Virtual reality is not at all a new term. It is a common technological term that is steadily gaining momentum by the day. When we hear about virtual reality, we start imagining people holding a VR user handset to enjoy games and entertainment in a closed environment. However, in recent years, the terminology of virtual reality and its devices has changed.
With the lives stuck in-house during the lockdown, the devices and applications of VR are making their place in houses and offices. The recent pandemic has changed the lives of many people. It was after the pandemic that the real worth of virtual reality was felt in all spheres of life.
Many companies are working hard to bring advanced and more relevant devices that could prove to be relevant in day to day life of individuals. A few years ago, VR was limited to games and entertainment experiences, but now it is all set to provide amazing applications for many industries including travel, education, entertainment, etc.
Virtual reality opens various scope for business and other industries, but before one could know how it has contributed to several businesses, it is important to know what virtual reality actually is?
What is virtual reality?
Virtual reality is creating a three-dimension, virtual world using machinery and advanced computers in which an individual explores and interacts with the existing environment. It is an artificial environment that allows manipulating objects and actions so that person feels to be an important part of the virtual world.
Until some time ago, virtual reality and its technologies were limited to games and entertainment, but these days it is commonly used in various sectors.
Virtual reality during Covid-19
VR experts have been long working in increasing the efficiency of virtual reality to provide the best experiences in various sectors, however, no one was aware that Covid will come as a boom for VR. With the restriction of being at home, people started admiring the revolutionary VR technologies. The year 2020, acts as an amazing year for VR.
The onset of the pandemic brought lives to a standstill. People were restricted to travel to their favourite destination and were unable to attend concerts with their friends. Experts made this possible with VR handsets. During the pandemic, Zoom and Skype meetings became popular. VR knocked on the door of both the education sector and offices. This created the concepts of virtual offices and virtual classrooms where students were sitting in their homes, but experienced just the environment of their school classrooms.
It was this year when the VR LCD was launched. This was efficient enough to create 3D images for creating illusions. The revolutionary technique of VR was no longer limited to gaming; it was soon introduced to travel. With this, humans can now enjoy their favourite destination right at their homes. Many popular video games were introduced that allow players to enjoy amazing experiences of Mount Everest. Some companies also provided a whole new experience of enjoying sports at your home screens. Big screens also allow enjoying live events, virtual movie theatres, and hangouts.
Virtual reality surely made pandemic interesting. The definition of work changed in several businesses. During the pandemic, almost all the sectors were influenced and VR helped them survive.
Sectors influenced by virtual reality during the pandemic
Covid 19 came as a nightmare for many businesses. The recession knocked on the door of almost all the business segments. Many businesses were worried about survival. In such an era, digitization and virtual reality came as a perfect solution.
When video conferencing tools were introduced to the business, they slowly and steadily came back to the path. Many companies introduced remote operations and work from home concepts. This ensured the proper functioning of business without any fear of complete halt.
With Covid-19, virtual reality and augmented reality were the important technological concepts that helped businesses survive. The following business introduced the concepts of virtual reality:
VR in travel and tourism after the pandemic
The Pandemic was quite harsh for the travel industry. Every year, thousands of travellers visit their favourite destination but due to pandemic, they were restricted to sitting at their homes. This gave rise to the concept of virtual tours. Many companies introduced advanced headsets that were all set to provide the experience of new destinations right by sitting at home. Whether it is a serene walk through a forest or a sunset at a mountain everything can be enjoyed with this smart headset.
The advanced technology of virtual reality allowed virtual movie screening as well. It was at this tenure that many hotels and resorts also launched their apps. This app was designed to provide virtual experiences of the stay to travellers so that they can plan their visit once the pandemic gets over.
Virtual reality in real estate after the pandemic
Pandemic also had an adverse effect on the real estate industry. When there were so many houses left vacant, real estate owners were worried about how they would be able to attract buyers to their project. It was at this time, they launched headsets that could enable buyers to get a virtual visit to their dream homes.
Many companies launched apps that could allow them to get a virtual 3D tour of apartments. With this smart digitization offer, the investors need not wait to get the pandemic over to plan a visit. They can simply explore the site right at their home and plan to buy their dream home.
The smart application worked on an effective real estate database that was efficient to define a house and its properties based on 433 fields.
VR in events and conferences after the pandemic
Initially, when the lockdown was introduced, many companies simply cancelled their conferences. It was hard to manage things initially, but soon virtual reality came up with new ideas for virtual conferences. There were many companies that conducted successful conferences miraculously even after travel restrictions.
Thanks to the capabilities of virtual reality, companies launched their own VR headset and made sure about their availability to their employees. Many famous companies conducted successful events throughout the world that had more than 10,000 virtual attendees.
The headset was successful to create a perfect environment for a well-set auditorium. The employees and other attendees had their own avatars to replicate the actual conference experiences. There were speakers as well to ensure the proper attention of each attendee participating in the virtual conference.
Virtual reality in Education after the pandemic
Covid-19 also imposed several restrictions on the education sector. It was at this tenure that students started receiving online classes and virtual classrooms were introduced for proper interaction between teachers and students.
Just in a few days, students and teachers were comfortable with this setup, but students who were looking for higher education were confused because they were not allowed to visit any campus. It was at this time when many colleges came together and launched a smart app that could ensure providing virtual tours of colleges and campuses.
This made it easy for students to choose the best campus right when they were in quarantine. With the virtual tour apps, they successfully enrolled themselves to their favourite campus and started receiving their education without any delay.
VR in job and training after the pandemic
Lockdown forced around the world, restricted employees to attend their offices. Many successful companies launched the concept of work from home. Initially, it was hard to set proper workflow from top-level management to general employees, but with time everything was running smoothly.
