Up to now, Virtual Reality has been a technology that has been associated with the gaming world, and don’t get us wrong, it has done a lot for the industry. However, the technology has so many other potential uses. Virtual reality is starting to become more than just a toy and is now transforming the professional world too.
It is transforming the workspace not just for big corporations but also for small businesses, in all fields, from tech companies to hospitals.
It is a fact that VR is the future, but not the future we were promised in movies like the 1992 The Lawnmower man or, more recently, in Player Number One. With VR being around for a while now and with most of the bugs worked out and companies are starting to create their own hardware, it is going to become a lot more affordable and accessible to the everyday man on the street.
So, let us take a look at a few ways that VR is finally going to change the world.
Job creation
If you just look at the creation of VR, from developers to programmers and marketing departments, a lot of people have already gotten a job out of VR. But with the technology moving into all sectors, many more people will be able to get jobs not just necessarily in the VR sector but because of the VR sector.
Imagine a young man in the heart of Africa being able to study medicine or visit professional writer service courses because he is able to join a classroom in a VR setting, and that is just one example of how because VR someone’s life can be improved. Thus, you don’t have to have a master’s degree in IT development to associate with Virtual Reality; in the future, the technology will virtually affect everyone.
Working together over vast spaces
We already work in teams with people in different cities, states, and even countries via email, messages and even video conferencing, but this has a lot of limitations since not everyone can always see what you see in your mind.
This is where VR comes in. Imagine inviting your team members into a meeting inside your mind; into a place where you can display your work and put your imagination onto a canvas, everyone can see.
VR allows designers and architects across great distances to work together on a project, make changes and get feedback in real-time. This is now possible due to VR and many big companies are already using it.
It’s renewing the styles of training
There are careers out there where the training can be brutal, dare I say, deadly. And trainees need a lot of hard training before they can be put in the field. This can be anyone from pilots to trauma surgeons. And wouldn’t it be a lot more comforting when your surgeon, straight out of university, has done this same surgery 6 or 7 times in Virtual Reality?
It allows training in a safe space without the real-world dangers of crashing a plane or putting life in the hands of an inexperienced surgeon.
Virtual office space
So, we have already spoken about how we can collaborate across vast spaces. But the other office use for the technology is for companies whose key decision-makers or management personnel need to attend many meetings, and this would mean them traveling back and forth from their branches to the head office, for example.
A virtual boardroom can be created and employees that normally would have to travel many miles to be at a meeting can join in VR. This Virtual Boardroom does not even need to be a complete VR construction.
This is where augmented reality (AR), a spin-off of Virtual Reality, can be used – where the virtual world is mixed with the real world. Employees can sit in the same boardroom and have their meetings even if they are many miles apart. This will decrease time out of the office and can increase productivity.
Improving the overall health of the workforce
Most office workers spend 90% of their day sitting behind a desk and this can be very detrimental to their health. It can cause spinal injuries, depression and more. VR is changing this in the workspace as employees are now able to stand up and walk around.
It’s as real as it can be and helps them to do their work and be productive without necessarily needing to be at their desk. This will improve the overall health and lifestyle of an employee and make them happier and this will increase their productivity.
A new look at marketing
This is a very specific field, we can use VR in marketing and sales, if a marketing team needs to set up space for an event or if they have a promotion and need to see how it will play out.
A second marketing technique that can be used is in the property market. A real estate agent can show houses to clients that can’t be at the house for some reason. They can sit in the comfort of wherever they are, and see one, two or more houses in a day.
Conclusion
VR used to be for playing games and consuming media, but the gaming industry was the start of it all to perfect the technology. Now it’s starting to infiltrate other industries and with it becoming more affordable it will see its way into most houses and surely it will change the future. It will also change the way we consume media and infiltrate our lives in every way.
