Virtual Reality: helping businesses stay profitable

Although it may seem overhyped, there are few emerging technologies which show such potential as virtual reality. While we may be more familiar with the latest advances being used for applications such as live dealer casinos and bank chatbots, these technologies are already starting to show the signs of becoming useful in the real world; new software and hardware applications are being created that will revolutionize the way that end users interact with the world around them.

The History of VR

Virtual Reality technology has its original roots in the 19th century, however it wasn’t until the 1960s that early experiments were carried out into artificial environments – or primitive worlds generated by computers which users were actually able to navigate. Just three decades later, VR had become a key element in popular culture. Movies such as The Lawnmower Man were showing its potential, while Nintendo and Sega were producing early gaming headsets to exploit this potential. 

However, all of this was a world away from today’s commercially available VR headsets which incorporate features like location and motion sensing, haptics and high-resolution 3D graphical displays which are surprisingly realistic. Major players such as Facebook, Microsoft and Google are already heavily investing in this technology.

So, how is VR helping businesses today to stay profitable?

The Face Of Education

Not so long ago, it was predicted that VR would change how our children are education, yet the adoption of virtual reality within the education sector has happened surprisingly slowly. Nevertheless, a number of school programs are now finding uses for a range of headsets to send students on virtual tours of the solar system and of foreign countries as well as virtual field trips and explorations of different periods in time.

<h2>The Healthcare Sector</h2>

From therapies aimed at those suffering from autism to finding ways to calm patients who are receiving painful treatments for problems like burns, VR is now being used in a variety of different healthcare applications. Not only that, but virtual reality is now being used as a highly effective healthcare teaching tool, allowing students to watch surgery in virtual reality and to practice techniques with no risk to patients.

Enterprise Training In VR

It has been predicted that the market for VR training could be worth over $12.6 billion within the next five years. For generations, pilots have trained using VR simulators, however now, workers across a broad spectrum of other high risk fields like oil or gas industries are using the technology to practice their role in a virtual environment without any risk to expensive equipment or any chance of personal injury.

The Real Estate Sector

At the moment, the real estate industry relies heavily on customers seeing themselves in a brand new environment, so it’s not too surprisingly that VR technology could find a place in this sector. Thanks to the latest developments, it has become possible to view tours of properties in virtual reality and to see the benefits of a particular house close up without ever needing to visit it physically.

Architectural Applications

The world of design has seized the potential of VR and has run with it, using it in new and exciting ways to showcase how products or structures will look when created in real life. VR has proven to be especially useful in the world of architecture, where architects can now create buildings in a virtual environment to show customers and property developers just what the final outcome of their design will look like when it’s created.

Product Design

Just like in the world of architecture, the world of product design is going through a virtual reality revolution. When product designers can see their product in a virtual way in front of them, they can determine whether or not the design suits their needs or lives up to expectations. They can also collaborate more easily on making changes and adjustments – something which is especially challenging and costly if the product has already been created in a mock-up format. A virtual product costs almost nothing to alter, so it’s no wonder that VR has proven to be so useful in this sector. 

The VR Market Outlook

By the end of the decade, it has been predicted that VR services and product marketplace will increase in value by around 90% when compared with the figures in 2017. In 2022, it has been suggested that the enterprise market in this field will be worth about $56 billion and the consumer market itself could have a value of around $53 billion – these are very impressive figures. 

However, in order for the latest VR technology to fulfil its promise, its developers must work on getting virtual reality technology out of its novelty phase and into the realm of normality. Yet, with so many businesses adopting the technology to boost their success and market share, VR looks set to be a huge feature in the world of tomorrow.