PRO THOUGHTS
Goodbye 2020, hello 2021
Matthew Martin, MD of Immersive Studios, on what we can expect from the world of immersive tech in the year to come
If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that we shouldn’t get too comfortable with what we expect to happen in the future. It was the year that turned the whole world on its head – both socially and economically – and it brought about big changes in the tech sector that look set to stay. So while we might know better now than to expect every predicted trend to be set in stone, we’ve nevertheless pulled together what we think 2021 might mean for immersive tech.
VIRTUAL EVENTS ARE HERE TO STAY
2020 saw an almost overnight transition to remote working. Something that has always been theoretically doable but never widely adopted suddenly became ‘the new normal’. Next year, it will just be normal. And while remote working has been relatively straightforward for industries that don’t rely on bringing together large groups of people, the same cannot be said for the events industry – which has been brought to its knees by the pandemic. However, the rapid need to replace physical events with virtual ones has accelerated the creation of increasingly complex and multi-functional virtual event platforms, which have proved their worth time and time again in bringing together international audiences over an internet connection.