EGX Rezzed has recently passed and once again I’ve remembered why virtual reality is so awesome.
VR is still at a stage where it’s not readily available to everyone and so events such as EGX or Insomnia Gaming Festival, are great ways for the masses to lose their VR-ginity. Now as someone who has worked a few of these events, I’ve used VR headsets multiple times on a myriad of games so you’d think I’d be over the hype of VR.
However, seeing the excitement on people’s faces when they first try VR never fails to put a smile on my own face. There’s a reason it’s hard to shoot a video of people trying on VR headsets and have it not look great (I speak from experience).
With all this said, the event environment can potentially lessen how good these experiences can be, from the rather long queue times to not getting a decent time on your turn. So as someone demoing these headsets for people, it’s up to you to try and make the experience as smooth and enjoyable as you can.
Now as I stated before, I’ve worked a few of these events, and by no means am I claiming to be an expert but I like to think I’ve learnt a couple things along the way. So here are some tips that I like to think help make things easier for you and better for all these people out there.
- Lenses First: You might not realise this but a lot of people wear glasses and with VR headsets getting better, it’s easier for people to keep them on when using them. So a handy tip, is to bring the headset over their glasses
lenses first and then over their head.
- Have A Conversation: As I said earlier, for a lot of people this will be their first time with virtual reality so talk to them about. Granted you will likely have a queue of people waiting, but take a minute to see what they thought and let them reflect on it. This may seem obvious but it is easy to get almost mechanical swapping people in and out.
- You Don’t Have To Know Everything: Most people that come by these events will be your average Joe who doesn’t know the precise details about VR, however there will be some that are a bit more well versed in the area. It is nice if you know some details about it, which if you don’t know any at first you will pick some up, but don’t panic if you don’t know the answers. If you get stumped by a question, don’t make up an answer, just hand over to one of the developers. Your primary job is to demo the headset, let them answer the more in depth questions.
- Careful With Children: This one is solely to keep you safe. Interacting with children can be a delicate scenario, so always inform the parent of what you have to do to put on the headset on. It’s polite and puts them in control.
- Control That Queue: Granted this sounds really boring, which queues are, but if you ignore it you can end up with some miffed (annoyed) people. If you’re lucky, you’ll have a cordoned off area with barriers that makes your job a lot easier. In that scenario, just check in with people and let them know a rough wait time. A head’s up is appreciated and they won’t be standing around for an indiscernible amount of time. If you don’t have barriers, then you will have to be firm with people and create a queue. They might be a bit funny with you, but it’ll be a lot worse if you keep letting random people in ahead of them.
There are other things that I could mention but these are just a few key things I feel help most, plus I’ve waffled on quite enough. All in all, just get stuck in and enjoy yourself, it’s not a bad way to spend a few days.
Nathan Briggs is a member of our part time events staff and all round nice guy.
You’ll find him at Virtual Umbrella events showcasing VR or chatting away to our guests.
When he’s not working with us, you’ll find him running his own startup film and production company, Rum Runners Ltd.