Although the current economic crisis in Brazil has stymied much growth in emerging technology markets, There are a lot of reasons to be excited about Virtual Reality in Brazil. As the awareness surrounding Immersive experiences and Virtual reality evolve, there is bound to be consumer demand when the economy recovers. Brazil’s economy was booming when Rio was awarded the Olympic games in 2009, but the country is now in its worst recession since the 1930s. The real has lost a third of its value this year, gross domestic product has tumbled, inflation is nearing 10 percent and unemployment has soared to nearly 8 percent. There is a good chance that companies will invest in VR content and during the Brazil 2016 Olympic games. After all experiencing sports in immersive platform is going to be a big market. NextVR’s success in this area is an example of this market. Here are a few bright spots that popped up in the last three years as it pertains to our subject and attracted media coverage.

2013

GOAL!! EON Reality and CSM Brazil Announce Partnership For Virtual Reality Interactive Soccer Game The idea around this demo was to provide the user with an interactive soccer game. The user will step into the EON Icube, and immediately be immersed into game-like action with crowd noise, animations, and soccer player avatars surrounding them.  The game encompasses tasks and challenges based on realistic soccer play.  The Virtual Reality component will allow the user to experience a soccer match from the field, thus giving them a first person viewpoint; which previously was only experienced by the actual players themselves. As a purist, you may discount this application as not quite VR, but it is definitely a serious attempt at connecting the consumers with immersive experiences in a nation that loves Football.

2015

Sensorama is a company that is attempting to build large scale immersive experiences. It launched VIX this year, Brazil’s newest attraction, a 24 person ride that takes passengers on a mesmerizing underwater voyage.  VIX delivers breathtaking cinematic content by using multiple 4K ultra high resolution projectors, which give an uncompromising image fidelity, brightness and resolution. The system also provides an unparalleled riding sensation with a panoramic immersive screen, custom designed for this project.

The combination of six thousand pixels, uncompressed video, an 18.3 3D audio system, immersive special effects and synchronized movements with six axis motion of freedom provides guests with a natural, vivid and immersive experience in flying, gliding and speeding through magical landscapes.

VIX is a cutting edge simulation ride that transports guests to an underwater world filled with special effects such as movement, wind, mist, heat, smell, 360 degree audio and ultra-resolution imaging.

Given the consumers lack of purchasing power, I will wager a bet that these type of immersive games are going to be become more popular in the BRIC nations as opposed to expensive console games. This will pave the way for a more personal VR console and headset based platform in later years. Lets not forget the gaming consoles were banned in China for the longest time Only way to experience games was though internet cafes. It is not surprising that companies like HTC-VIVE has signed up partnerships with Chinese companies that are active in the internet cafe businesses. After all, where do you find a 15 by 15 space just to play a VR game when you live in a small apartment.

2015

This year also marked Nescafé experiment in 360 videos. Nescafe’ is the world’s first coffee brand to provide consumers with a fully immersive virtual reality experience, by transporting them to Brazil’s coffee fields using their mobile phones and Google cardboard.

After downloading the Nescafé 360˚ app, which is also available for Android and iPhone, consumers can slip their mobile into a Nescafé-branded Google Cardboard virtual reality viewer. This will go a long way in creating the 360/VR awareness. Given the interest in sustainability programs, one can clearly expect more 360 based story coverage arising from the rain forests and the nature via Brazil.

2015

Brazilian Team wins Aquatronics competition with Virtual Reality component at the 43rd WorldSkills Competition in São Paulo 2015.

The Worldskills Aquatronics skill competition was won by the hosting country, Brazil. Part of the Aquatronics competition included work on the Virtual Reality Aquatronics Simulator which was codeveloped by EON Reality and Festo Didactic and launched at the 43rd WorldSkills Competition in São Paulo 2015.

The virtual reality simulator features several Water and Wastewater scenarios in which users interact with a virtual water treatment plant, operate machinery, and perform emergency procedures. Through Virtual Reality, users will receive hands on experience with dangerous and difficult to reproduce situations.

We are still at the very early stage of Virtual Reality and immersive experiences. There is definitely going to be opportunities in the emerging markets as this new technology finds a stable spot and becomes more affordable for these new consumers. Lets not forget that the BRIC countries by far still have the most cell phones in the world. if not anything, this will be an attractive market for Mobile players that plan on using VR to create a lucrative package to sell more phones.