Although virtual reality has traditionally been associated with games and other consumer-focused uses, more companies are turning to technology for the many benefits it offers.
Below are three areas in which business adoption of VR has increased.
Employee safety training
Learning and development programs are important to the success of most organizations. But these programs are particularly critical for organizations that deal with situations of death or dying or where an employee error can cause harm. Augmented reality AR) and VR technology can allow employees to practice these events immersed in realistic scenarios.
For example, oil companies BP and ExxonMobil use RVs to train their employees in everyday work scenarios such as initiating and initiating the emergency exit procedure. Employees can interact with their environment and make mistakes in a controlled space. This can reduce the likelihood of making mistakes in the real world.
Assembly line workers can be safely trained in a virtual environment before moving on to reality. Jobs that require precision and have a small margin of safety are especially suitable for virtual reality-based training programs. Workers who need disaster training can also use RV to practice in a safe environment. And postal workers can even be trained to better prepare for dog attacks.
Sales and marketing presentations
Marketing presentations and sales demonstrations have always been an advantage for the “wow” factor and RV is proving to be a great investment in this regard.
VR technology allows sales teams to immerse their customers in environments where they can interact with a product. For example, Premise LED, an LED manufacturer for commercial and industrial companies, uses virtual reality to illustrate the differences in the areas before and after lighting to help customers make decisions.
Organizations can also use VR technology to introduce a product to customers. Thanks to technological advances, setting up and creating virtual reality applications is simple and cost effective. As a result, companies can create point-to-point applications that they can use for specific purposes and help their products stand out in their business presentations.
Dental technology provider Zimmer Biomet uses RV to create virtual dental labs where potential customers can use their products and experience the effect they have on surgical and routine dental procedures.
There is no limit to the number of use cases in this environment. Organizations can create virtual catalogs, showrooms, and stages to highlight their products and gain strength in sales.
Industrial design
Just as employees can train and make mistakes safely in a virtual reality environment, organizations can use virtual reality to see the effects of various design decisions.
For example, a company that wants to build a new factory or change the workflow of physical processes can use virtual reality to improve processes.
Instead of building full-scale models, they can design virtual environments and perform simulations to determine how the new process or design works. In turn, stakeholders can make better decisions about what will work and what won’t.
Given the cost of physical prototypes and the growing proliferation of 5G, which can support the RV experience, the use of simulated prototypes is likely to gain even greater traction.
A second wind
Experts initially believed that RV would have the greatest impact on games. While virtual reality has changed the gaming experience to some extent, it is becoming increasingly clear that business use cases are a much more fertile area for virtual reality marketers.
The number of business use cases of VR is still in the discovery phase and the market is growing exponentially. There is no doubt that there will be even more business leaders who will turn to virtual reality for a competitive advantage.
About the author
Asim Rahal is an IT consultant specializing in cloud security, data protection and knowledge of cyber risk.