Is Virtual Reality A Glorified Gimmick, or The Best New Thing?

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– A New Way To Stay Relevant –

The world is close to a year into the worst health crisis of the last few decades and people have slowly realized how it has changed our lives forever. Aside from the catastrophic loss of life, most leading industries began shifting their practices quickly, in an attempt to recoup some of the losses and to catch up with the companies that got ahead.

With individuals compelled to work from home as much as possible and distancing themselves from society at all levels, one can easily notice how people’s inherent social nature is wilting away, whilst their neglected need for socializing is apparently dying down as well. Therefore, society is poised to go through a period during which the very notion of how members of organizations work together is being challenged.

For the moment, people are making do with the tools they have on hand, such as well-established video-conferencing tools like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. What if there was another way to do this? Which offers a more complete and solid alternative in the process? Many argue that the solution has already been found and that it has already been around for a while.

Virtual Reality has been on the market in some form or another for years. However, people did not regard it as being serious enough due to how deeply rooted the technology was in the gaming world. But during a time of distress and limited social interaction, one can argue that offering an environment where you can take part in work meetings and leisure activities all within the comfort and safety of your home would be quite fitting.

With the rapid evolution of this and many other industries, VR environments have become increasingly responsive and immersive graphical masterpieces, often leading users to mistake them for real life.

This way people have come one pair of VR glasses and a laptop away from taking part in meetings or social activities the like that many would not even dare to believe existed, in a time when people are more apart than ever before.

At the risk of sounding insensitive, the coronavirus pandemic has in part served as a catalyst for people to come to terms with the benefits of incorporating VR into their professional lives and perhaps into their general day-to-day activities.

An industry that suits the use of VR, perhaps like no other, is the training and coaching sector. Amongst the top companies that have already utilized VR for their day-to-day practices is Tyson Foods, an absolute mammoth in the food sector worldwide. They are making use of VR to get employees accustomed to using complex machinery safely. As a consequence, they have seen their productivity improve drastically.

Tyson Foods is not the only company, however, that has opted for a VR and AR-focused training method for their Learning and Development departments. Hundreds of others have decided to try out this solution for themselves. Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that a lot of new companies have emerged as a result of the surging demand. Many industries, especially the ones heavily battered by the pandemic, such as tourism and entertainment, have gone for this alternative.

• There have been variations of VR aimed at solving people’s need to tour the world and explore new things, in which they could use a VR set to transcend geographical barriers and virtually explore any place on the planet that has satellite coverage.

• Stanford researchers have explored the use of VR for medical research and training.

These are just two examples to attest to the great capabilities of the technology.

VECTOR's approach is a bit different, as it is the kind of company that gives its partner enterprises free reign over the environment their business requires. They also offer peer reviewed and proven training programs to hone employee’s wellbeing and their productivity.

VR has seen some great progress in the wake of the current health crisis as well as a heightened demand and overall expansion of the market. However, it remains to be seen how this upward trend will continue. Surely you would not like to be the one left behind?

Developing immersive technologies, including virtual and augmented reality, is our core specialty, and our passion. Let us create your custom scenarios in environments that feel very real, are safe, lead to accelerated learning, and bring massive user engagement. Get In Touch.

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Is Virtual Reality A Glorified Gimmick, or The Best New Thing?