“Our mission is not to simply make world class experiential solutions easy & accessible but to prepare organizations for the future. The path to digital innovation is ever evolving. This is why we place a focus on the journey before the destination.”-Roni Cerga
A passionate business leader and innovator. His vision has helped shape world class offerings by utilizing cutting edge cross functional growth strategies. He maintains strong fundamentals by investing in a diverse organizational culture & people, streamlined process and the very best in product quality. He is a strong believer that the foundation to sustaining exponential growth is the result of empowering & offering a sense of ownership to everyone in the organization and beyond to our clients.
Lorne Fade – Co-Founder, COO
“As we continue to capitalize on the tremendous technological opportunities ahead we must always respect the competitive advantages that form the cornerstone of our brand – our people and our culture.”
Lorne Fade oversees all aspects of VR Vision’s application development, event activations, hardware deployment and 360 videography. He is responsible for guiding the company’s overall direction and strategic priorities by utilizing his digital marketing background to drive business development forward as well as driving sales for VR Vision through creative marketing campaigns and targeted advertising methods.
David Tucciarone – Manager of Custom Development
An experienced Creative Director and Developer, David specializes in creating immersive digital virtual experiences and interactive entertainment on both small and large scale. He has worked on over 20 successful projects with over 15 million users worldwide for both the mobile and enterprise training platforms.
At VR Vision, David oversees all productions from concept to completion to ensure all application development meets a gold standard of being completely turn-key and high quality. He has led successful projects for VR Vision with enterprise clients like Toyota, Tennis Canada, University of Toronto & Alchemy Systems.
Alex Pryor – Senior 360° Content Director
Alex has a passion for creating digital content and using multimedia to help businesses achieve their goals. The new wave of virtual reality and 360° content brings endless possibilities for business solutions and marketing material and Alex is dedicated to being at the forefront of this innovation.
He manages the 360° department of VR Vision, directing a variety of 360° content, such as 360° video and virtual tours. Alex has a keen eye to use these mediums as practical business applications to help businesses excel in the age of technology.
Joannah Apelo – SVP, Operations & Healthcare
Dedicated Nurse and technology expert with over 10 years providing client care and technology consulting in Canada and internationally. Joannah is driven to transform the way we view & approach client care. As an expert in both VR and Nursing Joannah’s goal is to greatly improve the quality of life for all.
Responsible for overseeing the development, testing, monitoring and implementation of Virtual Reality technologies. Joannah flawlessly combines science, business, and technology to make possible for life changing deployments.
She is also the CEO, Founder of Reality Well (A VR Vision Group Company). Reality Well is a Virtual Reality Platform for Senior Living. [www.realitywell.com]
Liz Nicholson – Enterprise Business Development Director
With an appetite for learning and advancing in new technologies Liz has what it takes to anticipate trends and collaborate with her peers. An experienced National Accounts Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and advertising industries for well over decade. Skilled in Contact Centers, Management, Customer Service, Account Management, and Sales. Extensive experience working with high tech executives and CEO’s producing high volume sales results advancing new business development.
Ian Jones – VP, Enterprise Sales
An experienced and accomplished business development and management executive committed to driving exceptional sales results for organizations, while exceeding all expectations for customers. Possesses a keen ability to motivate and inspire staff and colleagues to achieve success, both personally and professionally. Experienced in transforming laggard sales teams into highly focused and disciplined peak performers.
Specialties: Sales Strategy, Corporate & Business Development, Sales Management, Leadership, Coaching and Motivation, Market Planning, Energy, Legal and Tech industry.
Karan Sharma – Senior 3D Modeler/Designer
Karan Sharma is a 3D Artist with a passion for creating 3D assets and Environments for game development. He has an understanding of 3D Modeling, Texturing and Digital Sculpting and passion for Game Art along with constantly learning and advancing techniques while staying updated with industry standards.
He also has a solid understanding of composition, lighting, colour, form and structure and the ability to apply this knowledge in a 3D interactive world. Karan also has a hobby for photography and travelling.
Wei Tin Yuen – VR Developer
Wei is a young and talented Unity developer, with passion for anything involving creative design. But what good is something if it doesn’t do anything? With that in mind, Wei is highly interested in creating function as well, he loves to architect large yet pristine systems of code. With experience working as an Asset Developer, Wei’s game assets are downloaded by thousands of other Unity developers.
As a generalist developer, he is competent in both art and programming fields, and highly involved in the entire development cycle. Quickly building applications and making improvements where possible, Wei pushes the envelope of what VR can achieve.
Ahmad Askri – Junior VR Developer
I am a game developer who is passionate about exploring the new upcoming and emerging technologies and developing software for them. Aside from programming, I have a variety of different skills like 3D modelling, 3D animation, 2D animation and Video/Audio editing.
As virtual reality continues to grow in popularity, advertising is sure to be close behind. Google recently made a big announcement regarding their future plans for advertising. Their recent Google Developers Blog details the plans for mobile VR platforms.
The entire VR advertising project is being run by Area 120, which is Google’s workshop for experimental projects. One of the first ideas shared is a floating cube. Activated by either a tap or gaze, the cube is designed to seamlessly integrate into a virtual environment.
The cube format can use existing ad formats, which allows for a larger field of advertising opportunities. Companies don’t have to develop entirely new VR ads. Instead, they can use existing ads, including flat video. VR isn’t quite popular enough for many companies to develop VR-specific ads, so using existing ads is usually the most cost-effective solution.
Google’s plans for VR advertising are still being developed. Currently, developers can apply for early access to the VR Ads Plugin for Unity program. The ad format will be tested on Android, iOS, Daydream and Gear. The name implies the ad system will be similar to mobile ad platforms, with ads able to be easily plugged into existing VR content.
Advertisers are sure to love the flexibility VR ads offer. After all, they don’t have to spend time or money developing ads specifically for VR. Instead, their existing ads can be used in an all-new space.
The VR User Experience
While that’s all great for advertisers, what about consumers? VR users aren’t exactly thrilled that the VR experience is increasingly easier to advertise in. What advertising strategies are people likely to see develop within virtual reality?
Traditional methods might not be effective. Picture a free-to-play mobile app, like a game. Many apps are covered in ads. There might even be ads permanently displayed on the screen.
This is unlikely to work inside a virtual space. A virtual environment is incredibly immersive. The user is transported away to a fictional land. Ads will break that immersion. Plus, anything which disrupts the immersion is likely to annoy the user. The user’s feelings towards the brand will likely not be positive.
Google’s cube format is widely expected to be successful precisely because of its simplicity. The cube is unobtrusive but still visible. Versatility is another benefit. Unlike a banner, a cube can fit into smaller spaces. When dealing with a three-dimensional virtual environment, ad placement takes on a new layer of complexity.
So, where will these ads be placed? Some VR developers are already experimenting. The ideal placement seems to be away from the main action of the VR experience. Ad cubes seem to work best in pause menus, loading screens and similar.
The Future of VR Advertising
As new technologies emerge, advertising is sure to follow. Even though virtual reality is still not quite a mainstream technology, its popularity is poised to explode quickly. Google is already helping advertisers to prepare. While there will likely be some missteps along the way, hopefully both advertisers and consumers are able to successfully navigate the future of VR advertising.
