Visitors to Hawthorn’s stand at this year’s Event Production Show will get the chance to step into virtual reality, as the company launches its innovative virtual venue experience.

The creative technical event production expert has for the first time, ‘built’ in virtual reality, just some of the unique and diverse venues it works in partnership with in real life. This will enable event planners to pop on a HTC Vive headset and explore incredible event spaces without leaving the Hawthorn stand (C32E).

The venues showcased in virtual reality include some of Hawthorn’s key partnerships from around the UK. Built by Hawthorn’s in-house 3D and visualisation team using Cinema 4D and Unreal Engine, the virtual venue experience will offer delegates a unique on-stand experience, demonstrating the versatility of virtual reality as a powerful tool to support the event planning process.

Rachel Waterfield, Head of Sales & Marketing at Hawthorn, said: “We wanted to shake things up on our stand at EPS this year and offer visitors the opportunity to experience some of the UK’s most iconic venues in a completely new and fun way,” said Rachel Waterfield, head of sales & marketing at Hawthorn.

“As virtual reality technology becomes ever more accessible, the opportunities it offers the event world are endless and not just as part of the live event experience.

“We wanted to harness it to showcase just some of the amazing venues we work with and demonstrate its potential as part of the event planning process. Stepping into a venue in virtual reality is truly immersive and it’s a fantastic way of exploring what venues can offer.”

Attendees at the Event Production Show at Olympia on 1-2 March 2017 can visit Hawthorn on Stand C32E to take part in the virtual venue experience.