With the recent boom in smart watches, Virtual Reality (or VR for short) has failed to find it's peak in mass market appeal. Whether this is because of smart watches dominating tech as of late, people generally not knowing much about it (a totally new introduction to the market remember!) or simply not a large enough reach with the relatively few marketing campaigns behind the product, and with just one mainstream VR currently available, an absence of competition has equally resulted in an absence of hype. Possibly the most popular VR that is in discussion at the moment is the Samsung Gear VR, powered by Oculus. The reason behind this device now being the go-to when discussing the tech isn't only a result of it's shiny, futuristic appearance, nor it's Samsung stamp, but perhaps more with the viral hit that is Samsung's collaboration with Marvel Avengers: Age of Ultron, which we're guessing took a huge bite out of Samsung's marketing budget!
Samsung Spotter! Now teaming up with Marvel (and getting Messi involved along the way) can’t be too cost effective, so Samsung have made the most out of the deal by squeezing in as many of their latest products as they can! That’s right Samsung- we noticed!
The campaign features a two part structure which circles a story around 9 year old Bobby Martinez who has been mysteriously selected to play Captain America on the Oculus Store's Marvel Avengers experience. Part 1, (as well as being product placement heaven) is primarily about introducing the star studded cast including; Barcelona star, Lionel Messi (Iron Man) NFL Running back, Eddie Lacy (Hulk) Mechanical Engineer, Sasha Blanc (Black Widow) Pro Cyclist, Fabian Cancellara (Hawkeye) Pro Surfer, John John Florence (Thor) Part 2 however, no matter how much we all enjoyed watching Messi take out bad guys with a football at the top of Stark Tower, did get us thinking about how it actually works. With what being shown seemingly ‘impossible’ and way ahead of it's time, we think a lot of people are still not sure this is possible. With no real advanced detail into how the Gear VR actually functions, especially with the whole movement of the arms in the fighting scenes of the ad with no hint towards sensors - we're just not sure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0vk87z3sPA Coming across as a mix between fiction we've seen before including Mickey Rourke's ‘Stormbreaker’ and Gerard Butlers role in 2009 film GAMER, both along with the fact that the Gear VR is a mere $200, really brings in the question, is the VR technology where we want it to be? We’re sure after the watch hype calms down that VR will definitely be next up and we expect Samsung and Apple to both be working on the concept as we speak!
