The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused an unprecedented global crisis, subjecting health systems, economic and social structures, and the daily lives of citizens to an immense test. The hundreds of sectors hit by the pandemic include international trade, international trade events, as well as professional and interpersonal relationships, contacts, and meetings between entrepreneurs, suppliers, and the buying public. It is indicative that since the beginning of 2020, when the epidemic gradually spread from China to the entire planet, almost all trade fairs globally have been cancelled or postponed, regardless of their scale, scope, or impact. Overall, according to the latest data (Aug. 25, 2020, [Expodatabase]), 3,879 exhibitions were cancelled or postponed worldwide—of which 2,216 in Europe, 933 in Asia, 520 in North America, 80 in South America, 85 in Africa, and 45 in Australia—resulting in significant economic repercussions [DW, EEIA]. This situation is expected to continue for quite some time, as the pandemic currently does not appear to be subsiding, but is instead expanding or resurging. The new health and safety standards put forward by exhibition organizers are, in many cases, unfeasible to implement [UFI20 July, UFI20 Sept, IAEE20 Oct, Freeman20].
Given these data and under present conditions, it is necessary to create, provide, and use digital tools to support, organize, and operate virtual-interactive trade fairs that cater to both their organizers and participants (i.e., exhibitors and visitors).
The proposed project, named VRExpo, responds to this need. Its objective is the development of a platform featuring the easy creation—without requiring special technical knowledge—of virtual-interactive booths and exhibition spaces, as well as navigation within these spaces via computer, tablet, mobile phone, and VR headsets. Through this platform, it will be possible to realize trade fairs that cannot take place in physical spaces, whether due to restrictive measures currently imposed to tackle the pandemic, due to other similar crises that may occur in the future, or due to more general limitations such as economic, social, and geographical constraints.
It is worth noting that the platform can remain fully functional and useful even after the end of the pandemic and the return to normality; existing events that return to their physical venues will be able to offer, in parallel and complementarily, virtual versions of the exhibitions, thereby facilitating remote participation for both exhibitors and the public. Additionally, the platform will provide the capability to implement new exhibitions that are exclusively digital in format. Consequently, the proposed platform can constitute a significant tool for communication and interconnection—remote, yet live and interactive—for the commercial promotion of products and services, as well as for securing commercial agreements.