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“if Oculus Rift achieves its potential, it will change more than just a game, but entire industries.”
From Techcrunch, 16 March 2015
This is how I feel about virtual reality, Oculus Rift and all the other tech possibilities, about High Fidelity and the future of education, about how virtual reality will be the next shift in media – and will impact publishing in a similar way to the ebook revolution.
This article first appeared on The Future Book yesterday (16 March 2015.) And before everyone freaks out at the next new thing, I believe this will happen on a 2 – 5 year timeline, so it is not imminent! But something to get excited about (if you like this kind of thing!) I'll keep you up to date on it over time.
Customers will always want books, in that they want entertainment, inspiration and education in some kind of packaged format, but how they shop is changing and how they experience the world is changing too.
Imagine walking along a street of bookstores, each one with an enticing window display of eye-catching new covers that appeal to readers of a certain genre. You walk inside one with the dark, brooding atmosphere of the crime/thriller lover and find yourself in a bookstore with shelves of books configured just for your tastes. You’re drawn to a cover, pick up the book and start to read. You turn the pages, feeling the quality paper, smelling that new book scent. You continue browsing and when you’re ready to purchase, you choose your format and the book is sent to you in the format you choose.
Then you take off your VR headset and carry on with your day.
The Virtual Reality Bookstore
With a VR bookstore, or street of bookstores, you could have:
- Infinite stock with a display that changes when the same customer re-enters, meaning they are exposed to more product
- Algorithms tailored to present people with new books, or books related to what they have read before and might like next
- Avatar bookstore owners and assistants who can talk about their recommendations – the same personal touch you get in independent bookstores
- A global reach with niche bookstores so any independent could set up a curated store and have customers entering from anywhere, solving the problem of foot traffic and high costs of running a physical bookstore
- Stores tailored to nichesg. Apple style chrome and glass for tech geeks, candlelit rooms for Gothic, flower filled boudoirs for romance readers. And of course, less cliché environments too!
- Libraries for reference based on the great libraries of the world where people can find digitalised versions of books that aren’t available for sale anymore. In my ARKANE novels, I have a portal that leads into the Bodleian Library where my characters consult ancient texts in a VR Radcliffe Camera
- Virtual author appearances where people can come and hear authors speak in the niche bookstores – without the costs of actually getting the author there. Like a webinar but with the full immersion VR experience
- The customer can browse the shelves, picking up books and reading them. They can feel the paper with haptic technology, and yes, they can even smell that new book smell. They can then click to buy in whatever format they like – print on demand shipped immediately (via the drones, of course!), ebook or audiobook format to their device. Or maybe the new VR format where you’re immersed in the story, particularly popular in the romance stores
I see a Harry Potter style Diagon Alley where as a bibliophile, I can go and roam, discovering new and exciting books. Since I buy books (digitally) almost every day, I’d probably be in there a lot!
The financial model
The costs will involve buying and developing a VR domain, and the algorithms that suggest virtual product need to be designed. Yes, there is a technical challenge here. But just imagine the upside:
- Fewer physical stores – and those that there are can be run as ‘experiences’ and ‘destinations’ as per Apple/Google. The jobs will be in curation and management of the online stock as opposed to shipping, opening boxes, stocking shelves. But there will be many more curated digital stores that appeal to different types of readers. As an author writing in the thriller niche, I would definitely want to curate my own store, recommending books that I enjoy and earning affiliate income. A kind of Goodreads meets Penguin Random House’s My Independent Bookstore but in the virtual reality space where I can control the look and feel of my store. Many of us already do this kind of thing with lists of recommended books and affiliate links but this would be much cooler.
- Lower costs and increased profits. Income from customers, either through some version of retail pricing decided with publishers or through an affiliate model. The opportunity for up-sell based on what the customer is interested in, as well as personalised recommendations. More books produced but using digital formats and print on demand instead of print runs meaning less wastage and pulping.
- Global penetration into a market that is increasingly online. With both Google and Facebook invested in getting another billion people online, this won’t take long and virtual browsing customers can come from anywhere.
- And just imagine the data you will be able to capture! All those juicy details about browsing habits and what people buy. You could test covers, using different versions for gender or age group or nationality. You could test price points, placement and even titles. The possibilities here are incredibly exciting for data geeks!
Virtual reality is (almost) here
You might think this sounds crazy but the technology is already here and the first wave will be mainstream in the next year. Forbes reports that the VR market is expected to grow to $407.51 million and reach more than 25 million users by 2018.
Yahoo reports that Facebook has Oculus Rift, Samsung has Gear VR, Microsoft has the HoloLens, and Apple and Google Project Cardboard also have developments in progress. Car companies are using VR for virtual test drives at car shows, and Sir Paul McCartney has launched a VR app for 360 degree concert footage plus immersive effects.
Gaming companies are taking it further, so players can use their hands in the game, a technological advancement where the body becomes the controller in VR space. And one of the biggest investments will be in education, taking MOOCs into the next level with virtual immersive learning.
