Despite the overwhelming popularity of VR headset technology and metaverse experiences, many people still primarily associate this field with gaming-centric headsets like the Oculus Rift. That’s understandable, but the benefits this tech brings to the table go far beyond entertainment. Today, more and more businesses are choosing to invest in VR and AR (or “XR,” collectively) to train their employees, host meetings, and much more.
What Makes investing in VR Worth It?
Before you decide to spend money on a VR headset fleet for your business, you’ll naturally want to know why this is so important. When you develop a rock-solid VR strategy, your company will benefit from:
Enhanced Training
As of 2020, 26 percent of businesses used VR or AR as part of their employee training efforts—and those numbers have almost certainly increased since then. That’s because VR simulator training may be the single most effective form of employee training on the market. Just look at the numbers: the retention rate of VR training is a whopping 75 percent. To put that in perspective, the rate for “traditional” lectures is just five percent.
Increased Safety
Of course, VR training isn’t just associated with dangerous careers. However, its ability to let trainees safely experience scenarios that would be risky (if not deadly) in real life makes it a natural fit for these jobs.
As you might expect, VR’s retention rate shines in careers where lives are on the line. To name just one example, police officers who have gone through this form of training are 2.7 times more likely to be involved in successful missions.
An Unmatched User Experience
Whether you’re using VR for training, meetings, or anything else, your employees are likely to appreciate the change of pace. But the user experience delivered by VR doesn’t just make it enjoyable to use—that sense of immersion is the key to all the other perks associated with this technology.
When and How to Implement VR
Based on everything you’ve read up to this point, it might seem like the question “when should I invest in VR?” has an obvious answer: “as quickly as possible.” However, this only takes the user point of view into account. You’ll also need to consider VR from a financial perspective.
As an investor, the prospect of establishing a VR fleet can feel big, expensive, and dangerous. That’s because most companies are unfamiliar with what makes VR equipment “tick,” so to speak–and the process of building a VR fleet goes far beyond Googling “best VR headset” and hoping for the best. If you go the DIY route, you could find yourself stuck with a pricey collection of VR equipment that’s totally unsuited to your actual needs.
If everything goes according to plan, however, you can expect your VR investment to begin paying off roughly two years after you start. And the best way to make sure your company gets the high-quality equipment it deserves is by partnering with a trusted provider of VR solutions like OneBonsai!
How to Use VR in Your Enterprise
Once you’ve done the hard work of building your ideal VR fleet (or found an outside company to tackle this job), it’s time to switch gears and focus on what this technology can do for you. While there are as many business VR strategies as there are companies using VR, some common uses of this technology include:
VR Training
It’s hard to say what businesses use VR for most, but training is definitely up there. And as you might expect, your enterprise VR training strategy can take just about any form you can imagine. It’s no exaggeration to say that VR-based training could replace “traditional” training entirely.
If your workers need to deal with high-risk scenarios like surgery, piloting, or firefighting, you can easily create a realistic VR simulator of these situations for training purposes. But don’t ignore the possibility of handling “basic” training in XR, either. The added immersion provided by this technology also makes prerecorded class sessions more effective.
VR Meetings
The COVID-19 pandemic made virtual meetings more popular than ever, but it also exposed the limitations of “traditional” video conferencing. If you’ve ever tried to make eye contact with someone over Zoom, you know why seeing other people on a screen can’t compare to a real-life conversation.
Fortunately, VR can bridge the gap between these two very different types of meetings. While a VR meeting room isn’t quite the same as the real thing, it’s much closer than a video feed can get. At the same time, your team members will still be able to participate in these meetings no matter where they are in the real world.
VR Prototyping
Not every business deals with manufacturing and production—but for those that do, VR simulator tech is a godsend. That’s because this technology can deliver unmatched savings related to prototyping and design.
No matter how elaborate your prototypes are, you’ll be able to build them in VR without worrying about any associated costs beyond the fleet itself. And when your virtual prototype is complete, you’ll have the opportunity to test it under any imaginable set of conditions.
Choose OneBonsai For Your VR Needs
Whether you want to adopt VR headset technology for your company’s training, meetings, prototyping, or anything else, you’re not alone. Thanks to the information retention, employee safety, and user experience benefits they offer, XR technologies are rapidly becoming the industry standard in practically any industry you could name.
By now, you should have a clear picture of why investing in VR can be a smart move—if you do it the right way. For the vast majority of businesses, that means picking a qualified partner to develop and implement the best VR headset fleet for their requirements. Start building your VR strategy with OneBonsai by getting in touch today!
