FAQs
1.Is ‘virtual’ the same as ‘virtual reality’?
Not necessarily. Virtual Reality or ‘VR’ refers specifically to experiences consumed via a VR headset. In many ways this is the natural home of immersive media, where the user can be fully immersed with multiple senses like sight, sound, and even touch, engaged.
But ‘virtual’ can be used more broadly to describe any digital representation of a real or imagined experience, such as a virtual world, and may be consumed via a desktop, tablet, mobile or in VR.
2.What Is a Virtual Brand Experience?
Virtual brand experiences often involve taking a real-world brand experience and making it accessible online, digitally or virtually across multiple devices. They’re usually available 24/7 from anywhere in the world, and examples can include:
- Virtual Sales Tools
- Virtual Training
- Virtual Open Days
- Virtual Tours
- Virtual Recruitment
- Virtual Tourism
As the latest tool in brands’ armouries, they are an opportunity to fully-realise a brand’s promise, position and personality and then publish and broadcast it to the widest possible audience. Virtual brand experiences can serve both private and public sectors, and any industry.
We’ve created virtual experiences for some of the world’s most recognisable brands. Explore some of our case studies below.
3.What are the benefits of Virtual Tools?
Price, Reach, Inclusivity, Popularity, Environment.
- Price: Although there is a larger upfront cost, once created you’ll save as the tool is reusable time and time again.
- Reach: With just one virtual tool you can reach more customers around the world. Customers who are no longer limited to engaging face-to-face.
- Inclusivity & Accessibility: Virtual options break through accessibility restrictions and open the floor to all users. For example, multiple languages can be included or voiceovers can cater for those with reduced sight. The only requirement is to have access to a computer or mobile phone.
- Popularity: Virtual tools are fitting with the recently transformed society and have become a popular choice. Customers now expect virtual options when engaging with brands. Those brands in turn become more popular as they stay up to date with latest trends.
- Environment: Virtual tools are reducing time spent on transportation and the need for non-essential travel. Sales teams no longer need to fly around the world for meetings like they did, international students can now ‘attend’ a university open day from the comfort of their own home.
- Adaptability & Scope: Virtual tools allow you to do more than in real life, from the practical to the impossible. They can be updated when your offering, assets or branding changes, users can be in multiple locations at the same time, and they can toggle settings for different experiences.
For example, our virtual tour of London’s OXO Tower allows users to switch between day and night modes, or see each exhibition space dressed or undressed to get a better understanding of how their event could look, without having to book another visit.
4.What is a Virtual Tour?
Virtual tours are immersive 3D recreations of existing real-world spaces, often using 360 imagery or video. They allow users to explore and navigate an existing location, getting a feel for the layout and scale in a way not possible with 2D maps or pictures. They’re a fantastic way to open your doors online.
An effective Virtual Tour starts with high quality 360 imagery which captures the details and scale of the spaces to make them feel bright and inviting. They also offer quick, intuitive navigation routes, while providing important information along the way to inform visitors and inspire them to take action, just like a real tour guide would.
5.Is there more than one type of Virtual Tour?
There are three types of virtual tour, each with their own strengths:
A Google tour might be sufficient for a restaurant demonstrating their latest refurbishments to new customers, while Matterport is best-suited for properties or single-site walkthroughs.
Custom built virtual tours are the gold standard and can be designed in any way you choose. University open days for international students, art exhibitions for posterity, manufacturers training new staff, agriculture organisations looking to educate farmers, music companies engaging with stakeholders. The possibilities are endless.
6.What is Virtual Tourism?
Virtual tourism experiences people to see and interact with tourist destinations virtually, through VR, AR, 360 video, 3D modelling, or any combination of those.
Whether it’s exploring a resort or taking a guided tour of a historic site, virtual tourism makes anywhere accessible at the click of a button. In the competitive travel marketplace, destinations and attractions need to find innovative ways to stand out; to attract, engage and inspire their customers across multiple marketing channels.
What better way than by giving them a taste of the real-life offer, which they can consume on their device at home, in a VR headset at an event, or even in a group experience? Content can be interactive – putting users in control of their journey. Or curated – taking them through the highlights on offer.
7.What is Virtual Recruitment?
Virtual Recruitment experiences give candidates the chance to see what their career might look like, and can be used as part of the interview or onboarding process.
These ‘Realistic Job Previews’ serve both to attract greater applicant quantities, while also filtering the best to improve candidate quality. We use the latest 360 imaging techniques to capture real people and places which tell stories about the employer’s brand, workplace facilities and the working day.
We then build interactive experiences that inspire candidates and allow you to communicate your brand values. Once created, content can be repurposed for multiple channels and used on the web, in campaigns, at events and on social media.
8.What is Virtual Training?
Virtual training uses VR, AR or 3D modelling to teach learners various tasks, concepts and processes remotely. These virtual experiences can transport users to places and situations which wouldn’t be feasible or safe in real life, in a way that’s also repeatable and scalable, making it extremely cost-effective.
