Top 4 Uses of Virtual Reality for Business & Consumers
Immersive technology, otherwise known as Virtual Reality (VR) or Augmented Reality to the everyday consumer, has come to the fore over the last decade or so. With the technology having been honed enough to go mainstream, everyone from unknown start-ups to the long standing tech giants like Google and Samsung all want a piece of the action.
At first glance, it would seem to most that the gaming and entertainment industries would be the biggest beneficiaries of this new technology. However, immersive technology in its current state has quietly made a massive impact on a number of other industries. Yes, VR and AR can do significantly more than enhance the experience of watching a movie or playing a video game.
In some instances, the use of VR could potentially save lives by reducing risk and improving the quality of training for high risk jobs. It can also add a new and interesting facet to the interactions between consumers and businesses. It can improve the way in which businesses market the goods and services they offer.
Listed below, in no particular order of importance, are some telling examples of where and how immersive technology is reshaping the way we live and do business.
 Virtual Reality In The Medical Field
As noted earlier, VR has the potential to save lives. The medical profession happens to be one that deals directly with people’s lives. So how is VR helpful here? One of the more obvious use cases of immersive technology in this field is real time training. Surgeons/Physicians are now able to offer in assistance and to educate during live operations from pretty much anywhere in the world, in real time. This could also limit the number of actual cadavers needed to train future doctors.
VR in this field is also being used to help improve patient experience through fostering empathy and understanding from the healthcare workers. This is done by way of giving healthcare professionals a first person view of what a patient might experience during a seizure, for example.
VR In Tourism & Hospitality
This is another industry that could benefit greatly from the proliferation of immersive technology. Offering potential customers virtual tours of exotic locations could prove itself a more effective way to generate interest, when compared to the good old paper brochure and the pestilent pop up advert.
The Marriott hotels VR tourism effort is one such example of what this industry four do VR technology.
VR Can Enhance Customer Service
Store owners/managers can utilise immersive technology to improve the customer’s shopping experience in a number of ways. For one, trainees can be put through their paces without the need to deal directly with actual customers on the shop floor. Through this the customers will always deal with fully trained staff and a trainee benefits from the minimised risk of making mistakes during a real time sale.
In a second example, a person who is on the market for a new vehicle can save a lot of time by simply test driving the car in a virtual simulation, thus removing the need to travel to the dealership and book a physical test-drive.
Creatvirtual showrooms, or giving the consumer a 360 degree immersive view of your product’s design and development may add value to your brand, as the consumer receives more than just a product, they get an entire experience with the package.Â
Engineering & Architecture Also See The Potential Of VR
For engineers and architects, VR opens up a whole new level of detail when it comes to the designing and architectural planning. VR offers them the ability to fully visualise what they are creating without the need to build scaled down models, or 2 dimensional renderings.
For these industries, making use of 3d virtual visualisations would mean a lot in terms of resource savings during the design process.
