24
d'Octubre
de
2016 - 12:40
"We feel privileged to be able to live in the technology revolution and we think we have a moral obligation to bring these technologies closer to people to improve different aspects of society," says PerePérez, CEO and founder of Visyon, a Catalan company that specialises in virtual reality projects.
For the past five years, the team led by Pérez has tried to spread the advantages of virtual reality and its benefits, dedicating some of its time to social projects. This commitment to Social Innovation has taken them to Holland and now England, where they have been recommended by Google and interviewed by the BBC television channel about their app, A walk through dementia.
The collaboration with the Alzheimer's Research UK association began two years ago through the company from Mountain View. "Google called on us because they know we are involved in these things, asking us if we wanted to develop a virtual reality tool to help people with family members suffering from Alzheimer's or who look after patients with dementia," says Pérez. The tool helps to raise awareness and understanding of how these ill people see the world, a project to which the company has devoted 20% of its time, without receiving any remuneration or profit in return.
This social spirit of Visyon is also behind another project they are developing abroad, this time in Holland. There they work with patients recovering in hospital who, through virtual reality goggles with a 360 micro-camera, can contact their families. It is a type of virtual Skype that helps patients to recover, says Pérez. "It is a service that is seeing a lot of success because it is starting to show that patients recover a little quicker with a positive mental attitude; they feel less alone and that helps them to recover more quickly," he points out.
A hand from Facebook
The company's introduction to the world of augmented reality came out of Pérez's experience with marketing technology and mobile apps for over a decade, until he got to the point that due to his passion for new technology, "I invested in the technologies of the future." At the beginning, VR goggles were "more archaic" and it wasn't easy to convince clients to trust in the product, but according to Pérez, Facebook's purchase of Oculus –for two billion dollars- in 2014 helped to raise interest in these applications from companies.
Recent prizes
"Virtual reality can have a major social impact as well as for brands, because it allows the consumer to enter a more intimate space, the screen is right there and you are in an immersive environment. There really are a lot of possibilities, for us it is a new means of communication and making a video in 360º does not come near, the ability for the characters to take part in the story and to play a central role…," says the Visyon CEO.
Visyon's insistence on virtual reality is bearing fruit. This summer they won the prize in the children's festival, El Chupete, in the Digital Apps category for the app they developed for La Vaca Que Ríe, jointly with the BTOB agency. The company, which employs50 people in Barcelona, has doubled its turnover every year for the past three years. "This year I imagine we have a turnover of about four million euros. We are growing but everything we earn is reinvested into innovation and social services that are unpaid, but which we happily provide," says the entrepreneur.
For the past five years, the team led by Pérez has tried to spread the advantages of virtual reality and its benefits, dedicating some of its time to social projects. This commitment to Social Innovation has taken them to Holland and now England, where they have been recommended by Google and interviewed by the BBC television channel about their app, A walk through dementia.
The collaboration with the Alzheimer's Research UK association began two years ago through the company from Mountain View. "Google called on us because they know we are involved in these things, asking us if we wanted to develop a virtual reality tool to help people with family members suffering from Alzheimer's or who look after patients with dementia," says Pérez. The tool helps to raise awareness and understanding of how these ill people see the world, a project to which the company has devoted 20% of its time, without receiving any remuneration or profit in return.
This social spirit of Visyon is also behind another project they are developing abroad, this time in Holland. There they work with patients recovering in hospital who, through virtual reality goggles with a 360 micro-camera, can contact their families. It is a type of virtual Skype that helps patients to recover, says Pérez. "It is a service that is seeing a lot of success because it is starting to show that patients recover a little quicker with a positive mental attitude; they feel less alone and that helps them to recover more quickly," he points out.
A hand from Facebook
The company's introduction to the world of augmented reality came out of Pérez's experience with marketing technology and mobile apps for over a decade, until he got to the point that due to his passion for new technology, "I invested in the technologies of the future." At the beginning, VR goggles were "more archaic" and it wasn't easy to convince clients to trust in the product, but according to Pérez, Facebook's purchase of Oculus –for two billion dollars- in 2014 helped to raise interest in these applications from companies.
"Before Facebook bought Oculus, whenever we went to a meeting, the reactions were amazing but they always said they wouldn't do it now, even though it was the future. The first two years were tough but once Facebook completed this operation, there began to be more media attention and people and companies wanted to know what it was and asked us for a demo," says Pérez. With this change in mentality, the firm worked on software and content and, bit by bit, became established. Today they are partners of the Mobile World Capital Barcelona and work on events like Primavera Sound, for which they designed the Adidas installation; at Fitur, a fair they came to through the Catalunya Experience campaign; or the TV3 programme Polònia, for whom they also made a video in virtual reality.
Recent prizes
"Virtual reality can have a major social impact as well as for brands, because it allows the consumer to enter a more intimate space, the screen is right there and you are in an immersive environment. There really are a lot of possibilities, for us it is a new means of communication and making a video in 360º does not come near, the ability for the characters to take part in the story and to play a central role…," says the Visyon CEO.
Visyon's insistence on virtual reality is bearing fruit. This summer they won the prize in the children's festival, El Chupete, in the Digital Apps category for the app they developed for La Vaca Que Ríe, jointly with the BTOB agency. The company, which employs50 people in Barcelona, has doubled its turnover every year for the past three years. "This year I imagine we have a turnover of about four million euros. We are growing but everything we earn is reinvested into innovation and social services that are unpaid, but which we happily provide," says the entrepreneur.