But it goes further than tech because the virtual reality community has already been proven in SecondLife, an online world now 12 years old. I have a friend who makes a full-time living designing virtual clothing for avatars on SecondLife. She spends much of the year on cruises as the costs are incredibly low with digital product and she can work from anywhere. There are bookstores in SecondLife and there are authors who run events and retreats there too. The ecosystem is incredibly rich … but it’s not immersive. It’s not VR and never went mainstream because it was too early.
But the creator of SecondLife, Philip Rosedale, has now started High Fidelity, which is part funded by Google Ventures, and looks like it could be something like a SecondLife world in VR. They have just raised another 11m in funding to build deployable virtual worlds, to “quickly generate a virtual space to meet and interact with.” That sounds like it could turn into a virtual bookstore, or a virtual conference, an author group, a writer’s group and so much more.
Let’s look a few years into the future
We’re not competing against each other, we’re competing against gaming and on-demand film/TV as well as music. These industries are embracing VR and the immersive experience will take consumers even further from books. We need to embrace this technology and invest in where the online retail environment will be in five years time.
I’m super excited about the opportunity ahead and if you’re interested in VR for publishing and the future of books, I’d love to be part of cross-industry group to discuss this further. Let’s design the FutureBook!
Are you excited about virtual reality? Or are you still getting to grips with ebooks 🙂 Please do leave a comment below and join the conversation.
Top image: Flickr Creative Commons Oculus rift headset by Ian Muttoo
Wow, how cool. I’m in the process of attempting a career sea-change but it takes time as you know. In the meantime, while I do my day job and write fiction at night, I’m always on the lookout for other opportunities. Some way to have a more balanced lifestyle and work from home around my son’s life.
I was recently considering how to make an online bookstore (as books and writing are my passion) a better version of what is currently out there. I don’t want to be Amazon, but this VR technology sounds really cool.
I can’t wait to get more involved and, as you say, create your own VR bookstore.
I’d love to hear more about this and when it will be available.
I’ll definitely be keeping up to date on this 🙂 I think it is a 2-5 year timeline, but it’s coming …
Hi Joanna,
I was buzzed about VR back at university in the early 90’s but it has never really fulfilled it’s potential. Maybe it’s time has come — but I doubt it.
My view is that a hybrid store will be the most effective bookshop concept going forward. I believe people prefer physical ‘real’ shopping experiences (we are social creatures after all), but people also now demand the the price, the efficiency and the tailored algorithms that are provided by the online experience. I conceived of just such a store and wrote about it from the POV of Amazon, calling it the ‘Oasis Lounge’. The article is up on my website.
Thanks
Greg
“I believe people prefer physical ‘real’ shopping experiences (we are social creatures after all)”
That depends on
a) personality type – I hate shopping, always have and do everything I can online – I would love to VR grocery shop 🙂
b) where people live – the growth of ebooks in the US was also a lot to do with how far many people live from a bookstore or library – and extend that to countries in Africa and Asia and you can see that most people can’t just drive to a bookstore, or walk like I can in London
I agree with hybrid idea – but VR will enable bookstores for the many millions of people who don’t have the choice of a physical store.
You make some good points there Joanna. I am also averse to shopping centres. You can often find me on the ‘bored husband’s’ seat while my wife and daughter swan about shopping. My point is really about how social spaces have yet to catch up with the pace of change in the information age. If VR can really deliver this time, (and obviously some very powerful and knowledgeable people think that it can), I would be thrilled. The ability to engage in genuinely powerful VR experiences would mean so much disruption and so much change that the total impact of VR on society is very hard to conceive of. That idea does excite me — but — I have been excited about this idea before and the technology was never forthcoming. I also feel that (no matter how good VR gets) people will always want to actually go out and be in real space and be around real people.
You make some good points there Joanna. If VR can really deliver this time, (and obviously some very powerful and knowledgeable people think that it can), I would be thrilled. The ability to engage in genuinely powerful VR experiences would mean so much disruption and so much change that the total impact of VR on society is hard to conceive. That idea does excite me — but — I have been excited about this idea before and the technology was never forthcoming. Like you, I am averse to shopping centres. You can often find me on the ‘bored husband’s’ seat while my wife and daughter swan about shopping. My point is really about how social spaces have yet to catch up with the pace of change in the information age. I also feel that (no matter how good VR gets) people will always want to actually go out and be in real space and be around real people.
Joanna,
This is a very interesting concept. I believe that authors should definitely stay forward-thinking and current with the times regarding technology, so I appreciate you bringing up this topic. I have more information needed about VP before I can make it a reality, but I love learning, so I will get it done. I learned how to get things done before I had the freedom (because of military restrictions) to freely market and attract the audience to it, so getting the eBook done was fine. I am very excited about this new phase in full-time business where I will be free to market without going thru a mega load of permission channels. VP sounds like a new adventure to explore. Thanks for bringing this up!
