Application of VR in various sectors
VR in Workplace Communication:
Just a few short years from now, headsets for entering virtual and augmented landscapes will populate the desks of most of the country's Fortune 1000 companies. But employees won’t be using these tools for gaming. VR/AR will shift the way teams learn, interact, and communicate with customers in ways never thought possible. VR/AR will introduce whole new ways to socialize and whole new ways to learn, but these methods will only be as effective as their overall design. That's why designers, animators, and developers need to start planning for this future today. Ineffective visual communication on these platforms—the kind that uses stock imagery or falls short on its ability to tell a story—can create disorientation and confusion, and you might risk turning people away from your brand or product entirely. Effective visual communication in VR and AR is not only aesthetically engaging but offers a guiding hand as users explore this new world. Logically organized and carefully implemented visual communication can place your brand at the forefront of VR/AR.
VR in Education:
There a many use cases for VR, but the most interesting and most immediate is training and education. Several studies have shown that people who learn and train in VR retain the information much more deeply and for longer periods of time than those who simply use books and videos and other traditional methods. In one case, students learning construction management were broken into two groups, one using VR and the other traditional methods, and the VR group scored higher on tests about the information both immediately after the lesson and a month after. In another case, medical students using VR did much better on live patients than those who learned via traditional methods. VR allows students to run the lesson as many times as needed, and they cannot be distracted while in the headset.
AR for E-commerce - The Dawn of the Virtual Showroom:
AR will absolutely revolutionize the e-commerce industry and has actually already started doing so. The possibilities are endless, but one big change will be the shift to "virtual showrooms." Consumers at stores like Uniqlo and Gap can already try on different colors and styles of clothing in a virtual dressing room, with mainstream expansion soon to follow. And it only extends from there -- imagine actually being able to "see" furniture in your home before you make your purchase, or checking out a car and all its features, right from your phone. The entire video game industry will likely see a shift, too, with buying moving away from consoles and towards the games themselves, that can be played right in your own living room. Finally, a consumer’s in-store experience will get a boost as brick-and-mortar retailers are able to add an AR-powered store map to their app, allowing shoppers to find --and be led directly to -- any item in the store.
Virtual Reality in the Courtroom:
Once upon a time, lawyers would use photos and wipe boards to try and explain the mechanics of an accident or a crime to a jury. With VR, lawyers are now able to transport the decision-makers directly into the scene. Due to confidentiality issues, we can’t comment on specific cases; however, we can say that we’re currently experimenting with this cutting-edge virtual reality technology on several matters involving catastrophic personal injuries. As lawyers, one of the biggest challenges faced in a case is showing the decision makers or jury what actually happened at a crime scene or at the precise moment of impact during a catastrophic injury. In the old days, we’d use demonstrative exhibits, visual aids, and witness statements in an attempt to ‘transport a jury to an accident scene.’ With virtual reality, not only can we transport jurors to the accident scene, we can put them in the car at impact. That’s powerful – and the sense of ‘presence’ that VR provides has the potential to be a game changer in the practice of law.
Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality for Treatment of Diseases:
VR and AR are unique in that they are immersive technologies. Unlike video, VR actually puts you in the environment and AR puts digital things in your environment. It is interactive as well but mostly it is safe. If a person has a fear of snakes it is risky to expose that person to real snakes but far safer to expose the person to virtual snakes. PTSD treatment has been shown to benefit from VR and AR as well by gradually exposing the subject to the stimuli that caused the PTSD in the first place in a safe manner and allowing the subject to work through the trauma at the subject's own pace. Training in handling tense situations also benefits from VR and AR by allowing people to work through various scenarios with no consequence and learning experientially how to handle them in the real world. What we learn in VR and AR carries over to real life and we can practice safely as many times as we want.
