Category: Virtual Reality

Mobile Web VR Games: Perfect Tool for Marketing’17

Yes we know, everyone has predicted that 2016 will be the year of VR. Despite of this, the sales of premium VR headsets have been sluggish as pointed out by MIT technology review. But what we believe is that 2017 is the perfect year to start working with mobile VR games content and experimenting with new VR ad formats in your brand and/or content marketing…

Already tired of reading: Play our brand new multiplayer VR Game by 3doo.

…and here is why: 

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Source: MIT Technology Review

As mentioned in the blog post after f8 2016, where Mark Zuckerberg announced the news around Oculus Rift VR development, the reach of mobile VR factors were higher than True VR – at least factor 4 according to Jesse Schell, of Schell Games.

In his VR games talk at GDC, Jesse forecasted that by 2017, 32 million mobile VR headsets would’ve been purchased. His projections indicate that VR headsets sales would double every year, reaching the 2 Billion mark, as early as 2023 (he differentiates between Gamer VR and consumer devices, which he calls Mobile VR). Brands will sponsor VR native-content, leaving ample opportunities for product placement and non-intrusive ad forms.

Source: GDC presentation, Jesse Schell

But the real True VR or Gamer VR numbers end up quite different than predicted.

The most obvious answer is accessibility. The $800 Oculus Rift with Touch controllers requires a desktop computer approaching $1,000 (or more) to run, as does the $700 HTC Vive. Only dedicated PC gamers are likely to own a compatible system already –  TechnologyReview. 

So, it is crystal clear that the cost is prohibitive right now. On the other hand, Google Cardboard, Samsung Gear and Google Daydream become more popular than predicted. According to reports, the amount of monthly active users (MAU) of Gear VR alone surpassed 1 Million already in summer 2016.

So as a company who is experienced on the combination of marketing and gaming, we focused on reasons for mobile VR games not being a mainstream hit.

And we came up with 3 core reasons:

  1. Bad usability
  2. Need of installation
  3. Quality of the content

Also industry experts and leading VCs in the AR/VR space confirm that these are the core obstacles:

2017 will be the year of Mobile VR. I hope people will get past the two biggest barriers for VR, which is a lack of content and game experiences and of course the price barrier. – Shawn Cheng, principle at Vayner/RSE – early investors in Oculus, source: VRV 2016

Mobile VR will dominate in the mainstream. It’s going to get to the point where it is just as high quality as what we have for PC VR now, and it’s going to become True VR.” – Stephanie Llamas, director of research and head of VR/AR strategy at SuperData Research, source: VRV 2016

By taking these 3 cores in our focus, we started working on this issue to maintain a sustainable choice for marketers whom are in the need of an effective VR marketing tool. As a result; we have developed a technology and content which helps marketers to overcome all the 3 barriers.

But how?

1. Usability Solution: Adding 360/3D fallback to overcome usability issues

We know from our experience with Toywheel in the early mobile AR/VR market, that solving the onboarding experience has to be as easy as a child can get. So thus, we have added an option to every game that allows to run in 360 degree/3D fallback mode. This helps people to discover the possibilities and the working habit of VR even if they do not have any glasses to experience.

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VR games onboarding menu – ready to run the game in fallback 3D mode

2. Need of Installation: Mobile VR html5 technology to get rid of app installs

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We already knew that with the current power of html5 technology, we can achieve native-like experience in web based games. So we used this know-how and combined with VR and gave user a chance to experience VR on any mobile device without any operation system limits. Our VR games can work fluidly on iOS, Android, Windows and other platforms on any type of browser.

3. Quality Content: High performance JavaScript (JS) engine to overcome quality issues

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By the power of not only Grayskull but high performance JS engine, we managed to develop finest quality VR games, with loading time of under 1 second. This become viable when the game expertise from developing physics-driven games in the 90ties is applied to the current JS technology, which comes very close to performance of the native code in the recent browser versions. Our tech also allows to sync the game for multiple players on the backend, without any performance issue for instant VR multiplayer mode.
“You are saying that you solved them all, but where are your products?” you asked, right? No? Maybe not you, but you sir, yes with the black shirt, you asked. So here is a little glimpse of what we did already and which mobile VR ad formats we’re ready to deliver today!

