VrFairs - an online exhibition and fair organisation platform, which has been developed by Trinh Cong Quang, a 29-year-old resident of Da Nang’s Son Tra District, advanced to the final round of the Viet Solutions 2021.

A simulation image of participating in virtual fairs and exhibitions based on Vrfairs platform

VrFairs was honoured in the top 10 best entries amongst 257 ones from 8 countries around the world. This means that the platform has been officially recognised as the National Digital Transformation Solution.

Quang excitedly said that by entering the contest’s final round, VrFairs has been considered as one of the most effective technology solutions to help the city solve real-life problems in the today's society, especially those arising in the context of global pandemic. This platform will significantly contribute to helping Vietnamese businesses join the post-COVID-19 ‘contactless economy’ model.

He added the pandemic has changed the ways we live, entertain, study and work, so traditional activities are no longer suitable with comprehensive digital transformation trends.

A male native of Da Nang remarked “VrFairs is an online platform through virtual reality, 3D, 360, blockchain, video conferencing. It boasts the ability to simulate real events or exhibitions by recreating spaces such as actual event venues, reception halls, conference auditoriums, booths and pavilions”.

Most notably, this platform provides tools that allow group interaction and 1:1 interaction between participants such as: chat, video call, live-stream, webinar, and others, as well as that publish digital content such as documents, images, videos, websites, and others in all popular formats.

In fact, during the past times, many trade activities could not be held offline due to the impact of the pandemic, whilst businesses are always looking for the ways to expand networks of customers and attract more attendees to exhibitions, fairs and conferences.

VrFairs can hold hundreds of booths and allow access by a large number of visits. Visitors can easily access such a virtual exhibition anywhere in the world, as well as interact with the organizers, partners and other customers globally, with just a smart phone or computer with an internet connection.

Dr. Trinh Cong Duy, who is a lecturer at the Faculty of Information Technology of the Da Nang University of Science and Technology, cum the Director of the Software Center of the University of Da Nang, said although the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the rise of a new economy - the contactless economy. And, Vrfairs enables organisations to host online conferences, job fairs, trade shows and more, thereby reaching global audiences.

Dr Duy shared, according to some scientific studies, the contactless economy will make certain customer segments that were emerging in the past more dominant. There are four customer segments to watch out for: touchless store experiencers, drive-through customers, virtual patrons and shut-in shoppers.

He highlighted that Vrfairs is one of the few technology solutions in Viet Nam that is ready to take advantage of the huge opportunities created by the contactless economy.

Founded by Trinh Cong Quang in early 2019, the Hai Chau District-headquartered Digital Transformation Solution Viet Nam Company Ltd has, to date, built an affiliated unit called VR360.  VR360 specialises in providing solutions for promoting the brand names of businesses through virtual reality technologies and 4-dimensional maps.

Most prominent is VrFairs which was selected by the Department of Science and Technology as an online platform for the Da Nang Startup and Innovation Festival (SURF 2020), the biggest annual international startup conference and exhibition in Central Viet Nam.

Due to the impact of the COVID- 19 pandemic, exhibition and fair activities have almost been suspended in recent years, so VrFairs will be considered as the best solution to help businesses drive pandemic-post production recovery and approach to the contactless economy in the coming time.

Reporting by QUYNH TRANG - Translating by M.D