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

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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.

While we can all hope that the rollout of the vaccine on a global scale will enable events to start up again in person in 2021, the benefits of holding a virtual event, perhaps in parallel with a physical event, remain strong. Virtual events have vast reach, are easily accessible, cost-effective and environmentally friendly. So in the year to come, we can expect to see virtual event platforms continue to thrive in increasingly creative ways because, let’s face it, they’re probably here for good.