Many companies are still practising work from home criteria. Few other organizations are working on half employee’s basis and some are set to start their normal working soon. It was easy for employees to carry out their daily tasks sitting at their homes, but training was difficult with this scenario. To conduct proper training, several virtual training programs were launched in many famous organizations around the world.
Many companies created successful training headsets. They had inbuilt simulators and automotive training features. The virtual training programs ensure the proper participation of trainees. It was designed to provide training in a real-time environment by replicating the office workplace.
Virtual reality in retail after the pandemic
Even when buyers are commonly using online portals for buying their day-to-day products, some of them still believe in visiting a shop to choose a product after properly checking the physical features. When you are in quarantine, this was difficult, and thus many innovative retail businesses launched their apps that could ensure providing personal experiences.
It would be easy to buy groceries online, but difficult to order furniture for your drawing room. For this, there are smart apps that can be used right on smartphones. Using these apps, buyers can check the piece of furniture, their color, and their quality right while sitting at their home. The concept of the eCommerce business changed at this time.
The smart apps these days have visual search capabilities as well that help order products such as clothing, eyeglasses, or cosmetics. This feature helps you try a particular piece of cloth or a particular shade of lipstick on yourself and get a preview of how it will look before you could actually order it.
VR in fitness after the pandemic
During the pandemic, many missed their usual gym sessions and their Zumba classes. It was at that time when famous gym experts and trainers came together to provide virtual exercise experiences. There were many famous online fitness training apps that had the capabilities of virtual experiences.
These apps were designed to replicate the environment of the gym so that one can practice their gym experience with expert trainers with the right music. Many other centres like Zumba classes and aerobic classes were also having their personalized virtual classes that could enable practising the best exercises anywhere at any time.
Virtual reality in art and culture after the pandemic
People who were fond of attending cultural events and art exhibitions, the pandemic was tough for them. People associated with art and culture have no choice but to sit back at their homes and wait for quarantine to get over. In such a crucial scenario, many companies came with the idea of conducting virtual art exhibitions and cultural events.
During this time, many people enjoyed binge streaming right from famous museums and cultural festivals. There were headsets and virtual apps that could enable providing 360-degree views of famous museums around the world.
It was at this time when many users gained their new interest in art and culture when they were sitting at home and had nothing to do. This was all because of the amazing experiences provided by virtual reality art and culture apps.
VR in the advertisement after the pandemic
Virtual reality also changed the way companies used various advertisement techniques. Prior to the pandemic, banners and posters were used by companies to attract potential customers, during the pandemic the advertisements were restricted to television screens and mobile platforms.
Buyers were sitting right at their home and thus it was essential for companies to target them in a way that they get motivated to buy products right from their home. Products that had great importance in terms of covid were highly promoted and purchase of such products increased.
The current scenario changed the way advertisement was done. It was VR that changed the way advertising was done.
10 ways VR impact the future of businesses
Pandemics have proved that the future of VR is quite influential. It was in the ’90s when VR companies were fighting to provide the best experiences to their users, but now it is a common part of everyone’s life.
In the last few years, VR has been improved. VR experts use advanced technology to create amazing experiences for their users. The Pandemic has made it very clear that the future of VR is bright. In recent years, it has steadily gained popularity. VR is not restricted to games now. It has now successfully connected with consumers.
This is the reason why it has gained popularity in marketing and advertising as well. Following are the ways with which virtual reality will impact the future of advertising:
- Virtual experiences of products
Choosing a product may be tough at times, but with virtual reality, this could be easy because it will ensure to provide virtual experiences for products through web apps.
- Videos responsible for higher conversion rates
Introducing VR to video advertisement will help involve customers to the fullest. This engagement will surely ensure better conversion rates for products and brands.
- Improvement in customer experiences
VR introduced enhanced experiences for products. When advertisements are smart, it will reduce the barriers to buying products. This will ensure enhanced customer experiences.
- Advanced mobile marketing applications
Mobile marketing is the need of the day, when VR is introduced to mobile marketing it will become better in all ways. With the support of augmented reality, it will ensure better customer engagement.
- Substitute for interaction
VR acts as a substitute for interactions. It will change the way one will experience travel and trade. This will surely cut down the total costs and it will also ensure better experiences.
- In-game and in-app advertising
VR has been already in gaming and advertising, but it is expected to bring a smarter and better approach to the overall experience. When a user uses headsets and glasses, it will surely increase opportunities.
- Providing product training for buyers
VR would increase the experiences of using products not only this, but it would also help provide the training with them. It would also be possible to get physical feedback from users.
- Engagement tracking
VR would also help ensure a massive impact on advertising strategies. VR brings in several tools and techniques that could take advertising to the next level. This will help build creative strategies for advertising.
- Scope for online events
The Pandemic has restricted live concerts and other events, VR made it easy to enjoy such events. VR could effectively work on avatars to ensure happy hours for events and concerts.
- Interactive video opportunities
VR enables interactive video opportunities that could help reach consumers in the most unique way. The long-form opportunities will help connect with younger segments as well.
Conclusion
It is not wrong to say that the pandemic surely changed the way businesses used to carry out their daily work tasks. The introduction of VR and AR during this pandemic changed the concept of every business segment around the world.
By opening new hopes of digitization, VR actually provided better options for enjoying innovation during the quarantine time. By providing virtual tours, it ensured, providing the best experience for users in all sectors.
There are endless opportunities that virtual reality opens for various businesses and it is high time every business understands its worth and uses its enhanced concepts to ensure convenience for its users. By bringing virtual experiences for consumers, companies can now thrive to deliver value in a meaningful way.