Mobile VR ads formats

The success of Pokémon Go, which dominated the 91bn dollars mobile games industry in 2016, demonstrates that to achieve great success with new technologies like augmented reality or virtual reality you have to actually think simple. At Gamewheel we already offering the most popular 2D casual game mechanics, which you can simply edit, brand and share through our platform. So we thought, why could not we do exactly the same with VR technology in the advertising space.

Branded VR Game: World’s first Web VR Game Ad campaign

Why not to bring the most original and truly addictive casual game invented by Atari to VR first? Click play below to try the VR multiplayer pong.

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How does it work? You need to look up/down or tilt your head left/right to steer the racket which you have to hit the ball.

The advantage of this casual game is that it’s very easy to brand in the most effective way. Have a look how our first branded Web VR Game Ad campaign for the super cool app 3doo looks like:

Multiplayer 3D/VR Pong Game

Multiplayer 3D/VR Pong Game

You can play this game on your own or share it with your friends via messenger and then play against each other, wherever you’re, independently of the mobile device you use and in 3D or VR if you have a cardboard at hand. This is all made possible by our powerful Web VR Game engine, specifically optimized for high-performance multiplayer gaming ad campaigns. This Web VR Game Ad runs even in any interstitial banner… isn’t cool or have you seen multiplayer banners already before?

VR Game branded experience

Audi’s VR experience invites you to drive cars in a sandbox. Remember how much fun you had playing in the sandbox as a kid? With handfuls of toy cars and a wild imagination, you could create your own mini world of dunes, jumps and turns that required some serious driving skills.

In what Audi is calling “Enter Sandbox,” the real-time VR experience combines a physical installation with an immersive driving simulator, letting you test-drive the new Audi Q5 on a sandbox track you just made with your own hands.

VR Game with Brand/Product Placement

We already launched a successful driving game in AR with Toywheel, so we thought we not to repeat the success in virtual reality domain? We’re planning to launch a VR multiplayer driving game to advertising new car models. The unique part of such VR game is, there are a lot of places for different brands. The game offers level to brand, car to brand or even billboards in the game are all available to brand.

screen-shot-2017-01-11-at-6-22-20-pmWith Gamewheel Partner Network we already started collecting what our partners like Trivver and Vire.co need and how we can come up with the perfect solutions for their need on our platform. For example the partner – Trivver from LA – is working on an SDK-based approach of delivering product placements into the VR (and also 3D) games.

Jointly with Trivver we’re able to deliver VR ads on scale. How does it work?

Bidding: Digital publishers list their 3D generic content to be replaced by branded items on the ad exchange, and brands then bid on the advertising opportunity.

Product placement: The product is displayed in the immersive environment and appears in the consumer’s smart tab, an interactive screen that houses content all brands have placed in the viewer’s environment. The smart tab allows the consumer to learn more about a brand, download discount coupons and see shop locations; the information is presented in a non- intrusive way.

Targeting and predictive analytics: Advertisers use analytics to better target their audience, putting the ads that are most applicable in front the consumer, based on that consumer’s actions, in real time. Advertisers are provided with analytics reports on viewability metrics, user engagement metrics and user data (behavioral patterns and psychographic and demographic information). The information can be used to create an even more personalized experience for the consumer.

paramount-screen-2VR game ad or interactive mobile banner

Last, but not least – you can also run simple VR game experiences or gamified banners. We already have lots of experience running 2D Game ads or Playable ads – what prevents us from putting the VR game into a mobile ad banner?

Nothing.  

So, don’t you want to be on another reality too?

Let’s be a part of 2017, the year of mobile VR games! 

Playing Games. This is Serious Business.

“The future’s in the air

I can feel it everywhere

Blowing with the wind of change”

When legendary band Scorpions released “Wind of Change” in 1991, a lot of people agreed on the fact that it was a good song but so few could guess that it would be –wait for it- legendary.

In 1991 we didn’t have social media. Or internet. Or even mobile phones. We were not “connected” and “digitally evolved”.  But we had one thing: Games.

