Kenyan firm blazes the trail in virtual reality content making

Virtual reality (VR) has been touted as the next frontier in video technology, transforming the way people interact with video games and other media.

Brands like Samsung, Nokia, HTC, Google and Oculus have showcased their latest innovations in the sector, tapping into the visual display that brings videos to life.

A Kenyan company, Blackrhino VR, is now looking to commercialise the potential that VR holds, creating 360-degree videos for corporates which they can use for marketing, advertising and training.

Brian Afande, Michael Ilako and Dan Nduati formed the company one-and-a-half years ago after identifying a niche in the ultra-competitive marketing and advertising sector which has always been on the lookout for new ideas.

Mr Afande previously worked as a brand manager for apparel firm Converse for six years, while Mr Ilako is a trained film director who has been producing documentaries for NGOs.

Mr Nduati handles Blackrhino’s business strategy and development, on top of his work as the managing director of creative agency Brand 2D.

The three partners started the company with a capital of Sh3.5 million, majority of which went towards purchase of specialist cameras and back office support computers. They now have five employees working in video shooting, editing and marketing.

“VR is an expensive venture to get into, but luckily we were able to raise capital for the business and now we are one of the few companies in Africa venturing into cinematic VR. There is an uptake for this business from corporates because it is a unique form of communication, especially as a marketing tool,” said Mr Afande in an interview with the Business Daily.

“We put in Sh1.2 million for the special cameras that shoot VR, with additional investment going towards the sound system and a number specialised virtual reality sets which include an Oculus Rift that costs Sh100,000.”

The 360° videos give a viewer a sense of depth, where they can explore different angles by physically moving around like they would do in real life.

VR hardware offers visual and sometimes audio immersion via a head-mounted display that shows a stereo image in 3D.

Sensors in the headset track the user’s movement and change the user’s view accordingly. It allows one to explore a room from all angles, a turn of the head brings up a different view just like you would if physically there.

For instance, a VR production by Blackrhino for Vivo Energy gives the viewer a tour of a petrol station, following around a customer as she has her tank filled up, takes her car to the service area and eventually to the convenience store and restaurant.

Other than Vivo Energy, they have made productions for Safaricom under the Blaze campaign for the youth, BAT Kenya in a promo for its Sportsman brand of cigarettes and real estate firm PRC to market their projects. They have also created a virtual reality tour for Rhino Watch Lodge in Nyeri.

Mr Afande said that the firm also does VR productions for social programmes, for which they do not charge.

“We are also doing VR for schools. Recently we worked with the Netherlands School Society Kenya, where we took students into a virtual video spaceship ride through space. This for us was a litmus test for what we can do in schools,” he said.

In order to create content, Blackrhino had to assemble a customised computer with capacity to render and edit the virtual reality videos, one that they could not find in any shop in Kenya.

“We use six different cameras to create the 360° video, and they have to start shooting at the same time so they require a special timer that activates the shooting. There is no computer sold off the counter that can render that content or act as an edit suite, so we had to rig up a customised machine using YouTube tutorials,” said Mr Afande.

“We shipped in parts of the computers from different parts of the world, and then built it up from scratch. If we were to sell that computer today we would ask for no less than Sh550,000, and we have actually had to insure it.”

There are few companies producing 360° videos commercially in Africa, with the nearest competitors for Blackrhino found in South Africa.

They charge between $10,000 and $15,000 (Sh1 million to Sh1.5 million) to produce a two to three minute VR experience video, which a company can then post on its Facebook or YouTube pages for customers to view.

“This price point is attractive, compared say to South Africa where they charge up to $40,000 (Sh4 million). We are using this to attract companies looking to do VR in Kenya to use our services,” said Mr Afande.

They have also had to invest in high-end Samsung and HTC phones that are used to show the videos to customers.

The company has a total of 16 virtual reality sets used by companies during demos, each comprising of a VR viewer, a phone and Bluetooth headsets.

On the global end, VR has attracted the attention of some of the biggest IT firms in the world, especially those with an eye on gaming.

Two years ago Facebook bought virtual reality gaming company Oculus VR for $2 billion (Sh200bn). Sony has also produced a PlayStation VR headset for use with its popular video game console.