What Business Owners Should Do In The Face Of Virtual Reality

As talks of the Metaverse, virtual reality, and augmented reality shape the way people look towards the future, it’s hard not to think about just how this technology will change our lives. With benefits that could help advance just about any industry, what can any business do to benefit the most from this exciting technology? 

Although that question can be answered in a variety of ways, we’ve come up with a few applications that we believe business owners should start thinking about now. So, if you’re looking for a few ways to take advantage of this new craze, look no further. 

 

VR Interviews

If you’ve recently interviewed for a job, you might have been put off by the fact that you didn’t do it face to face. Well, maybe you were face to face, but behind a screen with miles separating you from the person on the other end. You were dressed to impress from the waist up and the conversation felt business as usual, but something was still off. 

It’s a byproduct of the world we’re in now, says Digital Information World, and one the recruitment industry had to make adjustments for, but it’s not a byproduct that needs to stick around forever regardless of what’s going on in the world. Being able to conduct a VR interview could put businesses and potential employees in the same space. 

You could be placed in a digital version of the office you’d be working in while chatting with your potential employer. It would bridge that gap between physical and remote interviews. A much appreciated assist considering how awkward interviews can be in the first place. 

 

vr-set
Virtual reality headsets are becoming increasingly accessible.

 

Long-Distance Customer Engagement Made Personal

Many businesses already do a great job at engaging the customer. For example, a thriving player in the online casino industry, Buzz Bingo, is able to offer live versions of blackjack, roulette, and Macau. In these live interactions, players can enjoy a live dealer’s genuine reactions and playful banter from anywhere in the world. It’s a happy middle ground for the people who want to play from the comfort of their own home, but also want a higher level of engagement. 

With virtual reality, this casual socializing can be enhanced as you sit down with the dealer and other players in a digital space. You can speak and read the expressions on their face and hear the tone in their voice. This would also allow customers to see the face of people who might be helping them troubleshoot problems or point them in the direction of another game in the digital space, thus breaking the impersonal barriers we’ve grown accustomed to.

 

 

Product Rendering

Have you ever wanted to buy something online but can’t because you want to see it in person? Have you wanted to hold something or try it on? Bridging the gap between the physical and digital world yet again, virtual reality and augmented reality will allow customers to “try on” clothes without having to be in the store. As a matter of fact, retailers like Gucci and Ralph Lauren have already started to use AR technology, where an image of the garment is overlaid onto a picture of the customer. 

If this virtual changing room concept is taken further, customers could “hold” items digitally to get an idea of the style, size, and 360-degree contour of an item in relation to them. This makes online shopping even more appealing and could potentially allow for VR malls where people could customise the stores in them and see what their favourite retailer is currently offering. 

In all of these examples, businesses with an online presence benefit by giving their customers a feeling of solidarity. If buyers and sellers/employees and employers can place themselves in a digital world that feels closer to the real world, some of the current limitations of online interactions will slowly fade away. Businesses looking to take advantage of that and be first to the VR party would do well to see how they can welcome their customers into their own digital space. 

The first wave of businesses that figure out how to make that space feel natural, will be the ones to pave the way for the rest of the world.