When talking about virtual reality, most people associate it with science-fiction films or the gaming industry. But, VR has gone further than just fun or some digital fairy tale. Many businesses have already implemented VR solutions in their work, creating space for risk-free innovations that bring cost-effectiveness and astonishing results.
In fact, it is becoming harder to find an industry that hasn’t found a way to utilize it. You can see it in marketing, tourism, or even manufacturing businesses, and its only limitation is our own imagination.
Why Use Virtual Reality in Business?
VR can simulate practically every procedure that can be performed in real life. It enables us to immerse ourselves in any environment that can be duplicated on a computer for training purposes. Realistic graphics trick our brains into believing that what we are seeing is genuine, allowing us to watch and learn from our interactions.
Applications are basically endless, from enabling individuals to accomplish their work remotely or even modeling and interacting with simulations of real-world items that would be impossible in reality.
A large number of jobs bring a huge responsibility to them, which is why it is important to bear as few consequences as possible for human health. For example, you cannot hit a restart button on a poorly designed aircraft or an operation performed by a surgeon that hasn’t had a chance to perform it before their first life-saving situation. Luckily, the amount of risk can be minimized since virtual reality creates space for training and developing products that will be exceptional.
VR is still in its infancy, but here are five major commercial uses for the technology that is already in use:
Digital training
Imagine a Black Friday sale with retail workers that have never experienced a crowded mall. Not only would they panic, but they would also think about quitting right after their shift was done. That’s why retail stores have developed immersive VR experiences that put employees in life-like long queues and crowds, with the goal of preparing them for specific occurrences. It also eliminates the need to interfere with regular company activities in order to provide training.
On the other side of the spectrum, surgeons are using virtual reality solutions in order to practice making life or death choices when operating on children in a complex way. This simulation goes so far as to scan and produce 3D reconstructions of the surgical room staff so that the trainees may identify the actual nurses they will be working with within the operating room.
Retail industry
From creating perfect store layouts to trying out products without going to the store itself – immersive content can help retailers track a shopper’s gaze in the store, providing a detailed pattern of which areas or products attract their attention. This allows retailers to test and improve their displays, signage, and shop layouts in order to maximize customer experience and purchasing.
According to a survey, around 70% of early technology users were keen to embrace VR technologies for shopping. This innovation allows people to enter spaces that aren’t crowded, seek help from highly-efficient virtual assistants, and create a more personal shopping experience.
Health improvement
A great number of people are born with various eye conditions, including lazy eye syndrome or astigmatism, while others develop them in later stages of life. While traditional treatment methods are still working, companies started to develop innovative solutions for different conditions.
Binocular vision is an important aspect of our everyday life since it’s closely connected to our overall health, concentration, and capability to perceive the 3D world around us. If problems around it aren’t addressed, it can develop into fatigue and discomfort, especially when most of our days are spent in front of a screen.
That’s where VR solutions come into help. One great example is VR Synoptophore, a mobile app for binocular vision that provides simple eye exercises, usually performed by the ophthalmologist, in the comfort of your own home. With great reviews, the app guarantees to improve your binocular vision, but also release you from discomfort caused by digital displays.
Construction
VR platforms allow architects to take customers through their ideas before they are created, providing critical possibilities for input and modification. The ability to examine building blueprints at a 1:1 scale through VR bridges the gap between the actual world and a designer’s vision, allowing them to see the full-size impact of their concepts.
Paper designs may now be easily converted into 3D computer models and subsequently into realistic VR simulations thanks to new technologies. Exploring building designs in VR allows prospective customers to have a better understanding of an architect’s work.
Manufacturing
Because of its particular use in the design and prototyping processes, virtual reality plays an essential role in the manufacturing business. It allows simulating and testing any element of a component, process, or mechanism.
Aerospace giants, Boeing and Airbus, employ the technology to reduce the need for costly, full-scale prototypes of their designs. Confined modifications may have a big influence on the small environment of an airplane. The realistic experience of virtual reality allows manufacturers to take a more thorough look at changes, such as the reachability of gas masks and life jackets inside aircraft.
The Future of VR in Business
Although the virtual world will never completely replace the physical one, it is undeniable that virtual reality helps us improve many aspects of our daily life.
Virtual reality is expected to increase significantly in the next five years, according to several industry surveys. A lot of money is being invested in the technology itself, and some quite interesting solutions are coming our way.
From the “Internet of Senses” that simulates tastes, smells, and touch, all the way to Metaverse and other social platforms, virtual reality is definitely here to stay, making statements and changing the way we live our daily lives.
Does this mean we’ll start wearing our headsets and goggles all the time? Most likely not, but you won’t be shocked to find the technologies utilized by organizations or individuals you would least anticipate.
