German-based startup rooom has unveiled its first suite of products, each piece being designed to create specific virtual events tailored to users’ needs and specifications:
Going forward, the company hopes that these new experiences will evolve the way businesses think about presenting products, giving demonstrations, working together, and even touring spaces.
Together, rooom hopes to satisfy a wide array of client needs. As such, the solution has been designed with intuitiveness in mind, not to mention a low cost of entry. While they may sound like a product exclusive to virtual reality (VR), rooom’s solutions will run on a wide array of hardware, including smartphones and traditional PCs as a web-based solution—meaning no prior installation required.
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Why rooom Matters
The announcement from rooom represents what we at Keypoint Intelligence have been talking about since the pandemic began: the increasing speed into a truer Industry 4.0. This means a greater reliance on digital, something which is sadly still needed as COVID-19 continues to disrupt numerous facets of traditional existence. One of the spaces most severely hit by the pandemic was with events. Most business-related events, expos, conferences, and tradeshows occur in closed, confined spaces and feature dozens—if not hundreds—of people.
While some have hoped that the vaccine would allow traditional shows to return, the recent cancellation of PRINTING United shows just how fragile the in-person event space remains. That said, not everyone is excited about the idea of spending every event on Zoom from now on.
Traditional online events have their uses. Keypoint Intelligence has often used webinars and other online tools to communicate ideas and data when in-person travel wasn’t possible—before and during the pandemic. However, many of these online platforms have their limitations when compared to the traditional in-person discussion. For starters, traditional online is 2D rather than 3D, so the experience is literally flattened. Engagement can also be difficult online as not every platform offers ways for the viewer to meaningfully interact with the speaker.
This is what has us excited about rooom and similar software platforms. Whereas older technology is trying to adapt to this new level of digital dependency, rooom was developed from the ground up with a digital-first experience in mind. It is not relying on any in-person component to provide the engagement or interaction, instead building these tools right into the experience. A comprehensive software-as-a-service (SaaS) product like rooom represents the next stage of digital interaction—one that doesn’t seek to adapt in-person events to an online platform, but to build around the limits and possibilities of the digital space.
How rooom Challenges Traditional Company Outreach
We’ve all been late to a show before. Traffic, children, illness—the list of factors goes on. Each obstacle can damage the experience, especially if you end up missing that one session you really wanted to attend or the demonstration you wanted to see filled up before you could get a space (or you were at the back and could barely see anything).
With platforms like rooom, these situations can be largely averted. The event as we know it will be redefined without a space and with far less limitations. No longer will drupa have to worry about renting a hall or organizers trying to schedule around a limited number of rooms: Everything is limitless and can always be available. A user could log into eventCloud and walk into the front row of an opening keynote in the morning and get the same experience as someone who watched it at night.
This is not to say that interactivity can happen anytime; some of that is still limited by people. Additionally, not everyone using rooom will get the same quality of experience. While the platform does work across numerous types of hardware, it is difficult to see a smartphone user getting the same sense of immersion as a user wearing a VR headset. Still, having millions of potential users will help the platform grow and evolve more quickly—so that when a mainstream VR headset is available, the move to elevate the experience will be that much easier.
Our Take
It is far too soon to say whether the in-person tradeshow needs to ever fully fear being replaced by this new type of platform, but rooom and other solutions like it represent a challenge. One that looks at the new world that is possible with true Industry 4.0 and tries to build solutions from the ground up, rather than simply applying a new technological coat of paint to an old process.
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| A colorful layout showcases the different solutions rooom is offering. |
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