“Should we invest in VR or AR?” It’s often the first question exhibitors ask us when planning a stand, and it’s a good question. Immersive technology for events can turn a quiet booth into the busiest spot on the floor. That only happens when the format suits both the product and the people walking past.
VR and AR solve different problems on a show floor, so the choice is rarely a coin toss. Once you know what each does best, most exhibitors can narrow it down quickly.
What Is the Difference Between VR and AR at Events?
Virtual reality replaces the world around the user. They put on a headset, and the exhibition hall disappears, replaced by a completely digital environment at full scale.
Augmented reality adds to the world instead. Visitors use a phone, tablet or even a headset and a 3D model appears on the table or floor in front of them. They can still see the stand, the staff and the people around them.
That one difference shapes every decision about immersive technology for events. VR offers deep immersion but can sometimes be disorienting for first time users. AR offers a more “new user” friendly experience. Our immersive exhibition booths often use both, along with mixed reality headsets that blend the two.
Mixed reality sits between the two. Its headsets show the real stand through built-in cameras and place holograms within it. Visitors can gather around a tabletop model of a mine together. It gives more depth than a tablet while keeping people connected to the room. From here they can enter into fully VR environments for more immersion.
What Do Attendees Want from Immersive Event Experiences?
Attendees want to get their hands on the product rather than simply watch a show.
That’s the clear message from research by Freeman, a global events company, which surveyed more than 2,600 attendees and organisers in 2025. It found 61% of attendees define immersive event experiences as hands-on product interaction. Almost half said they judge an immersive experience by whether it introduced them to a new product or solution. Only 20% of organisers expected that answer.
The same research shows why getting it right matters. Attendees who had a standout moment at an event were 85% more likely to return. Freeman’s 2026 research adds that trade show attendees would ideally spend 64% of their learning time outside session rooms. Hands-on demonstrations are high on their list. The expo floor is where much of the learning now happens.
For exhibitors planning immersive technology for events, that changes the brief. The most effective experiences put the product at the centre, and the visual effects serve the product rather than the other way round.
If your product is too large to fit into an event hall, too complex to explain easily and quickly, or just too expensive to get into the expo, then immersive technology might just be the way to go.
When Is VR for Events the Right Choice?
VR for events earns its place when you need to show something that can’t come to the venue.
You can’t freight a 60-tonne haul truck to a convention centre. But you can let buyers configure one in a headset. Our Austin XR product configurator we built for Austin Engineering lets buyers explore and customise heavy mining equipment, with over 277,440 possible configurations. It launched at MINExpo in Las Vegas, then travelled to Austmine and Diggers & Dealers in Kalgoorlie. Austin’s team called it a drawcard at every expo.
VR also suits experiences built around a place. A walk through a processing plant works best when the visitor is fully inside the scene. So does a tour of a project that hasn’t been built yet. Motion pods take this further, adding physical movement to the visuals for a ride visitors can feel.
When Does AR for Exhibitions Work Better?
AR for exhibitions works best when you want to reach lots of people quickly, with no training needed and minimal turnaround time per user.
A visitor points a tablet, mobile or VR headset at the floor, and your product appears at full scale. They can walk around it and change its colour. Staff can join the conversation without anyone being cut off from the room. With browser-based augmented reality, often called “WebAR”, visitors don’t even need your tablet. A QR code on your stand launches the experience on the visitor’s own phone, so they can keep exploring after they leave. No annoying links to an app store. It runs right in an internet browser. Providing almost no friction for the user and getting them into experiencing your product faster.
AR is also the safer choice for family-friendly or public events. Meta sets a minimum age of 10 for its Quest headsets, with requirements varying by country. That rules younger visitors out of a VR demo. A tablet-based AR experience for mobile or tablet has no such limit.
How Do Shared Experiences Turn One User into a Crowd?
People watching are part of the attraction, and many exhibitors overlook that. A crowd gathered around a screen tells everyone walking past that something worth seeing is happening.
That’s why we often pair headsets with big screens. Our SASHIMI platform includes a broadcast kit that combines headset users and AR holograms into one live video feed. Onlookers can follow the action and even guide the player.
The best example came at the Resources Technology Showcase in Perth. For Hancock Iron Ore, we built Mini Mine, a multiplayer experience that put eight players at a time onto a massive shared screen. Together, they ran a simulated mining operation. It became the biggest talking point of the show and even saw the Prime Minister playing our VR Mini Mine on stand. One player’s turn became a show for everyone around the booth.
How Do You Choose the Right Immersive Technology for Events?
Choosing immersive technology for events starts with the goal. Work backwards from there.
Think first about what visitors need to understand. Scale or a whole site usually points to VR. How a product looks or configures can often be shown just as well with AR.
Foot traffic matters next. A busy aisle favours AR or shared screens, while a smaller, invitation-driven audience suits VR.
Consider who’s coming, too. Family events and broad public audiences lean towards AR, while trade buyers and specialists are usually happy to put on a headset.
Build lead capture into the experience itself, so a visitor’s interest turns into a follow-up rather than a forgotten conversation. And plan for life after the show. A well-built configurator or virtual showroom can be reused in sales meetings and at the next expo.
One rule we follow on every stand: the experience has to make sense before a passer-by’s attention moves on. If it needs a long explanation, it needs a simpler design.
For more formats beyond VR and AR, from touchscreen kiosks to motion simulators, see our guide to interactive exhibition booth ideas.
Is Immersive Technology for Events Worth the Investment?
For most exhibitors, yes, as long as the experience is built around the product and the audience. Freeman’s research suggests attendees reward exhibitors who help them discover something useful, and that’s exactly what good VR and AR do.
The real choice is between depth and reach. VR gives fewer visitors a deeper experience, while AR lets many more explore your product in seconds. Adding a shared screen narrows that gap, because even a single headset can then draw a crowd.
Talk to our team about choosing the right mix for your next exhibition.
FAQ
AR is usually cheaper to run at the event. It can work on tablets or visitors’ own phones, while VR needs headsets and staff to help each person in and out. The bigger cost for either is the content itself, so plan to reuse it after the show.
One person per headset at a time. Many exhibitors run two or more headsets and keep sessions short. A shared screen also lets people in the queue watch and stay engaged.
It depends on the headset. Meta sets a minimum age of 10 for Quest headsets, with requirements varying by country. For events with younger visitors, a tablet-based AR experience is the simpler choice.
Yes. A product configurator or virtual showroom built for an exhibition can be reused in sales meetings and at future events. That spreads the cost over a much longer life.