What a fascinating idea! In fact, there’s two distinct ideas here, as I read it – the first is the use of VR to create a virtual bookstore, the second is that because it’s digital, it can be intensely personalized and pro-active, and in fact the latter can be delivered independently of the former, and vice versa. Existing services are wildly lacking in effective personalization…..great article!
Thanks Mark – interesting times ahead 🙂
I can see VR becoming mainstream in the next few years, but still believe that we don’t necessarily need to embrace *all* media. Personally for me curling up with a good book (preferably on my Kindle) is a specific experience. I enjoy watching a movie, and consume a variety of media in a variety of forms, but each type of media also has its own advantages and disadvantages under specific circumstances.
And a book is still a perfectly valid media for consuming a story. It doesn’t have to be anything more than words on a page. The imagination will fill in the rest.
I agree David, and I’m not talking about making the BOOK into a VR experience – I’m talking about shopping for books and making the bookstore VR – and also having environments for interesting marketing e.g. having a VR book launch in the Paris catacombs for my thrillers – or having an ALLi VR meetup somewhere fun in VR and not just on FB.
VR is coming to other shopping areas as well. I spoke to an entrepreneur yesterday who’s looking at VR for fashion shopping…
oh definitely, I hate hate hate shopping!
I have seen this device they use at crime scenes, you basically put it down and it does a 3D laser scan of the room so you can reconstruct the crime scene later. I see something like that for fashion – so I can use the device in my home to 3d scan my body and then I can go shopping in VR, using haptic tech for material touch and try stuff on and then have it shipped to me same day. Cool …
For all the changes in book publishing, all the publishing opportunities, and all the technological innovations, there will always be people who will want to curl up to read a printed book.
Yes, but that number is reducing over time – and have you seen a 2 year old with an iPad 🙂 The digital natives are not yet fully grown. Plus, with haptic technology, your ‘book’ will feel real in VR.
I was one of those who thought I would never give up print books, but now I can’t stand reading on them – and will avoid them if I can get a digital copy. It’s so much handier on my phone or Paperwhite.
What a delicious thought experiment, Joanna! I’m with you – slow to adopt to e-reading, but now I own a Kindle and do a fair amount of reading on it. I’m struggling with the physical vs online bookstore thing now, and online is slowly winning the battle. A VR bookstore would put me completely over the line 🙂
Johanna, Wow. Just wow!
I have an article coming out in the next issue of Communicator, a journal for technical communicators, about the advances in VR and what it means for business. But in dreaming up scenarios, I never imagined this one.
I’ve been in VR since about 2oo8. I’ve had a premium Second Life account ever since. I go for long periods of time without entering, because, as you said, it’s just not there yet. But I keep exploring. I’ve done several experiments, some as an educator, and some for personal exploration. I’ve held conferences, taught a university class in SL, had a book store, virtual office, done book interviews… you name it. I have long seen the potential.
At the end of that upcoming article, I asked for anyone interested in joining a mastermind group for VR to email me, so you and I are on the same wavelength. I think you have my email now; feel free to get in touch. I would LOVE to explore the possibilities of this idea further.
And yes, I’m also a digital book addict now. You are the first person I’ve heard admit that you hate reading a print book now. I’m coming out of the closet! I hate reading print books now too. So inconvenient. 😀
oops. I spelled your name wrong, Joanna. Apologies.
Hi Toni,
oh fantastic 🙂 and it does sound like we have a similar mindset on this. I’m planning to get someone to ‘show’ me SecondLife soon so I can experience that as I imagine High Fidelity will take that idea and vastly improve on it. In terms of organizing anything for a group, it will probably be next 2016 before we see the tech reaching the stage that we can use it – but let’s stay in touch!
Joanna, if you decide to ‘play’ on Second Life, send me an email and I’ll tell you my avatar name and join you.
Thanks 🙂 I’m excited to give it a go.
A friend of mine who lost more than 90% of his sight several years ago, uses VR in his job as a plane crash analyst for Boeing. When the product was first developed for the military, in the 90’s he said the biggest issue was learning that what he saw versus the rate of actually moving, were seconds apart. I’m assuming by now even that little kink has been ironed out.
very cool 🙂
This is a really exciting idea! Combines the experience of browsing a bookstore with the comfort of your own home, but tailored exactly for you. Can’t wait till it’s reality!
It will be very interesting. I had a play with an Oculus Rift a few months back. It was pretty emmersive. It also gave me motion sickness so that’s one potential drawback to solve.
Either way, there are exciting possibilities.
I love this I have had some ideas going through my head about my genre for some time and how it can be more interactive and it’s exciting that my dream could be made reality!!
Very excited about it! Thank you for posting this Joanna – I’ll be seeing you in a few weeks at your course on 9th May! x
Super 🙂 I have a podcast on it coming soon as well – I’ll look forward to meeting you in a couple of weeks.