long until we re taking virtual holidays, eating virtual food, and having virtual affairs?
When Mark Zuckerberg bought Oculus Rift, he said that Facebook was the tool that had made the world social in ways previously unexperienced. He wants Virtual Reality (VR) to give people the opportunity to have the best seats at Wimbledon, to engage in lectures at the world s finest universities, and to host the biggest family and friend reunions across the globe.
It might sound like Science Fiction, but it s rapidly becoming science fact. We ll soon be Skyping in VR and watching live content in VR too. But the biggest advancements will be made when we lose the headsets and experience images being projected onto our retinas, such as the new tech by Magic Leap is making possible. That s when it s all going to go crazy!
The theme of ADFEST 2015 is Be Bad . Are you ever badly behaved?
Who isn t!
What scares you?
How fast my children are growing up.
If you could invite any three people to a dinner party (dead or alive), who would they be?
Miles Davis, Pablo Picasso, Marilyn Monroe.
Can you tell us one secret about yourself?
Secrets are for keeping, not sharing.
Source: www.adfest.com
To read more about our VR and AR work click here.