Virtual reality technology is becoming more commonly used for business applications. This article summarizes current applications and best practices, with concrete examples.
Virtual reality has taken the gaming and entertainment world by storm. However, more businesses are harnessing the benefits of virtual reality and augmented reality to collaborate and conduct business. With massive advancements in VR technology, businesses are now in a strategic position to not only leverage virtual reality in their routine activities, but also harness immersive experiences and technology to grow in new ways.
According to Grand View Research, the VR market was valued at $15.81 billion in 2020. This number is only predicted to skyrocket, with the market to potentially reach $50.3 billion by 2028. Such growth is not simply due to gamers donning a headset to join a virtual world. Businesses are making increasing use of VR, with VR training already deployed widely in industries such as healthcare (Modor Intelligence), retail, manufacturing, and others. And while VR training is rapidly approaching the mainstream (with 70% of professionals focusing on adopting VR/AR in training and development), there are a wide variety of business applications for VR. Let’s take a look at several in this article.
Perhaps the most obvious benefit of VR experiences for business is that it can provide employees, stakeholders, and collaborators an immersive experience of a real-world environment in real time. This can help to improve safety procedures and increase productivity. Other benefits include the ability to create customized training programs, improve customer service, and even increase sales.
Some of the most common industries leveraging this kind of immersive technology for business include: healthcare and pharma, real estate, manufacturing, and supply chain for a variety of use cases, which we’ll describe in greater detail later.
Let’s dive into some of the most clear benefits of VR applications in business.
A clear benefit of VR applications in business is to enable activities that would otherwise require physical presence. Traditionally, people must be face-to-face to experience a given work environment, site, facility, etc. However, with the ability to generate fully immersive captures, up to and including real-time 360° videoconferencing, VR can deliver concrete and measurable ROI. There are several use-cases where VR can deliver savings.
In many industries, senior managers are responsible for far-flung facilities across wide geographies. Physical distance makes it difficult for managers to access these locations frequently, and standard videoconferencing is a poor substitute for presence. VR capture platforms like Avatour make it possible to conduct much more effective remote inspections for continuous improvement, progress reviews, supplier audits, Gemba walks, and similar applications.
Business development leaders in contract manufacturing, contract logistics, and other industries know that tours close deals. When you have a state-of-the-art facility, you need to show it off — but it can be difficult to get prospects to take the trip. Virtual tours, using either VR or a simple web interface, are an important and valuable tool for marketing and sales applications. Businesses can virtually bring customers on-site without the expense of travel, and close deals quicker.
According to a 2020 report, VR training can reduce the occurrence of workplace injuries by 43%. Such a drastic reduction in risk can not only help companies save money, but can also avoid any damaging PR issues or employee dissatisfaction with workplace safety. There are two high-level approaches to creating VR training content.
For extremely high-value applications, training professionals develop fully synthetic, interactive 3D environments, similar to a video game, where learners can interact with machinery or situations and learn specific operations. These simulations typically require custom programming using a game engine like Unity or Unreal, and while they are extremely effective for mission-critical applications like surgery or combat, they can be very costly to develop and maintain.
For many other applications, 360° video training provides a better cost/benefit ratio. With an integrated 360° video platform like Avatour, training content can be quickly and easily captured by non-technical personnel, and shared instantly with trainees.
Using either technique, businesses can provide more effective training, delivering improvements in both safety and efficiency.
With the ability to bring people into a virtual environment, teams can feel inherently more collaborative and productive. Instead of taking the time to travel to sort out an issue, teams can meet more frequently across a project or product development lifecycle to address any issues.
Companies are now leveraging virtual reality to gain a competitive advantage and boost brand awareness within their industry. Virtual tours and experiences boost the prospect or customer experience. Now, customers can gain a realistic understanding of a place without having to travel. Virtual reality also increases trust amongst customers and stakeholders, as attendees can read body language and capabilities of on-site members as if they were physically present.
With business entering the Metaverse, there is no doubt that VR technology will transform both large and small businesses. The benefits of VR are endless. Such immersive remote collaboration puts business in the driver’s seat of creating new and collaborative experiences.
Avatour is helping businesses redefine their operations by reducing distance as a barrier to collaboration. Our 360-degree remote collaboration platform allows users to join virtual tours, trainings, and inspections via web browser or VR device.
Using off-the-shelf 360-degree hardware, collaborators, employees, stakeholders and more can meet face-to-face wherever they are in the world, all while gaining a complete understanding of a given physical environment.
Virtual meetings can be joined via modern web browser. This includes (desktop, smartphone, iOS, android, etc) or via VR headset for an even more immersive experience.
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