Virtual Reality: Is it Effective for Your Business?

This year’s newest technology trend has been the birth of accessible virtual reality (VR). From the Oculus to augmented reality (AR), virtual reality has enticed the market and is impacting the way we perceive and interact with the world around us. Even successful, well-known name brands such as Google have utilized virtual reality by inventing the Google 360 Virtual Tour. Could integrating a new technology such as VR be helpful for your business to thrive in our ever-changing market? Explore the advantages and disadvantages of this technology trend listed below to see if VR is right for your business’s future success.

Advantages:

Since VR has hit the market, technology has finally produced user-friendly headsets for ordinary people who want their hands on the product. For businesses, VR has the potential to relay information and experiences into the corporate world like never before.

1. Virtual Meetings

One essential benefit of incorporating VR into your business is that meetings or conferences can be easily accessible for anyone. Are employees out of town or unable to attend an important scheduled meeting? VR can make it available for those employees to conveniently set up the VR headset (or goggles) and everyone can virtually be at the same conference room all at once. Weather is also unpredictable. Hosting VR meetings is a considerate way for an employer to express concern for the well-being and safety of their employees during harsh winter conditions.

2. Interviews

Similar to above, interviewing candidates with VR could be a great tool for those in the HR department or for hiring managers that are unable to meet directly face-to-face. VR could create an intriguing experience with the introduction of remote offices for potential candidates to be interviewed in as opposed to over-the-phone interviews. VR offers the potential to read body language in order to help better examine how someone responds to interview questions.

3. Google 360 Virtual Tour

Have you ever wanted to preview a business or its services before making the final decision to actually pay a visit? With Google 360 Virtual Tour, this tool is perfect for prospective and current customers to experience a virtual tour of your business during the hours when you might otherwise be closed. It is an upgrade to static photography as it is much more immersive and engaging for the user experience. Online users will be able to get a 360-degree preview of the interior of your business through Google Maps, while receiving a sneak peak of products that are being offered.

Disadvantages:

1. Cost

Virtual meetings, interviews, and Google 360 Virtual Tour can be an affordable solution for large established businesses. For small businesses, could an employer afford headsets or goggles for all employees? Are meetings and interviews something a small business needs the luxury of VR for if they are not on a consistent basis? Virtual Reality is still in its preliminary stages. Therefore, the price of equipment can be costly and will most likely rise as technology improves. Businesses may benefit from being patient while experts work out the inevitable “bugs” found by users while beta testing VR on the market.

2. Perception Not reality

While technological improvements have made life effortless and easier for us all, VR will only ever be able to replicate reality. VR may make us feel like we are experiencing everything in real time, but we are still left with the inability to truly experience all five senses in the same way we are in the real world. Some have a negative reaction to VR, with an overall feeling of disconnect. The irony of virtual reality at our finger tips is that it presents less meaningful conversations, interactions, and tangible real-life experiences. Virtual reality may surprise us in the years to come with additional positive benefits, but technological improvements will always be a disadvantage to in-the-flesh experiences, desensitizing us, and adding another layer of inauthentic automation that humans are already consumed by.

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