VR in all its facets at the 2nd edition of the World VR Forum

Last weekend, the second edition of the World VR Forum in Crans-Montana took place. From Thursday to Saturday, the forum was reserved exclusively for professionals and on Sunday the exhibitions were also open to the general public. The aim of the forum was to promote dialogue between the various professional fields and between countries, as well as to find investors for various VR projects. VRROOM was there as a media partner.

VR projects and people from all over the world

The visitors to the VR Forum were as colourful as the numerous projects and their creators. The attendees came from all corners of the world, so English was the main language spoken alongside French, a little German and Italian. All presentations, which took place almost without a break throughout the day from Thursday to Saturday, were held in English.

Even the international students from the local college were allowed to get a taste of the event on Saturday. The President of the VR Forum, Clayton Doherty, said enthusiastically that this school and its pupils will grow up with the annual forum and thus with the new technology and that this is great.

On the whole, the event was very well organised - especially if you don't count the Sunday. The numerous volunteers, mostly students from different countries, who supported the exhibitors were certainly also responsible for this. In some cases, I would have liked more knowledge about the backgrounds of the projects and companies from the helpers. Some of them gave very competent information and with some you realised that they hadn't even thought about it. And unfortunately, the big party on Saturday evening had an effect: On Sunday, some of the exhibitors and supervisors were no longer on site or arrived much too late and had to search for headache tablets first. In addition, the booking system failed in some places.

Spoilt for choice with the programme

The programme was so varied that newcomers first had to get an overview. Those who wanted to visit specific VR experiences could benefit from the aforementioned booking system. For most exhibitors, you could book your slot via the World VR Forum website. However, it was also possible to simply drop by almost anywhere at random. Although many were already fully booked for the whole weekend on Friday, not everyone who had registered turned up on time. However, it was impossible to try out and see everything.

Almost no choice when it comes to food

The catering, at least that's my impression, was a little on the low side for such a long and large event. There was only a small piadina burger stand on site and a bistro with a sparse selection and zero seating. It's true that it's easy to forget about the culinary delights when you're so full of experiences and exciting contacts, but a short break to sit down and take a breather would probably have been welcome for others too.

The show will go on

Overall, however, it was an extremely positive event that will give the entire VR scene an even greater boost. I can recommend coming to the picturesque Crans-Montana next year. Every evening, I was full to bursting from the many great impressions and conversations. Over the next few days, we will be reporting on one project or another and on various companies that presented their work on site - I promise.