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How Remote Companies are Utilizing Virtual Reality
These days, almost everything is virtual. And we know what you’re thinking- it has to be! With remote work and geographically dispersed workforces becoming more prominent due to the pandemic, video technology has helped corporate communications continue to share important messages.
But the same ol’ videos can get, well, old! Thankfully, we’ve exited the user-generated content era of the pandemic where everything was shot from an iPhone in the living room with subpar sound. Professional video production has been able to resume in most locations, albeit with new safety standards and restrictions to keep all parties safe. But the need to be creative when making video during this time continues to rise.
Before COVID-19 sent video teams scrambling to maintain high-quality video, virtual reality and augmented reality were already being utilized to expand video capabilities.
A recent PwC report predicts that worldwide, almost 23.5 million jobs could be using augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) by 2030. Businesses across several industries have already implemented this technology into their video marketing strategies. Here are five industries you can learn from who are taking their videos to the next level with VR and AR in the age of the remote workforce.
Corporate Meetings and Events:
During a time when large gatherings and events are deemed unsafe, video content continues to unite and connect companies with their employees, partners and audiences. Immersive content can be used to further bridge this gap in a creative and entertaining way.
VR can spice up your corporate meetings and events. Consider highlighting your office building or a critical landscape with 360 video to remind your remote workers of life pre-pandemic. Ah, those were the days. Virtual reality can even display a faraway place you may have traveled to for work, without having to get on a plane. Not the same, but still pretty cool. You can provide headsets to those in your board meeting so they can plunge themselves in the same virtual world, even when everyone is at home.
Technology like Spatial is transforming how we interact in digital spaces with VR and AR. Spatial provides a glimpse at how useful this technology can be by showing how working and learning remotely can feel more like being in an office or a classroom, rather than just being a box in a Zoom call grid. VR is the opposite of Zoom fatigue – an energizing, immersive way to collaborate where you do not need to worry about what your hair looks like.
VR and AR may seem more expensive than the video conferences we have become accustomed to, but with less spend on travel and event costs, incorporating these technologies into your next high-level meeting or event creates more bang for your buck and leaves a lasting impression on viewers.
Retail:
Virtual reality and augmented reality provide retailers the opportunity to transform how people shop. 36% of consumers now shop online weekly, an increase from 28% before the pandemic. Virtual reality takes customer engagement to a new level by providing customers with virtual tours of the store from the comfort of their homes. Customers can also get detailed information by looking at the product as they would in a store using virtual and augmented reality technologies.
When it comes to shopping in-store, apps provide the ability for a consumer to interact with AR or VR either within the actual walls of a traditional shopping environment on the sales floor or right next to it, through the store windows. Implementation of AR and VR in retail helps retailers and consumers alike have a better shopping experience (and therefore a fuller “cart”) while reducing operating costs for retailers.
Healthcare:
Telehealth has largely increased in the last year due to the pandemic. The digital health market is expected to reach $536.6B by 2025, with hospitals around the world adopting innovative technologies to improve patient healthcare. Virtual reality and augmented reality have been adopted by medical professionals around the world for therapeutic interventions.
Patients can remotely engage with healthcare professionals by using a virtual reality headset and telehealth services. From there, they can be guided with a treatment plan that is personalized for their symptoms. We’ve seen this trend for illnesses such as MS, Parkinsons and even overall anxiety and stress.
Employee Training:
VR has been a handy tool for replicating and previewing high-risk or worst-scenario situations when training individuals. Whether that is for surgeons performing an exceedingly difficult procedure, or safety personnel who learn how to put out a dangerous fire, VR presents the specific, life-like imagery needed to professionally train.
With the global pandemic and need to social distance to keep masses safe, risk has heightened. What would have been a normal, in-person training for office jobs has been deemed unsafe.
Using immersive and interactive experiences, VR can drop you into difficult conversations, appraisals, or interviews with the need to roleplay which makes for a more comfortable experience. For corporate training, you can step into the shoes of team members without ever meeting face to face or practice your responses and approaches to training without fear of messing up. VR can put you on stage in front of an audience or transport you into a high-pressure presentation.
Manufacturing:
Using VR for training expands over multiple sectors, including manufacturing. The use of VR headsets in training can also substantially reduce costs and increase the safety of employee training to replicate dangerous or expensive scenarios.
VR can increase precision to every aspect of the industrial manufacturing process, ensuring better quality of manufactured goods and speedy time-to-market. For instance, automotive companies use VR to cut the time between initial design and physical modelling from weeks to days. This rapid collaboration enriches the creative process and is more time efficient.
Engineers and technicians in the field can also be fed information and access instruction manuals in real time using an AR interface. The ability to quickly identify problems and conduct repairs and maintenance helps keep everyone safe and can be more cost effective so a small problem can be identified before it becomes bigger.
At such a critical time for technology in the media industry, experts want video methods that are sustainable and ahead of the curve. AR and VR experiences can fill some of the vacuum of human connection that remote work has created, and help take your classic videos to the next level regardless of your industry. If you’re ready to incorporate VR and AR in your next video project, contact your production manager here at Crews Control to get started.
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