Whether you can find a Samsung Gear VR in time for the holidays or not, the company behind the mobile virtual reality accessory keeps releasing ads that follow a very important narrative for the future of VR. The ad is extremely well done, and focuses on games this time.
As I’ve noted, most of the questions that people ask about VR is “can I do this?” or “can I do that?” and Samsung’s commercials keep feeding into that narrative. Have a quick look:
The ad finishes with a tagline that encapsulates the Gear VR experience nicely — “Your world just got bigger.” It also demonstrates how easy it is to go from a normal “phone viewing” experience into a virtual one with a quick snap of your phone into the Gear VR. This is the simple “setup” that I outlined in my recent experience of flying whilst jacked in.
Instead of leaving it up to your imagination, there’s a narrator that chimes in with key refrains like “you’re actually in the game” and “now you don’t look at the stars, you fly among them.”
Basically, Samsung is telling you that you’re spending a lot of time on your phone to view things that could be way more immersive, why not take it to the next level? With their product of course.
If you were to take all of the branding out of these ads, I’d swear that they came from Apple. Samsung is smartly focusing on ease of use and a few sample experiences that people ask about a lot. Even if you’re not a hardcore gamer you probably get a twinge of FOMO if you haven’t copped the Gear VR yet. That narrative is important, and it’s paving the way for next year, when the Oculus Rift hits and the HTC Vive and Sony offerings hit the shelves.
Will the heavy lifting on Samsung’s part pay off? The horse has been led to the water, but will it drink? They hope so, and there’s a lot of companies out there with the same hope.