A 2D video doesn't get across just how immersive Oculus Quest is. And we couldn't just put everyone in a headset, as demo experiences require a lot of space and a lot of time and, ultimately, we need millions to understand the power of VR.

Brief:

We were charged with explaining to a mass audience how immersive VR is in a way that millions could understand.

To fully understand the immersive nature of virtual reality, a flat 2D video doesn't cut it.

But we couldn't just put everyone in a headset, so we needed to showcase the 360° immersion of the technology, and create a way for mass audiences to understand what VR feels like.

So we hosted a screening of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story at the historic LA Theatre. Then we surprised attendees with a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle that exploded beyond the bounds of a 2D screen. Using holograms, spherical projection mapping, spatial audio, laser arrays, and practical effects, we dropped an unsuspecting audience into four of our biggest titles, showcasing the depth, dimension, and magic that you feel inside Oculus Quest.

Afterwards, the audience – including lifestyle, sports, and tech influencers – were invited to truly explore the VR titles they were just presented at a dozen demo stations on site.

For our gaming audience:

PS4 and Xbox are masters of 2D videos that show gamers transported into epic, CGI-heavy worlds. We needed a different path to differentiate ourselves, and we built it off the insight that no matter how good our CGI is, on a 2D screen it'll never fully communicate the complete immersion of a great VR experience.

But we needed to go beyond a gaming audience to reach mass awareness.

VR was seen as niche and only for hardcore gamers. We needed to show a mass audience that VR has arrived, and anyone can jump in and have an amazing experience. Therefore, we needed to make an experience that anyone could understand.

To reach both these audiences, we showed a movie that appealed to gaming and non-gaming audiences, and we amplified by inviting influencers from cultural, sports, tech, and gaming backgrounds to spread our impact.

The event was held at Los Angeles Theater – renowned for its beauty and history, but typically closed to the public. Our unsuspecting audience was brought there by a popular cinema screening group that shows classic movies in unique locations.

To theatergoers, this was nothing more than a typical brand partnership, with Oculus touted in the theater, social media, and email preceding the event. As such, they were totally caught off guard by our experience, even staying through the end credits of the movie they'd paid to see, in order to watch our experience a second time.

This was Oculus Quest's first foray into experiential marketing, requiring many different technologies coming together to convey the immersion possible within virtual reality. Spherical projection mapping, laser arrays, and spatial audio gave the audience a sense of being in the center of it all, while holograms brought elements of the experience up close and personal – making it feel like they could reach out and touch it. Across the 4-minute experience, we brought to life four different VR experiences with four totally different looks and feels. In just two months, the team built the lush, green world of Moss and its tiny heroic mouse, the rave-like domain of Beat Saber, the zero gravity competitive environment of Echo Arena, and the epic universe of Vader Immortal. Each environment was built in close connection to the studio developers for the VR titles, matching their guidelines while feeling cohesive across the board.

Reach:

60 Million Impressions

15 Million Views

Engagement:

6 Million Engagements

Awareness achievements across business targets:

+11% increase in Brand Awareness

+7% increase in Brand Association

+6% increase in Consideration

+6% increase in Opinion