You may already be aware that VR entertainment, especially VR gaming, is spreading fast in the city and many big players in the entertainment industry are getting into the action. IMAX has introduced an IMAX VR center in the Scotiabank Theatre and Cineplex’s free roam VR at Rec Room is in the downtown core.
Thanks to entertainment pioneers, more and more consumers have experienced the full room-scaled Virtual Reality experiences, and corporations have begun to start thinking about how to leverage this technology to bring value to their businesses.
Remote meetings in VR
One of the most intuitive idea for business use of VR is to use the technology for remote meetings. A few companies are already developing VR conferencing platforms like Rumii VR and VR-in-VR, tools that enable people to join a virtual conference room and communicate as if meeting in person. The platforms are already rich with features such as cross-platform support, support for presentation decks and more. It’s the kind of tool that could allow the conference room of your dreams, one where you will be able to share 3D models of a product that everyone in the room can interact with as if it were an actual object in front of them.
Of course, there are some limitations with the current technology. The interactions between participants are minimal due to limited movement and eye tracking, not to mention the lack of facial expression tracking. So those in the room cannot really tell what the other participants are doing or looking at. However, as VR related technologies become more and more developed, interactions similar to those in real-life will be achieved sooner than we can expect.
Team Building in VR
Another popular application of virtual reality for business is its use in team building events. Virtual reality is something new, safe and fun with a ton of multiplayer and social aspects. VR is a mind-blowing experience but playing VR with a group is a total game changer. It can also provide various experiences depending on the crowd, from passive gaming to hard-core interaction activities, or from cinematic experience to exploration, relaxation and so on. Therefore, the overall engagement that VR brings is night and day when compared to other traditional activities regardless if they are cooperative or competitive. We published another article a while back that details what makes a great team building events with Virtual Reality. Feel free to take a look.
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Brand Activation in VR
Beyond team building events, companies are leveraging Virtual Reality for brand activation and fundraising campaigns. Iconic footwear brand Converse has created a Virtual Reality experience that illustrates the renowned sneaker’s history in popular culture. Another example, Planet Canada, leveraged 360 videos in Virtual Reality to showcase the real living environments in developing countries, experiences that greatly increased the empathy level of the participants and allowed them to successfully double their fundraising goal. Of course, events and campaigns aim to create tailored VR content and experiences that relate to the target audience, knowing that VR is a medium that will boost the outcome of the campaigns.
Training in VR
Last but not least, businesses are applying VR in education and training. Volkswagen is taking the lead on this by setting out to train 10,000 of their employees around the world in VR. Their goal is to educate employees across multiple brands and create more efficient workflow in a way that allows them to train locally without travelling. With this training platform, a large number of local employees can be exposed to plant locations worldwide, increasing efficiency and reducing cost. Not only is the manufacturing industry adapting to VR, so too is the healthcare industry, using VR as a training tool for both surgeons and caregivers. We believe VR will become a standard in training and education in the near future and although VR at its current stage lacks high levels of accuracy and precision in terms of interaction with the virtual environment, it’s only a matter of time until its advances lead to its mainstream adoption.
It’s evident that numerous corporations are looking to integrate VR into their businesses. Are you interested too? If so, let us at VRPlayin know. We would love to help you discover the wonderful technology of virtual reality and assist you with incorporating it into your workforce.
