VR in business: Who’s using it and what’s the potential?
If you’ve ever wanted to escape this world and enter a realm of the imagination, your best bet is virtual reality (VR). This immersive technology can bring just about anything to three-dimensional life. And it’s all thanks to detailed, vivid computer imagery.
When you think about VR, you might envision playing video games or watching sports. However, VR has practical commercial applications. Technology has always made business easier, and VR is no exception. More and more companies are taking advantage of them. Indeed, businesses of all sizes and in practically any industry can utilize it.
As a result, customers and workers are finding that all kinds of products and services will never be the same again.
Training employees
When you hire staff members, you could ask them to don VR goggles and gloves for a series of tests. And they could keep practicing until you feel they’re ready for the real world.
With VR training, you’d help inexperienced individuals avoid costly rookie mistakes, errors that could cause damage or injury. VR trainees can attempt dangerous feats like saving people from burning buildings, flying helicopters and engaging in combat.
Simpler tasks, like dicing virtual vegetables, setting up cabling in a server room or restocking computer-generated shelves, are likewise ideal for VR run-throughs.
More on training: 5 tips for better compliance training
Building digital prototypes
If research and development are part of your business model, you’ll likely want to build virtual prototypes at some point. You can scrutinize them from every angle and make adjustments to them, all for a fraction of the time and money that their real-world counterparts would require.
On top of that, you can use VR to simulate lifelike scenarios to test your prototype. If you built a kite, for example, you could see how it fares with various wind speeds or weather conditions, or how a building holds up during a disaster.
Letting customers test products
Whatever you sell, it can be rendered in 3D and placed within a VR setting. If you offer sunglasses, your customers might use their VR gloves to pick up a pair and examine it closely. They might also see how those shades look on a variety of CGI faces.
Think about environments, too. After all, VR excels at setting up places that people can actually walk around in. A consumer might upload images of, say, her own living room, and then see how it looks with certain pieces of furniture in it.
Virtual spaces can have an emotional impact. When people enter such a domain, they’re often awestruck. It moves them, and they may forge a bond with the items they view there. Thus, with VR, you’re more likely to make a sale and more likely to gain a loyal customer.
The future is calling
Of course, virtual reality is a relatively new technology, and business-related uses are still being discovered for it. Someday soon, these programs might gather insights about how people respond to various products — their words, their expressions, what they struggled with. Also, it might not be long before people routinely visit virtual shops and malls right from their homes. To find other applications, you may want to do some experimenting of your own.
Finally, if you’ll be adopting cloud-based or other VR solutions, why not enlist technology experts for help? Those pros could make sure your data remains safe and your network still runs smoothly. With their assistance, your customers will have fun trying out your wares via sharp, realistic graphics. Their memories will be priceless, and your profit increases will be nice, too.
