What do you think about when you hear ‘virtual reality’? Probably video games. While VR in games is immersive and a lot of fun, there’s more to the technology than just leisure. Some even think VR might be as revolutionary as the invention of the cell phone.
Since VR is trending, yet not widely implemented at the moment, this is your opportunity to get ahead of the curve and bring it to your customers. You might be thinking “we don’t manufacture hardware, so how would we do that?”
Simple.
Use VR technology to find brand new ways to build, sell and service your own products. Moreover, the internal uses of VR technology are almost limitless. In what follows, you’ll find some clever uses of VR, no matter what industry you might be in.
Bring workers from all regions together
Video calls are so 2017. Some experts think we could all be having meetings in VR in the next 5 years. Virtual reality takes your long-distance conference calls to the next level and is the closest you can get to a real face-to-face meeting. Not only will they be more immersive than watching a floating head on a screen, but you’ll also be able to read the other participants’ body language – something you can’t do unless you see them from the neck down.
What’s really mind blowing is that the voice and eye-tracking technology actually gives you a sense of eye contact and grants your virtual persona the ability to make facial expressions. Furthermore, with VR the context is limitless. You can go the traditional route with a virtual office or think outside the box. Architects or interior designers, for example, can tour room or building renders with their clients.
Talent acquisition and recruitment
No matter how long the interviewing process, some unfit candidates always slip through the cracks. The candidate can feel they’ve been wronged or they let you down, while you have to start the whole process from scratch and invest in onboarding multiple people to fill the same opening. It’s an unpleasant situation for everyone involved.
With VR, candidates can be immersed into the work environment to observe the daily routine and even take on various roles. If you’re looking for a sales assistant, for example, you can make candidates experience a difficult job scenario, like an unhappy customer, or rush hour. This way, you can assess that person’s potential when it comes to that job, or even assign them to another role they may be better suited for.
Safe and controlled training and testing environments
Sure, instructional graphs and videos are fine, but nothing beats actually going through a process when it comes to learning. However, dry runs aren’t really an option with workers that need to handle hazardous substances or dangerous machinery. They need to get it right the first time in the real world.
With VR and some savvy developers and designers, you’ll be able to replicate any piece of human-operated machinery inside the virtual world, allowing your employees to test their preparedness. This way, if a worker makes a fatal mistake, the only affected party will be their virtual avatar. Needless to say, this training process also reduces your risk of lawsuits stemming from occupational injuries. It’s a win for everyone.
Trade shows and product demos
Trade shows are your company’s time to shine and stand out, so there’s a lot of pressure to impress. VR is not only a novel way to present your products or services, but you can also use it to demo your offerings. Naturally, customers find it easier to spend money when they can try out the goods. Whether you’re selling real estate, cars, or just about any kind of product, chances are there’s a way to leverage VR to make your booth the hotspot of the show.
Diversity and non-discrimination initiatives
Stanford University researchers developed VR diversity-training scenarios that allow people to literally walk in someone else’s shoes and experience racial and sexual discrimination. The NFL, for example, hopes to bring lasting behavioral changes to players through the interactive VR scenes. It is believed that the enhanced realism and immersion offered by VR technology could enable its users to experience at least a fragment of the racism and sexism others got through in the workplace. This experience is believed to build empathy in individuals and make them realize that certain behaviors that they might deem normal are, in fact, hurtful to certain groups.
… So should you use VR?
VR might seem like a gimmick now, but once the technology goes mainstream you’ll be wishing you’d gotten on the bandwagon sooner. It’s a novel way for a customer to experience your products and right now it makes a lasting impression because there’s nothing quite like it out there. Furthermore, if you become an early adopter, by the time VR becomes mainstream, you’ll be an expert at using it to promote your brand and products. Promotion aside, the VR’s potential when it comes to employee training is limitless.
As with any new technology, there will be believers and skeptics. It’s up to you to decide which side you’re on, but be quick – or you might have to catch up later. Taking on VR now will make you stand out for the years to come, both as an employer and as a seller.
