An Immersive Media Institute for Social Good, Agog Offers Strategies and Practical Advice on Establishing a Strong Brand Presence in the Rapidly Evolving Spatial-Computing Landscape.
Agog: The Immersive Media Institute today released See Your Brand in 3D – a pioneering guide on how to build a spatial brand, just as computing giants like Meta, Google, and Apple are bringing spatial computing into the mainstream.
See Your Brand in 3D provides valuable insights and best practices for organizations to harness the power of extended reality (XR) technologies, including virtual reality and augmented reality, and is timed to coincide with Apple’s new support for three-dimensional, immersive experiences directly through standard websites.
XR represents a new way to connect and communicate with each other-and to inspire action. Until now, your stories were expected to fit within a palm-sized phone. Soon, you’ll be able to create immersive experiences that literally jump off the page or screen to span entire rooms or blocks. The spatial wave is coming faster than most realize-and we want all organizations, especially those in the nonprofit mission-based sector, to be able to ride it to achieve their goals and contribute to a better, more just world.
Chip Giller, Agog co-founder and executive director
See Your Brand in 3D provides foundational information for newcomers to XR and fresh tools and techniques for existing creators, designers, and storytellers. The free guide reviews the learnings, challenges, and “ah-ha” moments encountered during Agog’s own spatial-design journey.
XR has the potential to change hearts, build empathy and human connection, and inspire world-changing action in ways that traditional media cannot. It was important for us to share our learnings and help make the use of these tools more democratic.
Agog Co-Founder Wendy Schmidt
Over the years, Meta and Google have broadened access by supporting WebXR, a tool that allows XR experiences to be hosted on the web. Rather than requiring an installation, immersive content is now available to more than 3 billion Google Chrome users and 3.9 billion Android OS users, removing major barriers for both media viewers and creators. This month, Apple followed suit, signaling growing investment in spatial access by some of technology’s biggest players: all iPhone 16 models, which were announced on Sept. 9, can shoot 3D videos and photos, and web-based XR is now a default part of Safari for Vision OS 2, released on Sept. 16.
Agog believes immersive experience will revolutionize storytelling. By sharing this guide as a free resource, we want to expand access and attract a broad set of creators to the field. In addition to achieving more influence and better outcomes through XR, their voices add a critical perspective to the field and can help guide the responsible development of this technology.
Amy Seidenwurm, Agog chief of programs and strategy
See Your Brand in 3D presents Agog’s approach to building an XR identity that works well in XR-capable devices, but does not require one to access the content. Agog adopted a strategy of progressive enhancement to deliver spatial content through its website, whether it is visited via a laptop computer, tablet, phone, or an XR headset. Agog partnered with the design studio 14islands and branding and web-design firm Upstatement to create its brand and develop a spatial layer to its website.
Agog stands at the forefront of harnessing XR technology for social good. We were excited to collaborate with the institute and put our technical and design expertise toward this effort. Together, we developed an innovative process to help make the creation of AR and VR content more approachable and user-friendly. See Your Brand in 3D demonstrates how spatial branding can transform an organization’s storytelling in more immersive and engaging ways.
Hjörtur Hilmarsson, CEO and co-founder of 14islands
It seemed so fitting that Agog, a creative community-building organization dedicated to learning and collaboration, would start by practicing on itself. The blended team invested in the creation of Agog’s brand by learning from each other: technical advisors shaping brand strategy; designers writing code; and everyone wearing headsets—some for the first time. The process was proof that good ideas can come from anyone, and sharing it as a case study should serve as an invitation to current and future creators to try something daring and new with new friends.
Scott Dasse, chief design officer of Upstatement
Agog launched in March to help people use XR to imagine and build a better world.
As a philanthropic organization, Agog works with creators and nonprofit leaders to harness the power of XR technologies to spur positive social transformation and open up new avenues for empathy, understanding, and activism. Its areas of focus include social justice and equity, high-impact storytelling and world-building, research, education and outreach, and advocacy and policy. Its work over the past six months includes support for:
- Anagram’s “Impulse: Playing with Reality”, a revolutionary mixed-reality experience that explores what it means to live with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and which was selected for competition in Venice Immersive, the XR section of the 81st Venice International Film Festival.. (a/n read XRMust’s interview to Impulse designer Allison Crank)
- “Whose Future?”, a program that gives hands-on XR instruction to teens at the Boys and Girls Club in Harlem, New York.
- “OurWorlds”, an AR app dedicated to sharing Indigenous narratives, histories, and languages in real-world environments.
- “Forager”, an XR experience that uses sight, sound, touch, and scent to immerse participants in the complete life cycle of mushrooms (a/n here our interview with creative director Winslow Porter, technical director Elie Zananiri, and executive producer Justin Durazzo)
- “Electric South: New Dimensions Lab”, a lab that brings together a cohort of interdisciplinary artists and creative technologists from across Africa to workshop and develop non-fiction XR projects.
Visit agog.org to read the complete guide, See Your Brand in 3D, and experience Agog’s new XR brand identity firsthand.