Sometimes Games appeared in the shape of a black box called as Atari, sometimes a small light grey box called as “Gameboy”, before that we had “Gamewatch” and even we had “Game”- “Watch”. And last but not least, as you can guess, arcade stores.

A lot of people agreed on the fact that it was a good way to spend time but so few could guess that it will be,…legendary.

The games were not impressive if you compare them with today games but those small games were achieving a huge mission: Making youngsters social.

We were socializing through these small games. We were making tournaments, sharing our games, playing together. It was the first glimpse of what social media will be.

Then when the internet era started, those small games were suppressed by massive MMO games and PS, Xbox consoles and you know the rest. “Gamers” were a niche group, mainly focusing on games with high graphics and deep stories.

But suddenly something unexpected happened. With the invention of “App Store” and with the rise of Facebook, games became more and more reachable and easy to play. Your 64 years old mom started one day cultivate carrots and the other day she crush candies.

Thanks to the rise of mobile, smart phones and tablets; age barrier collapsed, easy-to-play games became a new way of spending quality time. And more than just spending time, it started a social hype. We were sending lives to each other or asking money for the cows. Games were once again socializing people. But this time not only for the youngsters, but for everybody.

The Wheel of game started spinning.

And that’s where we, Gamewheel joined the game.

Gamewheel founded by this vision:

“Games will become a new communication medium after video to connect physical and virtual realities in the mixed-reality world.”

Is this absurd?

What if I told you 10 years ago that you will be communicating without talking, not even typing but only sending some static or looped moving images?

Or that you will share your feelings to thousands of people that you actually don’t know with small illustrated sad and crying faces?

Sounds familiar?

We believed in this future and we knew that communication means talking, talking means offering, offering means advertising, advertising means marketing.

And this means business. Serious business.

While everybody was in the hype of video ads, we were claiming that future is in game advertising.

Now everyone is excited about the Facebook Messenger & King game. Having a game inside message chat screen is getting serious than ever and people are looking for some ways to do it.

And here we are, with our Cuuura campaign where a brand game worked flawlessly in Kik Chatbot. Yes a game in a chat screen.

So in Gamewheel, even with an experience of VR from 1994 on board, and faith from our hearts, we are always taking our steps further or quicker or faster. We are strengthening our connections with major companies like Facebook each and everyday and with new games, new ideas, and as a result new partnership doors will be opening very soon.

If you read this and have come this far and if you’ll ever think of making a VR game in a chat screen, an AR game working in a banner, an addictive HTML games for your campaign or something just innovative and functional, you know how to find us:

info@gamewheel.com

Lessons from dmexco 2016 – by Gamewheel CCO, Olcayto Cengiz

What I Learned in dmexco 2016

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This year I was at dmexco (Digital Marketing Exposition & Conference) 2016 as an exhibitor first time in my life with Gamewheel. It was quite an experience to be there as an exhibitor but not as a visitor. But I didn’t just sit and wait, instead spent my time with collecting some knowledge and here are my learnings from dmexco.

Exhibitor vs. Visitor

First things first. Being an exhibitor is far more exhausting. Spending the 2 days in a row from early morning till the late night is something that requires energy.Being a visitor can be fun and more comfortable but being an exhibitor gives you the chance to discover all the halls and booths without crowd.It is hard to make new friendships if you are a visitor. But if you are an exhibitor, you are having so many “BFF”s for 2 days 🙂

Pure Business

This years motto was “Pure Business”. And at the end of 2 days, I want to shake hands of the fella who came up with this phrase because it was totally bullseye. dmexco was full of business.

It was all about experience. VR and AR were the sexy topics but the real issue were PaaS and SaaS providers.

Seems that ad blocking and the need to find a way around this resulted as the birth of so many startups with the claim of “finding a new and unique innovative way” solutions which were, to be honest, almost identical.

Cloud was another big player. So many cloud companies came up with offerings like a dozen different types of packages.

Where the Frak are Creative Agencies?!

It was a big shock for me to see -or maybe I should say not to see- none of the digital creative agencies in dmexco. Or worse, none of any advertising agencies. There was a lounge for ad agencies, called as “Agency Lounge”, that was it. HAVAS was the overweighting company in the lounge, but that was it.

