Kunal Patel #008
Joel Martin sits down with Kunal Patel, CTO of BrandXR. Patel is a tech guy! His background experience lies in game development, gaming tools, and 3D computer science. He realized how hard it is to do VR, he created a platform that offers simple templates and doesn’t requiring coding. Be sure to watch this episode to get a glimpse of the magic that goes into the company and sign up at BrandXR today!
Virtual Reality Made Simple: Brand XR Event Technology
Kunal Patel is the CTO and co-founder of Brand XR, an easy to use event technology platform for experiential experts and trade shows.
Kunal’s background is in game development, gaming tools, and computer science. He’s a technical guy, but contrary to popular belief, not a socially awkward engineer. Because of this, Kunal found himself in leadership positions. He met his co-founder and CEO, who falls more into the sales and marketing area, when Kunal was looking for some VR headsets for a project. Luckily, his future co-founder had started a VR headset company. They hit it off right away, both having grown up in Detroit, and now finding themselves chasing the same dream from two different directions.
They discussed how hard it was to make virtual reality, augmented reality, or really any projects related to expanding this technology. It took a lot of money, a lot of time, a lot of people, and production time was taking too long. Together, they believed there was something better out there.
Their brainstorming sessions led to a conversation about Squarespace and WordPress. Sites like these allow you to make a website in ten minutes. Then came the breakthrough questions.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could do the same thing for a 3D experience?
What if you could turn what usually takes nine or ten months to create into nine or ten minutes?
Brand XR Event Technology
This was the idea for the world code platform: building AR without having to code. Instead, you use templates, render something, and make it live. While not everyone has a VR headset, most people have smartphones. Of course they’re rumored to be coming, but until then, everybody’s got a cell phone. Everybody can hold their phone up and look through it, and with Brand XR‘s software, without having to program anything, you can enter the world of holograms and 3D.
Their website posts videos that show you exactly how easy it is to create AR. You start with a template (no code needed) and you can create a virtual scavenger at home. The true beauty of the site is it’s simplicity. When you have so many things going on, so many buttons, so many dials, so many sliders, it gets really confusing, and even writing a single line of code can be very cumbersome.
While Kunal has many plans for future updates, they are incredibly proud of the program they’ve managed to create.
For example, if you’re working with a thousand megabyte file that is 3D and really complex, they’re able to shrink that down, losing as little data as possible. They simplify the 3D model, and then stream that down onto a phone or tablet. It happens relatively quickly, and that person can see it in their space, whether it’s a 3D file or model that they can display on their coffee table, or a video that they have up on the wall.
Using VR for Your Company
People can’t go to trade shows at the moment, but this can bring it back in a safe, fun way. The worst thing about virtual events is that you have to keep everyone entertained. Some have tried sending gifts during the event, cameos with celebrities, and it’s all fun, but you get tired of sitting for six hours. That’s why giving the ability to walk around and explore makes such a huge difference. To see a real example, you can check out this video from Brand XR of a VR walking tour around Altra Credit Union.
This is an incredible resource, not just to create better experiences for clients, but for team building at home, where you can get points, do exercises, and run around the house.
If you can make a beautiful PowerPoint, you can work with Brand XR.
One of their favorite projects was City Unseen from Snap Gallery in Orlando. Using the event technology from Brand XR, they created “an ongoing citywide public art installation which opens artistic borders by launching the city into Augmented Reality [ AR ] experiences, with fusions of works by internationally renowned artists and cutting-edge technology.”
They transferred nearly the entire city of Orlando into a virtual art gallery, allowing you to visit different areas of Orlando, different suburbs, different districts. You’re able to learn about the artists and different organizations that work with children in the arts. They tell you their life story, what their parents did, what they’re doing today, and where they studied.
In another area, you might come to an open field, where a doorway portal appears. When you walk through the doorway, you’re in the artist’s studio. There are infinite, creative ways to use this technology to further the purpose and success of your company.
If you’re an event producer, you’re experiential, and you’ve never done AR, this is a great option. If you don’t want to hire an expensive event technology company or worry about coding, this is the way to go. BrandXR has no code circle templates and designers that can help. They also have a pro services team, so while you could choose to do it all yourself, professionals can help fill the gaps when you need them. They have an army of game developers, 3D artists, 2D artists, musicians, and people to help on the content side.
To sign up for the waitlist and get into the platform so you can start testing it and trying it out, head over to their website BrandXR.io. If you love event technology as much as we do, you can find more incredible resources like this on the EventSpeak website, and listen to conversations between some of the most innovative creators in Event Tech on our podcast I Love Event Tech.
