5 minute read
Engaging all human senses is the future of entertainment. Making the experience to feel as real as possible, as intense as survivable. But lets see the aspects how entertainment will develop and where the evolution has begun. After all, entertainment will be always the part of human spendings, and by 2030 particular expenditure is expected to grow.
Entertainment touches
all the senses
We no longer present information using only our voice, we visualise the topic using pictures or videos. Humanity came to the point where the volume of information is incredibly large. Consequently in order to be able to absorb all the data we create images. Perceiving news and numbers through visualised elements helps our brain to remember and process the delivered information. That is why infographics, content summarized with graphical representations, keywords, and concise data, are so easy to consume. World will become more envisaged in every sphere whether it is news or lesson in the school. Moreover, the visuals will become interactive like hologram.
Another strong sense is smell. We already know that smell can alert of danger or fancy aphrodisiac perfumes draw attention of opposite sex. But who knows when scientists will master information transfer via smells. Throwing the impossible away, we may see the theatre plays based on sense of smell only.
Seems too futuristic? Already today exists new form of theatre. The Punchdrunk has pioneered a new revolutionary form of performance, fully spectator-engaged adventure theatre, where the line between space, actors and visitors (not a traditional viewer anymore) is constantly shifting. Punchdrunk takes sites like abandoned schools and hospitals transforming them into the stage. Audience is given an opportunity to explore the building in own time and space creating own personal experience. Expanding from UK, Punchdrunk presented Sleep No More play in New York in 2011. Play is based on Shakespeare’s classic tragedy Macbeth. Visitors can follow all the heroes of the performance, look into each room examining the shelves and finding out dreadful story from the inside.
And technology brings us to entertainment using
Virtual reality.
All of us have read and seen the prediction of the headset that will bring us to alternative reality. Computer simulation will become part of our lives by 2030. Last year Sony presented personal 3D viewer headset, using which you can enjoy 3D movies everywhere, no matter are you home or in the airplane. It is not hard to predict today, which company will bring the Gaming Virtual Reality to mass market, as it will happen sooner than you think. The war for the leader market place has begun. Facebook grabbed headlines with the acquisition of Oculus VR with 2 billion U.S. dollars in 2014. Oculus’s headset Rift will be shipping to consumers in Q1 2016. Meanwhile, Sony has already launched a Project Morpheus VR headset for Play Station 4. Morpheus is to deliver a sense of presence, making the player feel as though they’ve stepped inside the world of a game according to Sony official website. Computer simulation is going to be nearly indistinguishable from reality.
According to BI Intellegence, shipments of VR headsets will grow at a swift 99% compound annual growth rate between 2015 and 2020. In order to drive the adoption of new technologies the prices should not be expensive, than, for example, smart watches, and will be paired with another standalone computing device. BI Intellegence predicts that VR shipments will create a $2.8 billion hardware market by 2020, up from an estimated $37 million market this year.
Beyond gaming, VR will be an important platform for streaming content and even shopping. By 2030 consumers will do grocery shopping in virtual markets, paying with virtual money, and drones will bring the order straight to the kitchen. Latest researches showed that respondents would shop online in virtual reality rather than in stores.[nbsp]Moreover taking in consideration trends of men being househusbands, the popularity and usage of the gaming is going only to grow in the future.
Consumer engagement
in the media
At last consumers will be able to engage with the content of the show or movie they are watching. High pick of reality shows popularity. As predicted by Hunger Games, game-based programs will not run out of the expiration date. Hopefully they will be more joyful and less deadly. Full consumer engagement up to the point where viewers will be able to make decisions for participants of the show. In addition to reality TV, new generation of movies blurring the lines between the film and gaming.
Already today millennials spend more money on movies and TV shows than on news.
And one of the reasons might be that media is tailored to consumers needs more than anytime before. Data will have an enormous impact on TV industry. For instance, broadcast TV Netflix successfully implements predictive models since 2012. Netflix knows what their client knows. Analysing data on which show, series and movie you watch, when you pause and repeat, company created a solid database on each of 44 million customer. Finally, future broadcast TV will be just what human wants it to be. It will be connected to our social networks, analyze our mood and behavior and stream to us exact show we would like to watch. It will be whole new level of individualized entertainment service.
Gladiator fights
in the parks
We have entered the century where programming is being thought in schools and this generation utilises Internet and technologies on the daily basis. Entertainment is usually one of the ways of communication. Let’s have a look how it has been done centuries ago: people were gathering in summer theatres, gladiator fights and other events. It would be foolish to think that technologies will not influence to this activities. The entertainment will be reinvented up to modern possibilities. Already today there are already entertainment centres with game machines for any age. Indeed, gaming culture will grow deep in the everyday life. Already by 2020, people will gather on the fresh air on the gaming playground competing with each other in virtual fighting ring.