Lounge for Agencies.

Dentsu was there and they acted more likely as the media agency but their message was to the point.

Sum of dmexco, sum of future

Only Digitas LBi was holding the doors as a “Marketing Agency” with creativity and media assets.

Meanwhile there were like DOZENS of media agencies, and the “Big Guys” were there, embracing the digital era.

More surprisingly, the “usual suspects” were there, as expected, but they were acting as a “media platform” instead of a search engine or social networking platform. Yes, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Yahoo, Bing, ViceSpotify, Tumblr etc. Everyone was there. And they were positioning themselves like “media agencies” not any type of social platform. Even Adobe! They were there to show that they are the best friend of media agencies.

“Usual Suspects”





Big bosses were there; WPP, Publicis. But their creative and advertising branches were nowhere around. Imagine a conference where one of the opening talk is “Sir Martin Sorrell of WPP in a conversation with Jack Dorsey of Twitter” and none of the WPP agencies -despite media agencies- were there.

There was only 1 other gamifying ad company at the whole dmexco and it was not even a platform like us. Our approach with Gamewheel Creatorhad a magnetic effect on the visitors because there were no really creativity. I mean, of course there were creativity all around but not in a visual way. Mostly solution based. When we put on something which combines solution AND creativity, it was a blast. That gave me more hope about our future, we really may lead the way.



#GamifyYourself

So the results,

Yes this is me and this is my “The Results” shot.

What I learned from this view is, if it will go like this, future is going to be written by media agencies, service providers and solution partners. This may sound boring and yes I know it is very nice to say that creativity is sexy, but to be honest business is grey suit, not the red night dress.

Every company trying to reserve a place in the future must reposition themselves and embrace the new way we are leading.

Mad Men era was good, but now we are entering the Mad Code era.

Our TOA Conference 2016 experience

Gamewheel at TOA Conference 2016

TOA Conference 2016 took place from the 13th to 15th of July in FunkHaus Berlin. More than 11.000 people (source) visited the venue to attend the events, took part on the discussions and met new people and advanced technologies. Innovation, creativity, fun and the very latest technological news, created the inspiring environment of TOA16.

Gamewheel, as a pioneer of the gaming industry could not be away! Our stand was welcoming guests at the main entrance of TOA16, exhibiting all the amazing tools that our company is using on the market.

Visitors had the chance to play our avant garde AR game “Toycar RC” that has hit the top in downloads for android and ios. It is an AR (augmented reality) game especially designed for kids that allows them play in between reality and the game’s environment through their tablet.

In addition, visitors enjoyed our VR Pong game. A customizable VR (virtual reality) game that offers the possibility of being fully branded- a definite marketing innovation product for the Adgaming market. By visiting a website the player could play through his mobile phone a VR game against the platform or against another player using our Gamewheel VR glasses.

Playing VR Game at TOA16

Last but not least, the visitors could check our gaming platform and familiarize with the 5-minute- game creation that we are offering.  They could see real examples of our past successful projects, like Burger King and find out more about how to improve their online marketing campaigns in the most exciting and fun ways, gain more interaction and brand awareness with their customers and profit for their business.

Gamewheel welcomed more than 2.000 guests on the stand during TOA16 days, and explained all possible ways of creative and fun advertising through our Gamewheel AR, VR and online gaming products and platform! The future of creative advertising is here and we are happy to share our valuable experience in online Adgames, VR games and AR games.

Gamewheel at TOA Conference 2016 Berlin

Gamewheel is proud to announce that is participating in Berlin’s TOA Conference that takes place from 13 to 15 July 2016 in FunkHaus Berlin.

Tech Open Air Berlin is Europe’s leading Interdisciplinary Technology Festival. It offers the possibility for startups and technology entrepreneurs to find out more about each company’s products and services while brings them together so to share their knowledge and their latest technological innovations. It is a great networking experience for all participants and offers great opportunities for sharing new concepts and projects.

Our CEO Evgeni Kouris and members of our sales and marketing departments of Gamewheel will be there, at the VR sector right at the main entrance of the exhibition. Visitors and other exhibitors are very welcomed to pass by and play with our VR Pong game. Our team is looking forward to share with you our latest news and show you our innovative SaaS tool.

