VR Hotspots are overlays directly on 360 media. Users can initiate a 2d image or video overlay by gaze, hand controller, or clicking. Below we discuss why you should consider incorporating Hotspots into your VR experience. 

VR Hotspots are a great feature that are easy to add to your InstaVR-created applications.  You select a location and add a 2D image or video that you’d like to display if a user engages with the Hotspot icon. Like with the rest of InstaVR, adding Hotspots is achieved simply and quickly, with no coding required.

Despite the ease of adding Hotspots, some of our clients decide not to use them. In many instances, that makes sense. If you just want a simplistic 360 tour, there’s not necessarily a reason to augment your virtual reality with Hotspots. But too many users are not adding overlays either because they don’t understand them or don’t see the value in them.

Adding interactivity through Hotspots generally makes VR applications better. They invite the user to engage with the scene, making it more dynamic and memorable. For a lot of use cases, adding Hotspots adds value. Here are some of the reasons and situations that are best suited for taking advantage of the Hotspot technology.

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To Educate or Inform VR Users

Hotspots can easily be created for either educational or informational purposes. The overlays can provide additional information to the 360 scene being shown. For instance, if you’re presenting a tour of a historical Cairo building, the Hotspot could inform the user about the building materials used or a video can play showing how a particular feature of the architecture was accomplished. Our educational users are responsible for some of the more creative use case cases for Hotspots.

For commercial users, Hotspots can provide additional information that may be of interest to the intended audience. For instance, on a home tour, a Hotspot can be placed on a particular area of interest to show either a close up of the area or to provide information via text. One InstaVR client uses Hotspots in their office tour to tout pertinent facts about the business for recruiting purposes.

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To Entertain

Hotspots add a level of gamification to your VR application. Users must interact with them — either by gaze, hand controller, or click — to initiate them. We’ve had users add transparent Hotspot icons, with users having to search and find certain objects in the 360 image. And we’ve had users add 2D videos so that an object in a static 360 image can essentially “come alive” after being interacted with — to name but two examples.

The point of Hotspots is to add a little extra oomph to your 360 experience. So get creative. Because the Hotspot overlay can be png, jpg or mp4 — you have a lot of different choices on what to add. Treat it like a challenge issued to come up with an unexpected Hotspot that will surprise and delight your audience.

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To Make Your VR More Memorable

There’s two types of VR: passive and interactive. They both can be excellent and memorable. But the latter type really gets neurons firing and becomes sticky in the mind of the user. It’s like the difference between watching a professor’s lecture, and taking notes during it.

Interactive VR is particularly appropriate for certain use cases, such as VR for Training. Forcing the user to make decisions — which Hotspot to look at, for example — imprints on them in a way that simple viewing doesn’t. The neurons in the brain fire, a memory is made, and then the VR user should be better equipped when facing the same situation in the real world.

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Conclusion

Hotspots are an underappreciated part of VR creation. InstaVR makes it simple to add image and video-based overlays onto your 360 media. Whether you want to make your VR more informative, gamify it, or make it more memorable — Hotspots have multiple use cases. Don’t underestimate the power of Hotspots to improve your VR experience.