Right now is an exciting time for LBVR industry. We’re seeing rapid growth and more and more studios are finding success in the out-of-home market. Over the last year, we’ve seen a sharp uptick in the number of studios looking to monetize in this space.

With the growth and momentum come several growing pains.

One of which is the challenge of curation.

NOTE: For our purposes, we'll define "out-of-home" as including Location-Based Entertainment (LBE) locations such as VR Arcades, Family Entertainment Centers, etc; AND Educational locations such as libraries, museums, universities, and K-12 schools.

A bit of context first.

Out-of-home VR didn’t really exist before 2016. And in two short years, it’s grown explosively.

Early on, the only titles available for operators to commercially license were consumer titles.

This quickly became a problem.

When you take a location with a dozen headsets, managed by an hourly employee and end users that have never put on a headset before… and put them into experiences designed for home users… it’s a toxic combination.

Curation is especially important in this case because a location’s success is built upon end-user enjoyment. If the content is not intentionally designed for these settings it kills the experience. Without a transformational experience, first-time users will not want to come back to experience VR again.

Not good for a VR Arcade or student lab… and certainly not good for Content Creators looking to get paid.

Without repeat users, LBVR is dead.

Slowly but surely, Operators started searching for content that was better designed for their needs. In response Content Creators began developing “arcade versions” of their titles designed for out-of-home play. This led to a surge in these titles popularity due to the streamlined experience it provided for operators, and the increased enjoyment from end-users.

Today, many of the top titles on our platform are either modified arcade versions OR titles built from the ground up specifically for out-of-home.

With that as context, moving forward we’re focusing more heavily on curating content on the SpringboardVR platform. We’ve developed a process to evaluate all new and existing immersive content based on our vision for the potential of VR and a deeper understanding of what makes a title suitable for out-of-home play.

SpringboardVR's Content Evaluation Process

The way we evaluate content is a two-part process. Going forward titles will only be accepted if they meet our Content Guidelines and pass our Suitability Test.

1) Our Content Guidelines

VR has the power to transform on a scale that is entirely new, and has the ability to immerse people in thoughts, creations, and environments that have never, in the history of humanity been possible.

It is safe to say, that the limitless possibilities of connection and imagination are what drew most of us to VR in the first place, and is the cornerstone for our positive vision of Virtual Reality.

You don't watch VR, you LIVE it.

We believe that VR at its best has an important role in the healthy formation of communities and individuals. VR is an entirely new experience-driven medium. Studies have shown that the brain perceives VR in much the same way we perceive “real life."

Because of this potential for VR to activate “real-lived experiences”, we’ve elected to organize our content by the sorts of transformational opportunities VR titles might offer our end-users. Our new Content Guidelines are a reflection of this vision. 

Our Content Guidelines consist of four sections.

• What meets our standards
• What doesn't meet our standards
• Technical Requirements
• General Guidelines
  
   

Read more about our Content Guidelines and how we classify our six categories of transformational content here.

2) Suitability Scoring

Our next step is testing and scoring each title based on suitability. We ask the question, “Is this title a best-fit for out-of-home play?” 

To that end, we’ve developed a 30+ question scorecard, focusing on what is best fit for the out-of-home space. This scorecard is based on research looking at 50+ million minutes tracked and is the direct result of hundreds of conversations with operators worldwide. In the scorecard we assess a number of metrics, from motion comfort, menu complexity, first-time experience, and a variety of other details ensuring the title is offering the very best end-user experience.

SpringboardVR is Now Invite Only

Using this new content evaluation process, we’ve gone through our entire database and thoroughly vetted every title. Practically, this means that not every title will be invited to the new platform. Again, our goal is to carefully curate amazing content that is well-suited for the out of home market.

We’re also actively seeking to onboard and promote new titles that meet our Content Guidelines. Shoot us an email if you have any titles you’d recommend we check out! We’re particularly interested in titles that may not traditionally be considered for out-of-home commercial use.

We are proud to be partners with so many amazing Content Creators in the emerging world of VR and we are excited to continue bringing the best that VR has to offer, to everyone, everywhere!

If you have further questions around our Content Evaluation Process check out our Content Guidelines, or email us at [email protected].