Virtual Training experiences are highly effective learning and development tools. By immersing users in educational content and allowing them to interact you not only increase engagement, but improve retention and performance too.
Activity can be measured and tracked for monitoring and evaluation, and content can be hosted online for easy sharing or loaded into VR headsets for maximum impact.
9.What is a Virtual Open Day?
Virtual open days let prospective students explore campuses, classrooms and other spaces from anywhere in the world. They can consist of virtual tours, Q&A sessions, interactive elements, rich media, audio guides and more.
Virtual Open Days are essential for student recruitment in the education sector, especially to international audiences. Our Virtual Open Days use immersive 360 photos and videos to capture the experience of a real-life event and make it available online to everyone
We put visitors in control of what they see and support core visuals with clear calls-to-actions. It can also be made fully accessible and updateable in future to stay fresh and relevant, and used as an innovative marketing tool at live and online events.
10.What are Virtual Sales Tools?
Virtual Sales Tools use a range of disciplines and technologies to help sell a product or service, and they’re essential for any business whose customers can’t easily visit in-person.
Whether B2B or B2C, businesses spend a lot of time and effort in creating an experience for physical visitors but remote visitors often have to make do with a website or a phone call. We use the latest 360 technology to replicate real-world experiences.
Unlike passively consuming a video or brochure, customers are in control; able to explore at their own pace to be taken on a curated journey towards taking the next step in the sale. They also allow businesses to form a much deeper connection with prospective customers, selling the experience as well as the product, such as in our virtual tour for Anderson & Sheppard.
11.Do I need a VR headset to watch in Virtual Reality?
To watch in Virtual Reality (VR), in a fully immersive experience that feels like you’re in the room, yes. However, it’s worth noting that some organisations create virtual experiences for desktop and mobile consumption, and those won’t require a headset as they are simply a ‘Virtual Tool’ rather than ‘Virtual Reality’.
12.Are Virtual Brand Experiences expensive to make?
Virtual Brand Experiences don’t have to be expensive. They can start from as little as £5k for a basic project, moving to £20K+ for more extensive or elaborate builds. Project features can vary depending on price, including the likes of bespoke designs, detailed UX, unique navigation systems, use of various multimedia, hot spots, day and night toggles, drone footage, audio and voice-overs. How much you spend is up to you.
13.What’s the difference between VR and AR?
VR (Virtual Reality) takes a real-world experience and turns it into a photo/video format that can be viewed over and over, 24/7. AR (Augmented Reality) on the other hand superimposes objects into an environment, sometimes in real time. It’s often seen within gaming or shopping experiences.
14.How can I watch Virtual videos?
Virtual tools such as Virtual Sales Tools, Virtual Training, Virtual Open Days, Virtual Tours, Virtual Recruitment, Virtual Tourism can be accessed using computer, mobile or through VR headsets. Not all virtual videos will need to be viewed through VR specific equipment.
15.Can my virtual experience be updated or amended in future?
Yes, all our builds are modular, meaning they can be updated whenever necessary to ensure they always represent the latest and best of your offering.
16.I’ve not done anything like this before, will you provide guidance?
Yes, absolutely. We guide you through every step of what can be an unfamiliar process. Unpacking the options or making suggestions where necessary and giving you plenty of opportunity to input your own ideas to ensure we’re completely aligned with your vision and objectives.
17.What is the process for creating a virtual experience?
You start by contacting us and speaking to a member of our award-winning creative team about what you want to achieve. It doesn’t matter if you have a fully formed idea or barely even have a concept yet, we’ll work with you to design and create a unique and impactful digital experience.
Once we’ve agreed on the concept and planned everything, we’ll move into the production phase, capturing all the footage and imagery we need. Then, we move into the post-production phase where we put everything together, go through approvals and amendments, and deliver the final project.
18.How long does it take to create a Virtual Experience?
It can be anywhere between 6 and 12 weeks, depending on the complexity and scale of the project. In most cases we recommend at least 2 weeks for pre-production planning, 1-2 days for production, and then 4-8 weeks for post-production, depending on how quickly you’re able to give feedback and approvals along the way. Obviously more complex projects can take longer.
19.Can Circus film in hazardous or restricted areas?
Yes, we can film and take photos in lots of different places, including those with high security or specific safety concerns.
We’ve successfully filmed in locations such as live factories, animal enclosures, hospitals, the Parliamentary Estate, superyachts and more. We can work closely with any of your security, management or health and safety teams to get the images and videos we need.
20.What equipment do you use?
We use a range of equipment to produce our digital experiences, including 360 video cameras, drones, image cameras, mics and lighting from trusted brands.
21.What VR equipment do you use?
We can create VR experiences for a range of headsets and devices, including:
- Meta Quest 3
- HTC Vive Pro 2
- Apple Vision Pro
- Microsoft HoloLens 2
- Oculus Touch
- All smartphones, tablets and web browsers