Hope to see you there!

TOA Berlin 2015 Day 1 - Dan Taylor - Heisenberg Media

TOA Berlin 2015 Day 1 – Dan Taylor – Heisenberg Media

Gamewheel at InnoSpring Technology Innovation Event

Innospring is one of the strongest and most powerful incubators for start-ups in China. The company has experienced more than 6.000 cases of innovation startups around the globe. Among the 300 startups introduced or incubated by InnoSpring, 30 of them are national key projects, and 4 of them are companies who have already been listed abroad.  

Evgeni Pitching

Evgeni Kouris- CEO Gamewheel

We are extremely proud that our CEO, Evgeni Kouris was invited to present Gamewheel identity and success stories on innoX section5 event, on July the 2nd in Shanghai. InnoX is initiated by  InnoSpring, and works closely with partners to carry out scientific and technological innovation. This was the theme of the Event organized, which included among other activities, keynote speeches and presentations of innovative ideas and inspirations, quality projects from startup pioneers from overseas.

After the warm welcoming of the Jiaming District Science and Technology commission and committee members, speakers had the chance to meet strong players who are considered great assets of the technology and innovation sectors of China. Follow the link of the event in Chinese here.

Gamewheel at GSMA’s Mobile World Congress 2016 – Shanghai!

We are extremely proud to announce that we will be participating in GSMA’s Mobile World Congress in Shanghai-China. Asia’s biggest mobile industry event will run from the 28th of June until the 1st of July. We will be among the 1,000 companies who are exhibiting cutting-edge products and technologies that will define the future of the mobile industry.

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Thousands of visionary leaders and tech-savvy consumers will gather on this event to experience a connected life. There will be 70,000 attendees, 8,000 companies, and 1,000 exhibitors in seven halls for Shanghai’s largest-ever mobile industry event. We will be presenting our latest games and technologies, like the VR-Pong game that we highly improved since our last exhibition at the NOAH conference. We are looking forward to meet new people and to show our latest games on this immense event. Come by and visit us! Our stand number is N3 4Y 14.

One of the exciting things at the event are the pitches of the start-ups that are participating in the event. These pitches will be held in front of a Jury of some of the biggest entrepreneurs of China. The Jury consists of:

Edith Yeung of 500 Startups, mobile collective fund focusing on investing in mobile apps and consumer internet startups,

Bruno Bensaid of Shanghaivest Ltd. A company which builds and executes cross-border investment, expansion, fundraising and exit strategies for its clients in China and overseas.

Per Dahlberg of SpringPoint, which links best-in-class innovation with Asia’s mobile market place.

Kenneth Palacios of Voyager Innovations Inc. focused on delivering platforms for the emerging digital economy.

Jury

Our CEO Evgeni Kouris will be pitching on the event as well! He will impress the jury with the endless possibilities of Gamewheel‘s innovative game ad platform. It’s an honor that we get a change to present our platform on such a massive event, for such a experienced jury.

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Participating in this event is one of the many activities that our co-founder Evgeni Kouris will be participating in during his time in China. The purpose of his stay is to get a foot on the ground in China and to explore the complex Chinese business environment. Gamewheel was also accepted into an accelerator program run by Silk Ventures, a venture capital firm backed by the Chinese government. The program offers a two-week tour of the country and helps Evgeni set up meetings with potential investors and partners. Yahoo finance wrote an interesting article about his stay in China at the WeWork center in Shanghai, you can read it here.

Gamewheel China

We are looking forward to meeting you at the event and to show our awesome games to all of you! Please drop by if your attending, our stand number is N3 4Y 14.

Gamewheel re:publica event – Free VR Headset Draw Results

A big thank you to all of you who stopped by and showed us some love at re:publica and Performersion. We had a blast and our cheekily named “B-Box” was overflowing with your business cards.

So without further ado the winners of our much coveted VR headsets are Tommy from Mashup Communications and Lukas from Friendsurance! Congrats.

Have you missed us at re:publica TEN? No worries, you have still chance to compete for a free Gamewheel VR Headset!

