Fast Company Recognizes The Innovation Of A Branded Metaverse
- by Colin Kirkland , March 9, 2022
As part of its annual list honoring the most innovative companies of 2022, on Tuesday Fast Company named creative digital experience agency Active Theory as a Top 10 innovative company in the live events category.
Active Theory is a company based in Los Angeles that creates dynamic, real-time immersive virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) experiences for brands that are entering the metaverse era of marketing.
Fast Company's editorial judges recognized Active Theory's Dreamwave platform in particular, which enables the agency's creative team and technologists to create web-based virtual events and microverses for brands and artists.
According to the company, these branded immersive spaces are created for communities to gather, celebrate, and learn through live streaming, interactive video sessions, gamified avatars, social networking and more.
Active Theory has created virtual worlds for a variety of major brands, including a live event called The Field -- a connective space in a virtual celestial galaxy, which launched at The Wall Street Journal's “Future of Everything Festival” in May 2021.In September 2021, Active Theory created seven explorable virtual worlds for the Cardano Summit, an event that explores the latest in blockchain innovation and the future of cryptocurrency, where attendees unlocked collectibles based on specific interactions on the virtual platform -- some of which were later minted as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Active Theory's branded virtual content also includes a virtual platform for Sundance Film Festival-goers and a virtual museum for Xbox's 20th anniversary.
In the area of business-to-business, the agency developed live events for Google and HubSpot, making it possible for conference attendees to roam freely by avatar and have conversations through chat bubbles.
“Through the last two years of rampant digital transformation, we have found that businesses are more eager to take the trip and embrace innovative marketing technologies,” said Active Theory's co-founder and Interactive Director Michael Anthony.
“The world’s most innovative companies play an essential role in addressing the most pressing issues facing society, whether they're fighting climate change by spurring decarbonization efforts, ameliorating the strain on supply chains, or helping us reconnect with one another over shared passions,” said Fast Company Deputy Editor David Lidsky.
Overall, Active Theory's virtual live events projects showcase the potential future of media, exemplifying how branded content can look -- and work -- in metaverse spaces.
