It’s no secret that a traditional office can be counterproductive in many ways. More often than not, a desk loaded with multiple computer monitors and stacked with dozens of files makes the worker less productive.
While the big boys are going for open floor plans and game rooms, many studies suggestthat it can actually be exactly what is NOT needed.
And that is where the virtual workspace comes into the play. Rather than cluttering the desk with files and documents, one can do the work in a virtual world.
You can choose whether you want to do the data analysis while staring at the magical sunset or roaming around a futuristic space city.
As we’ll see, this new and innovative technology can be found in almost everywhere these days – from automotive industries to Customer Support, its presence can be felt all the time.
Some calculations…
It’s estimated that Virtual Reality alone is a $20 billion industry worldwide, and by 2020 it’s estimated that the numbers would double up!
A rather recent report by Capgemini Research Institutestates that more and more organisations are becoming interested in implementing a VR based workspace.
The report reveals that nearly 82% of the organisations that decided to go for this revolutionary technology either met the expectations or far exceeded it.
This report covering nearly 700 executives from different industries from manufacturing to human resources, stated that half of the companies are either actively in the process of implementing it or plan to include it in their arsenal within the next couple of years.
Benefits of including the Virtual Reality:
The benefits of accepting and implementing a Virtual Reality based workspace is multidimensional.
It helps boost the efficiency and speed of the overall workflow while keeping the employees focused. Here are some of the potential advantages of using Virtual or Augmented Reality for your official tasks.
- Meetings and conferences – Think about this scenario. You’re Mike the marketing guy, one of the most trusted and sought-after names in the whole industry.
And as a result, you’re also entrusted with some of the most daunting marketing tasks at hand.
This time around you have a virtual meeting with the head of the R Corporation, and you have to lock in the deal. But then you remember that you have forgotten the most important file back at home.
And that is how a standard Skype meeting would have proceeded.
But with the inclusion of the cutting-edge mixed reality equipment, you can not only send the document at the flick of one finger, but you can also present it the way you see fit.
Also, using a virtual reality headset gives one the opportunity to observe the participants and their body language.
And almost every psychologist and body language expert would tell you, the importance of catching and interpreting the non-verbal cues in any client facing business is immense.
- Recruitment and training –Virtual Reality is not merely a tool that can be used in conducting meetings and conferences.
Another very promising, yet oftentimes underrated, usage of this technology lies in employee recruitment and their training.
Employees can take a virtual tour of the place where they are willing to join. This way the potential employees would be able to form an initial idea about what their workplace is going to be.
Virtual Reality, on the other hand, can prove to be equally helpful for the organisations for training their employees.
Countless studies have shown that proper training can actually increase the longevity of an employee saving an organisation from unnecessary hassle and wastage of money.
It becomes even more relevant for training the employees on hands-on stuff like the fire drill
Testing – Virtual Reality has literally changed the way the designers and testers used to test products.
Automotive industry can be benefited immensely by implementing this revolutionary technology in their workflow.
Usually, a bunch of engineers and designers work on the same model, and a lot of going back and forth happens in the design phase.
By using the VR, the designers can collaborate much more easily and freely without worrying about creating a physical prototype.
- Marketing and advertising –Virtual Reality based gadgets are being used extensively for marketing products and selling ideas.
Many big names in the hotel and hospitality business are offering their potential customers a virtual tour of the destination.
This way the businesses are able to capture more and more customers. And the best thing about the tour is that the visitors don’t even need to sacrifice the comfort of their couch.
It is also being used in the retail industry for collecting feedback. A virtual shopping environment is created for the test subjects and then their feedback is recorded.
The bulk data is then analysed in order to make the actual shipping experience even more pleasing.
VR can also be employed in the industries that need physical inspection such as home improvement or repair jobs.
The engineer or technician can easily check for any faults remotely with the help of a virtual inspection.
- Analysing data –One of the best things about the VR or AR technology is that they can greatly increase the satisfaction by reducing the physical mess.
And that’s precisely why it can prove to be an invaluable tool for data analysis.
Rather than staring at dozens of monitors at the same time while trying to extract some meaningful information, you can manage all your screens by simply dragging and dropping (while enjoying the soothing beach view).
Conclusion:
There’s no doubt – VR and AR are going to be THE go-to solution in the future for most of the problems.
No matter if you’re talking about Customer Support, testing, marketing or something else – everything is going to move towards the VR space slowly, but surely.
But it still may not be completely ready to take on all the challenges yet. Given the promising possibilities, alternate reality tools are going to be the in thing of tomorrow.
Note: This is a guest post, and opinion in this article is of the guest writer. If you have any issues with any of the articles posted at www.marktechpost.com please contact at asif@marktechpost.com
John Marquez is a Huge Tech Geek and the Community Manager of BUNCH. He firmly believes that someday, robots will take over the world. And on his spare time, keeps an open eye on the latest innovations the world has to offer and blogs about them with a few cans of energy drinks.