Fill out our 5 mins survey from here and get a chance to win the next free Gamewheel VR Headset!

Everything We Learned at re:publica TEN

The talk of town this week was re:publica TEN, but what has truly been making news headlines is the annual conference’s first ever Virtual Reality exhibition which highlighted some of Germany’s and Europe’s leading VR/AR labs, companies, agencies and schools and paved the way for the Performersion exhibition (scroll down for more details).  

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Headsets, Headsets Everywhere

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People flocked to the separate exhibition ground to get their hands-on VR experience. Many were fascinated by the latest VR news coming out of Samsung and Facebook’s and felt the need to experience “what the hype was all about!” They were not disappointed.

Stands ranged from immersive art experiences, to VR cinema, as well as horror survival games, Augmented Reality concepts and mobile apps.

Toywheel’s stand boasted both a server based virtual reality Pong game (which you can still play if you have a VR headset lying around) and our classic Augmented reality App Toy Car RC. The positive and supportive feedback once again confirmed that we are certainly on the right path when it comes to our VR/AR strategy and future predictions.

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As it was our first time at the conference, we weren’t sure what to expect, but our CEO and veteran re:publica TEN attendee ushered us into the conference’s expertly constructed  world of tech, media and politics. With over 850 speakers and 500 hours of programing centering on topics ranging from nudity, fashion, gaming, Virtual Reality, health, education and internet freedom. We were definitely able to find our people among the crowds.  

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So Here’s What We Learned:

re:publica TEN is not just about meeting new people and experiencing new things. It’s about hearing different opinions and openingly engaging with hard-hitting political and societal issues. No topic was left untouched, be it the: refugee crisis, hate speech, social media and nudity, the code of conduct for immersive arts and tech in fashion.

VR/AR are here to stay! The public’s response and demand for VR content is a clear indication of the tech tides. VR is a hot commodity that outlives its hype. It is a clear path to new and immersive experiences that will lead the evolution in media consumption and human interaction.

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The best part? The plethora of talks and panels are openly available to watch and listen to online via the the conference’s Youtube channel and podcasts. So, it truly is an experience not to be missed.

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Performersion

re:publica TEN wrapped up on Wednesday but our fun was not over yet. We stuck around to participate in the first ever exhibition of it’s kind: Performersion, where art and tech meet to collaborate. The two-day event, which was open and free to the public, led to some incredible insights and some amazing new ideas. We found ourselves amongst our peers as well as VR/AR enthusiasts and evangelists and some kids who are really, really, good at handling technology.

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All in all, it was a week well spent. Our creativity batteries have definitely been recharged and we can’t wait to dive right back into the studio to cook up some crazy new ideas inspired by both events.

A big THANK YOU, to those of you who stopped by and said “Hi,” It was truly a pleasure to meet so many of you. Let’s stay in touch.

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Have you missed us at re:publica TEN? No worries, we plan to present our newest AR/VR games and concepts at the upcoming and amazing Tech Open Air (TOA) conference 13–15 July in Berlin. So hope to see you soon (again)!

Gamewheel’s Re:Publica & Performersion Debut

We’re extremely excited to announce that we’ll participating in both Re:publica (2016) Ten and the first ever Performersion. One of the main focuses of this year’s conferences is Virtual Reality (VR). A whole separate exhibition ground (Labore:tory) will be dedicated to exploring how VR can impact our society, culture, and daily lives. This is where you will find our stand, which will be exhibiting our latest VR game concepts developed at our very own R&D lab and game studio, Toywheel.

VR Headset

Toywheel has pioneered  AR games since 2014 with Toy Car RC game, which has been featured multiple times by Apple globally and downloaded over 150.000 times. As the creative and experimental VR extension of Gamewheel, Toywheel is where unique and often crazy ideas are developed which are later leveraged into fully customizable and scalable Game Ad solutions on our interactive content platform, Gamewheel.

If you’re planning on attending either event, then drop by to experience our latest VR game concepts and be part of the immersive art movement!

We’re having a pretty cool giveaway as well. So don’t forget to drop your business card inside our B-box for a chance to win your very own VR headset.

Where there is VR, you will find us.

Yours,
The Gamewheel/ Toywheel Team

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