A Framework – Koncept VR
When is 360° / VR the right choice – and when isn’t it?
If “VR” makes you think of games and controllers, set that aside. The work we do is about placing people closer to real places, people, and situations. You look around rather than move around, and most experiences work on a phone or in a browser, becoming more powerful in a headset without requiring one.
The value of immersive media isn’t the technology. It’s whether changing the audience’s relationship to a subject changes what they understand. Across more than 100 immersive projects, we’ve found that nearly every successful project closes at least one of four distances: physical, temporal, emotional, or conceptual.
If closing one of those distances changes understanding, immersive media may be the right choice. If it doesn’t, a conventional film might be the better one.
The Framework
The four distances we close
These four distances provide a useful way to evaluate whether immersive media is the right tool for the job. They’re not categories so much as lenses. Most projects emphasize one distance, but the strongest often close several at once.
01
Physical — Somewhere Else
Museums, remote locations, restricted environments, places audiences can’t visit now or ever. For MoMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 360° experiences extend access beyond the gallery walls, allowing audiences anywhere in the world to explore spaces they may not be able stand inside right now.
02
Temporal — Another Time
History is gone. The future hasn’t happened yet. For the WWII Foundation, experiences such as Omaha Beach, The Siege of Bastogne, and The Tuskegee Airmen place audiences where events unfolded decades ago. The same principle puts people into buildings, environments, and futures that exist only as plans.
03
Emotional — Another Life
Facts can inform, but proximity creates empathy. For World Vision, audiences stood alongside a community in Zambia, seeing daily life from a perspective few donors would otherwise encounter. The result helped turn understanding into action, contributing to a six-figure fundraising campaign.
04
Conceptual — An Invisible Idea
Some ideas make sense only when experienced. For Arrow, SAM Car: Buddy’s Story placed viewers inside a head-steered, breath-controlled vehicle driven by a tetraplegic Navy veteran, transforming an abstract assistive technology into a tangible experience of regained independence.
The honest filter
When is conventional film the better choice
Immersive media isn’t an upgrade from film. It’s a different tool for a different problem.
Film can already transport audiences, create emotion, and communicate complex ideas remarkably well. The question is whether reducing the distance between audience and subject materially changes what people understand.
When it does, immersive media can be uniquely effective. When it doesn’t, film is often the better solution.
Formats
What kind of immersive experience do you need?
Once you’ve decided immersive media is the right tool, one of the next steps is usually deciding the format.
Most projects fall into one of four categories:
Most of the time
360 Video
A real place, filmed, that audiences can look around inside. It works on phones, browsers, and headsets, making it the most accessible and versatile format. Most of our work lives here.
Lighter format
180° video
A format that focuses attention in front of the viewer while retaining a sense of presence. It can be useful when the action naturally unfolds in a single direction.
Shared spaces
Domes, projections, and immersive rooms
The same content can often be experienced collectively in a dome, on projection walls, or inside purpose-built environments. When a project is intended for these formats, it’s best to plan for them from the start rather than adapting content later.
Occasionally
Interactive VR
When audiences need to move through a space, make choices, manipulate objects, or complete tasks, the project becomes a custom-built application. This is the headset-based experience many people picture when they hear “VR,” but relatively few storytelling, educational, or fundraising projects require it.
A simple rule of thumb: if audiences primarily need to look around, 360° video is usually the answer. If they need to move, choose, or interact, a custom VR build may be worth considering.
Quick reference
Choosing the right format
| Your goal | Format | Headset? |
|---|---|---|
| Bring audiences closer to a place, time, life, or idea | 360° video | Optional |
| Create a museum or cultural experience | 360° video | Optional |
| Support fundraising, advocacy, or public engagement | 360° video | Often useful at events, not required |
| Share an experience with a group | Dome, projection, or immersive room | No |
| Let audiences move, choose, or interact | Custom VR application | Yes |
| Deliver a tightly controlled film experience | Conventional film | No |
Questions we get
Common Questions,
briefly answered
Let’s talk
Not sure immersive media is the right tool?
That’s the conversation we like to have.
Tell us about your project. We’ll help you figure out whether immersive media makes sense, and if so, what format is likely to work best.
We create immersive experiences when distance is part of the problem.
