US business consultancy Forrester Research made its thoughts clear in the title of a 2016 report Virtual Reality Isnt Ready for Marketing Yet. It forecasts a wait of at least five years before there is "critical-mass consumer-adoption of high-end VR headsets".

Thats the US. Add a few more years for SA.

However, the report does predict that, during those five years, plain 360 video will flourish on lower-end VR devices. YouTube is helping to lead this trend, with a dedicated channel for the technology.

VR should not be confused with other forms of techno reality. The "real" VR environment is immersive and changes as you move through and interact with it. "Your brain really believes you are there," says Noriskin-Ender.

Theres also augmented reality, in which computer-generated objects are overlaid on real scenes. An example was the smartphone-based Pokmon Go phenomenon in 2016. And then theres mixed reality, often described as a combination of augmented and 3D. Its worth pointing out that 3D filming was touted as the future a few years ago but, besides commercial cinema movies, has mostly proved a dud.

The Forrester report suggests the US will be home to at least 52-million head-mounted VR devices by 2020. Most of those will be low-end.

It is these devices, often made of cardboard, that are expected to also fuel VR marketing growth in SA. The most common brand, Google Cardboard, is available for under R200.

Not all brands or products are necessarily suited to VR, says Net#work BBDO creative head Brad Reilly. "It works best in sectors where the full experience of the product is beyond most peoples reach."

Sport, travel and tourism are obvious candidates, as are vehicles. Besides Mercedes, Toyota SA in 2016 used VR to put enthusiasts through an offroad experience in the Hilux bakkie.

Property is another option.

"A lot of top-end Cape Town residential property is being bought from abroad," says Reilly. "Short of coming here to see everything, what better way to show them whats available, and help narrow down the choice, than by taking them on a VR tour of possible houses."

Gamification using VR to enhance branded game-playing on computer screens and digital devices is another obvious target. And what about retail? With the right technology combinations, it is possible to browse the aisles of your favourite supermarket or fashion store, to take the guesswork out of online shopping.

"In principle," says Noriskin-Ender, "the only limits to VR are your imagination and budget."

Film-makers say VR production processes are different. Visual effects studio Sinisters Christian van der Walt says: "Film-making is more technical, very process-intensive. It requires a lot more effort."

However, Velvet Films Jannine Nolan says: "Technically, its not too complicated. At the heart is a piece of equipment carrying multiple cameras, in our case eight, to provide the all-round, 360-degree effect."

One of the challenges, says Artifacts Brent Simpson, is that you can no longer have someone filming behind the camera. The 360-degree element means no one can be nearby in case they are in the shot. Reshoots are a no-no.

"In ordinary filming, you reshoot and edit in the changes. You cant do that in VR. You need a seamless, interruption-free flow," Simpson says.

For the Mercedes project, Van der Walt says his team used a pod of cameras for a 360 view of the outside world, then to compensate for lighting and depth issues recreated the cars interiors with computer graphics. For the Kyalami version, Lewis Hamilton was also superimposed into the final product.

Local Lufthansa marketing manager Jola Slomkowski says marketers are still feeling their way with VR. "Lufthansa in Germany has used it but the concept is very new here. I decided to go this route because I think that most of our communications in SA are predictable and I want to talk to customers differently. VR is a means of gaining a competitive advantage.

"Its been a learning experience for us. We are dipping our toes in without knowing quite where it will take us. The only thing we are sure of is that VR will become part of the broad marketing and communications experience."

Or, as Nolan puts it: "Virtual reality is a novelty, but one we cant ignore."

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Virtual reality has potential to add new dimensions to marketing - Business Day (registration)