I have always been interested in Virtual Reality. I played my first computer game by typing it out, line by line, in the BASIC coding language into a Spectrum ZX81^[1]. Virtual Reality made a brief appearance in amusement arcades in the late 1980s and then disappeared again due to latency, reliability and expense. Since then I could hardly wait for the full immersive experience and it has been a long time coming.

So fast forward to 2012 and I find myself running a company called Happy Finish where we produce a lot of imagery and computer generated animations for global brand advertising, and finally the Oculus Rift appears on kickstarter, and Virtual Reality is about to emerge from its long hibernation in university research departments and back into the commercial arena.

So you’ve heard all the hype about using Google Cardboards (GC) for watching virtual reality (VR) content, you’ve unwrapped your first one, but how do you use it?  Where do you start?  

Well it works with a mobile smartphone, so you will need one of those for sure, and fear not, they're not all plain brown, the branding options are endless.  

These 5 tips will help you make the best out of yours in no time, and soon you’ll be bringing it to all your parties (real parties).  

Photograph by ©Nikola Krtolica used with kind permission of http://nikola-photographe.com

Last week, I was kindly invited by Cristal Festival to give a keynote presentation about VR & AR, in which I:

• Explored the ways in which these new technologies enable brands to communicate with consumers in new exciting and immersive ways.
• Shared with the audience some projects Happy Finish has created, with our clients and partners, throughout 2015.
• Discussed how VR is already maturing, developing its own storytelling and narrative styles.
• Looked at the impressive cost savings and ROI stats that brands can enjoy with VR solutions and campaigns.