A landmark event in virtual reality history took placein February, uniting thousands of passionate users, educators, and experts in a virtual world and giving them access to a six-day global summit exploring the possibilities of VR innovation. Created in response to a growing need for a meetup solution to help educators integrate virtual technologies into the classroom, the Educators in VR summit offered a six-day, around-the-clock meeting space complete with 170 speakers and 150 events that made use of multiple virtual social and educational platforms.

When immersive technologies trainers, Daniel Dyboski-Bryant and Lorelle VanFossen, set up Educators in VR in 2018 they anticipated the monthly meetups would attract around 30 people. This quickly became a 180-participant weekly event and as the demand for virtual gatherings increased the pair set their sights on producing a conference with a difference a virtual summit that would see a coming together of diverse minds, expertise and disciplines to break down barriers and expose teachers to a variety of virtual technology use cases.

Having now held their largest event in Microsofts social VR platform AltspaceVR, Educators in VR is achieving the founders goals of allowing developers, creators and business owners to talk to potential users of their technology; from elementary school teachers learning how post-graduate students are pushing the boundaries of virtual research through to VR dance instructors helping high school teachers see the potential in haptics and full-body tracking.

A powerful alternativeVirtual summits offer participants and event organisers multiple benefits, one of the most obvious being increased access. While a real world conference can be expensive and time consuming, preventing some candidates from attending, the barrier to entry is much lower in virtual reality.

There is no better way to share the amazing work happening around the globe than getting everyone together at a conference, says Dyboski-Bryant. Through this virtual meeting space and the series of events held within it we are able to make this accessible to all our grass roots members and key industry players.

In light of the current coronavirus epidemic, transporting conferences into the virtual world might also offer a powerful alternative solution to cancelling events altogether. Factories, schools, businesses and possibly countries are also shutting down as we speak. Remote working is spiking and virtual reality fits right in, says Dyboski-Bryant.

Outside the current epidemic, VanFossen highlights another reason virtual meeting spaces are so valuable in this time of global climate crisis, our carbon footprint must be reduced wherever possible: The impact transportation has on the environment is one of the largest contributors to climate change and initial calculations indicate 1.4 million pounds of C02 were saved over our six-day conference.

So will virtual conferences replace the in-person conference industry? If viral health issues continue to be a factor, VanFossen believes it is likely. If not, virtual conferences are not a threat, but an alternative, especially when it comes to business conferences that happen regularly.

The same applies to educational conferences, meetings and even classrooms. The Educators in VR team is also developing a Borderless Classroom Network program to re-envision the multiple class or school field trip meaning classes from around the world can connect virtually for improved cultural and shared experiences without borders.

Charting new territoryBuilding a virtual world in which participants meet and share knowledge required extensive research to guarantee the most suitable and reliable solutions were selected. The virtual social and educational platforms available are robust and feature tools that make event hosting in virtual reality easier in many ways than a reallife conference, according to Dyboski-Bryant. For example, it is possible to mute the entire audience or any distracting noises such as shuffling paper or feet tapping so only the speakers are heard.

Instead of the speaker having to constantly repeat an audience question so everyone can hear, we could easily amplify their voice, speeding up the Q&A process to allow for more question time, adds VanFossen.

The virtual environments in which the packed schedule of events would take place needed to be high performance and accommodate a variety of devices. While other virtual social and event platforms are usually limited to 20 to 50 attendees, AltspaceVR accommodated larger numbers. Its Front Row tool also made it possible to mirror events spaces, meaning more attendees could view the experience from separate spaces.

Beyond the existing virtual platforms and working within their parameters to ensure a solid audience and presenter experience, similar tools to real-world event production were used to create the virtual summit. Google Forms was used for speaker and volunteer applications which were then fed into spreadsheets.

Discord, the instant messaging and VOiP software targeted at gamers, was chosen as the communication tool for all speakers and volunteers before, during and after to ensure there was a one-stop source for information and communication. The ability to text chat and voice chat in Discord added walkie-talkie capabilities during the event and allowed volunteers and speakers to participate in voice sessions to meet, greet and learn more about how this worked.