A Virtual Tour of Your Future Home:
Virtual and augmented reality is coming to real estate. The opportunity for this new technology is fantastic. We’re not talking about merely seeing homes online. The future of this technology is virtual showings. Home buyers will be able to don VR goggles and walk through a home anywhere in the world. I sincerely believe this
technology will unlock the opportunity for home shoppers relocating from across the world to visit a home without ever leaving the comfort of their existing home. Adding to this exciting change in real estate will be the introduction of augmented reality. Home shoppers will be able to virtually stage the potential home within their VR goggle view. And, within the view, they can also find data, nearby schools, shopping, dining. Realtors can leave post-it notes within the virtual tour describing building materials, the year the home was built, lot size. Any information a consumer may want as they take a virtual tour of their new home.
AR and VR in Staffing:
How do you fill a staffing gap? Imagine if you could use augmented reality (AR) to bridge your workforce. Instead of a team of experts being paid at their full earning potential, you could blend out your resource pool with junior staff members. As a mentor, the expert would oversee everything their juniors were assigned to. Let’s suppose a junior engineer is at a work site and needs validation that a beam was structurally sound. In a corporate setting, Through augmented reality, the engineer would be able to show, in real time, what he/she is inspecting. Without needing to be onsite, the expert would have visibility into the inspection – provide recommendations and point out areas of concern and/or provide approvals. In a corporate setting, AR and VR serve different purposes. AR can give visual examples of good work done, while VR creates an immersive experience. This fosters empathy between employer, employee, and staff, leading to a more unified workforce.
Automotive:
Virtual reality in the automotive industry has changed processes for design, safety and purchasing. The realistic elements of VR allow designers and engineers to examine how a car would look and function without having to build multiple models. Replicating the outside environment virtually also allows for safety trials to be performed on vehicles without exerting the time and energy it takes to run actual tests. Major brands such as Ford, Volvo and Hyundai are using VR not only for the building process, but also in sales. Entire vehicle lines are available to customers who can do everything from trying out different features to test driving. The need for dealership showrooms could be obsolete with the use of virtual reality technology.
Tourism:
Virtual reality allows for guided tours of any place around the world. Pegged to advance the tourist industry, people can now ‘try before they buy’ destinations. This will especially help smaller and less well-known places, as travellers can observe what each destination has to offer. Travel and hospitality firms are also able to showcase destinations and accommodations. The interactive technology allows potential guests of a hotel or resort to explore and experience the grounds before booking. Some firms have gone so far as to recreate the environment of the accommodation by using real stimulants (wind, aromas, etc.) on the potential client during the virtual experience. The collaboration between Thomas Cook and Samsung Gear VR is one such example, offering the realistic presentation of Thomas Cook locations around the world. The endeavour brought in nearly £12,000 and a 40 percent return on investment within the first three months.
Aerospace:
The aerospace industry is becoming more immersive as VR technology allows every stage of the building and maintaining process to be a collaborative effort. The interactive capabilities support communication and improve understanding between employees in varying departments. Designers, engineers and manufacturers are able to create products at a much faster pace with the help of product behavior-testing and visualisation. A strong relationship between departments is possible due to the visualisation properties of VR, helping promote an understanding at all stages of build and design. Pilots, ground controllers, service workers and engineers can also maintain products more efficiently with this communication gap bridged.
Museums:
Virtual reality could add a lot of culture to our lives. The technology could instantly transport users to the Louvre in Paris, the Acropolis in Athens and the Guggenheim in New York City, all in one day. In fact, a number of museums have already collaborated with developers to create virtual spaces where people can experience the museums' physical collections. Last year, the British Museum in London launched its first virtual-reality weekend and the American Museum of Natural History in New York City made some of its collections virtually accessible through Google Cardboard. Anyone with a smartphone and a Cardboard VR headset can now take a tour of the museum.
Healthcare:
Using realistic virtual environments or virtual models of the human anatomy, healthcare professionals can gain insight into what they’ll experience before actually working on a real body. This is useful not only for students, but also for experienced professionals who are performing new or high-risk procedures. Surgeries can now be viewed from 360 degrees and in real time from all around the world with VR apps such as Medical Realities. Not only can surgeries be viewed with VR, but robotic surgery can now be performed with the technology. The opportunity for decentralised patient care is also incredibly useful. Virtual reality applications are being designed to learn about patients and examine them in the same way a healthcare professional would. The time and revenue saved from such care could be significant.
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