VR-MAX: THE PROBLEM WITH BEING ON THE CUTTING EDGE …

is that it’s high-risk. I believed immersive dome virtual reality productions would disrupt video-wall and giant screen technologies, which were in common use at that time, at trade shows and events.

And so, in 1997, Sinard Productions became VR-MAX^™. ECOLAB, a Fortune 500 company, hired us to create an immersive dome production for their most important trade show at McCormick Place.

It was a tremendous success by any measure.

But immersive virtual reality domes and their productions were never widely adopted as a marketing tool; not for trade shows, not for events. Despite expensive (pre-social media) marketing efforts, between 1997 and 2011, only Ecolab, USG, Starwood Hotels, and Church & Dwight’s Trojan Condoms hired us. We were especially frustrated that we could not convince others to emulate Trojan’s significant success – their TrojanDome Tour.

Today, VR-MAX is open in name only, choosing not to buck the massive support enjoyed by head-mounted VR displays (goggles). Goggles remain a perennial boy-toy tech favorite, despite having been consistently rejected as a marketing tool.

However, my emotional response to dome productions remains unchanged. I feel that VR-MAX dome productions are “wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it’s not for the timid.” — John de Lancie as Q in Star Trek: The Next Generation “Q Who” (1989).

Tech Note: For that first production in 1997 we had to call ABC-TV, whose Monday Night Football was the ONLY show to have used HDTV technology. They and Sony Broadcast helped us find the moth-balled equipment. We believe we created THE FIRST corporate immersive virtual reality video using HDTV video technology. We used 140º FOV lenses and showed in an Elumens V5 “portable” dome. Previous immersive virtual reality productions had used the cumbersome and prohibitively expensive 70mm IMAX film cameras or low-resolution computer animations.