A New Era in Political Debates – Powered by Virtual Reality (10/13/15)

The first of the democratic political debates to be held today at Las Vegas will feature a platform that uses virtual reality to enhance the user experience. This is the first time that CNN is partnering up with VR Streaming company nextVR to allow users to take control of the camera so that they can follow a candidate of their choice and can have an experience that they have more control of and can make their own.

Interestingly, this experiment, if successful will open up new corridors in understanding customer engagement metrics. Imagine for a second, that during the debate, one could clearly see the rankings by number of users following a particular candidate or the amount of chatter by the VR users on any given issue that is being talked by the candidates. This new set of data will open up new possibilities for companies to market new information to the consumers.

Political debates may not be the first thing that comes to mind when speaking about virtual reality experiences. One can think of more interesting experiences such as a rock show where fans can follow their artists and gain more immersive experiences. This political event via VR however opens up the possibility of understanding brand new aspects of behavior that were not previously thought about. A branding consultant or an image consultant for a political consultant works tirelessly with the candidate to coach him in how to better use the camera while speaking or debating on a topic. These image consultants now will have to worry about how to coach their clients when there are multiple cameras in place that are tracking their body language and reaction even when they are not speaking.

Immersing oneself in the VR experience is becoming cheaper with new technology. The debate can be can be experienced in virtual reality by using a Samsung Headset that has been discounted to $99.