Vertebrae’s New SDK Helps Brands Make VR A Reality

While Virtual Reality (VR) may well be the future of entertainment, the people creating VR apps in 2017 are still figuring out the best way to monetize their work.

That’s why the community has been buzzing about a new SDK released by Vertebrae, a company that specializes in providing advertising and branding opportunities in VR.

The new SDK gives publishers and other creators of virtual reality experiences the ability to easily and seamlessly incorporate features like 360 degree video and branded objects into their experiences.

“Our new SDK gives publishers a way to take advantage of the tremendous amount of interest there is in VR these days,” notes Vertebrae founder and CEO Vince Cacace. “They can provide a richer, deeper, more immersive experience without being interruptive or jarring. So in that sense, it’s the best of both worlds.”

Cacace and Vertebrae are working with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) to create standards for these VR units, as they believe this will help make brands feel more comfortable with VR. “The more standardization there is, the easier it is for brand managers to understand the medium and to see what they will and won’t be getting,” Vertebrae’s COO Marc Bennett explained.

The new SDK allows for easy drag-and-drop deployment of everything from in-VR 3D branded objects to 360o pre-roll video to gaze-based interactive 3D. There are web and mobile options for the headset-less as well.

“We’ve made it a priority to offer a range of immersive, native ways to tell stories in VR,” adds Cacace. “Imagine engaging with a virtual product that, when opted into, seamlessly unlocks branded worlds that amplify the VR experience while articulating the brand message.”

Making VR Accessable

One of the things we like best about Vertebrae’s new SDK is that it’s a great tool for advertisers and publishers alike. VR publishers are still figuring out how to bring brands into their experiences without seeming heavy handed. Vertebrae allows them to remain true to their original vision while providing brands with a way to be a part of the experience. Creating drag-and-drop tools makes the entire process quick and painless — publishers and developers don’t need to spend hours creating unique code that will only get used once.

The net result will be to make VR more accessible to potential advertisers, many of whom are interested in the medium but need help figuring out why and how it can be relevant to their brands.

That, in turn will help VR publishers, who must face the actual reality that the audience for VR is still smal. The additional revenue from brand advertisers can help them to produce the best possible experiences, thus expanding the appeal of VR even further.

Vertebrae’s efforts at getting the IAB to adopt standards from VR ad units are also noteworthy. The more certainty there is in an ad platform, the more likely it is that brands will adopt it, and the easier it is to provide those brands with apples-to-apples measurement. If the IAB can provide standards for VR now, before the medium really takes off, they’ll spare the industry much heartbreak in years to come.

Just ask the digital guys.

Originally published at TVREV.com