Just because virtual reality needs computer and virtual device access and many of our speakers may be experts in virtual and spatial technology this didnt mean they knew how to present in VR, says VanFossen. It is similar but different. The voice is the key more than the body and body language. There is the coordination of the movement of the avatar in the virtual space and the need of the speaker to talk with their hands or to be able to talk and walk and concentrate on their presentation at the same time in the real world. Add the new technology of hand controllers or keyboard shortcuts and things get a little more complicated.

As the biggest hurdle was prepping the speakers for a different presentation experience, extensive training, rehearsals and practice time for speakers and volunteers was offered for a month prior to and throughout the conference.

Reliance on third-party tools and device limitations was another challenge. YouTube videos were embedded (or linked) from within Slides.com and Google Slides that served as slide presentation management. I doubt these companies have any idea we are using their tools in virtual reality. If they do, it is low on their priority list, but it shouldnt be, says VanFossen. By ensuring slide and video tools are robust in VR, they are even more robust in non-virtual experiences and uses. We want to provide our feedback to help them improve.

Device limitations present obstacles when working with all virtual apps, platforms and experiences. Users want a more realistic experience even when using inexpensive equipment but until more power and capabilities are offered by lower-end consumer headsets, successful virtual platforms and event spaces will need to alter the experience to suit.

VanFossen highlights one important lesson learned during the process: no matter how clumsy the device, how frustrating it was to see the battery or overheating warning or how many times the audio was glitchy, people kept coming back for more. Ive been at real-world conferences where a little audio or slide glitch made most of the audience wander out, she says. The endurance test underwent by attendees and speakers to be there and share their expertise and experiences spoke to the passion and commitment they have to this new technology. We are pioneers, and we know there will be glitches along the way, but we are committed to the journey.

New territoryEducators in VR was launched to create legacy opportunities and educate others about how best to produce their own virtual experiences and events. One incorrect assumption is that a huge real-world conference can immediately switch over to a virtual conference and attract the same people, points out VanFossen.

While it is possible to do so in 2D desktop VR, using the computer as your access point by downloading and installing a virtual platform supporting PCVR, to have a truly immersive experience requires VR headsets. Sure, there are other uses of VR and AR such as in the medical field, but the consumer market is still very new. Convincing people to adopt VR devices as part of their work or conference experience is a leap of faith right now.

Financial benefits might tempt conference attendees to make the leap into the virtual world as participating in a VR conference removes transportation, accommodation and meal costs. Buying a virtual headset costs around $200-$2,000 for consumer to mid-range professional set-ups, says VanFossen. Lets assume that the average attendee invests in an Oculus Quest, being wise to buy the more powerful version at about $500. Thats around the price of most round-trip flights and its a device that may be used repeatedly.

Saving money by attending a virtual conference seems logical, but further education and public awareness is needed, says VanFossen: Weve proven virtual conferences are viable. We just need to get others on board. The technology is there it is easy to access and buy, but convincing companies of the value of the investment is the challenge, one quickly being overcome as they scramble to figure out how to protect their employees and participants from becoming part of the current health problem.

Educators in VR charted new territory as such an event on this scale had never been held. By proving the concept we have opened the gates for a whole industry, adds Dyboski-Bryant. This summit was a success beyond our wildest dreams. Was it perfect? No. But there was no template. We set out to bring the community together and for six days the community and the industry came alive. We opened peoples eyes and there is a real energy and drive to grow and expand this development.

While the event itself was remarkable, the wider impact is only just becoming apparent. Within a week of the summit, at least 20 conferences shut down as a result of coronavirus and Dyboski-Bryant is aware of at least six organisations which are either augmenting or considering replacing their cancelled events with VR events.

Once the wider industry sees enough convincing examples of virtual conferences, it will develop a life of its own and I am pretty sure that even after coronavirus, we will continue to see this phenomenon grow, he says. This is great news for CO2 reductions and very likely also for VR device sales and the whole immersive industry.

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