Virtual reality (VR) is on everyone’s radar these days. With several new products boasting new VR experiences, popularity is booming. Many may be quick to associate VR with games and entertainment, but its applications are expanding.

All that is necessary to create a VR experience is a 360-degree camera to capture footage, the necessary software to piece the data together to create the VR scene, and a headset viewer. Because of this, different industries have taken interest and are using VR technology to enhance business. Find out how these businesses are utilizing VR to their advantage.

Real Estate
Searching for a new home can be a challenging experience. Visiting different homes, especially for those moving out of state, can be difficult, time consuming, and costly. Luckily, virtual tours can help alleviate the woes and help buyers choose a new home.

An example of VR technology being applied to real estate is within Sage Realty Corporation. They offer VR tours for commercial real estate properties. Potential buyers are able to “walk through” and experience how the office will look after completion.

Construction
Along the same lines, in construction, VR technology will allow a client to view the finished product before it is done. Previously, building a mock-up was standard, which has its limitations (only displays the exterior, expensive, time-consuming). VR enables the client to virtually walk through the building and examine minor details. This helps the client make changes early, resulting in improved satisfaction with the final product.

Space
Much like space, VR allows you to experience and explore a scene without limits. At the Collaborative Human Immersive Laboratory (CHIL), two different VR platforms are used to create virtual representations of space vehicles, satellites, tools, and other instruments. These platforms allow people to experience what it’s like to be in a space vehicle or interact with a satellite before the prototyping stage, as well as enable designers and engineers to identify any potential problems with prototypes.

Car Dealership
Car shopping and test driving can be a fun experience for some, but with VR technology, you can test drive vehicles that may not even be available in showrooms yet (Volvo is the first auto company to try this). The VR scene places you in the car with the open road beyond that.

Workplace
When it comes to the workplace, VR can drastically change the way we communicate and collaborate. Mixed reality (hybrid reality) combines real and virtual worlds to produce a new environment where physical and digital objects can co-exist and interact. Thanks to VR, we can now communicate with experiences.

Remote teams can work together in a collaborative, immersive virtual environment. The opportunity cost of time spent on flights and jet-lagged meetings along with travel costs are essentially eliminated. And augmented reality (AR) applications are able to translate in real time, eliminating language barriers.

Because employees tend to be more productive when they have more control over their work schedule and space, VR will offer your workers flexibility while improving business efficiency, and worker satisfaction.

How else can virtual reality technologies improve the way we communicate and interact with each other? Share your thoughts with us on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.

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Tags: Virtual Reality in Business, Virtual Reality Technology, VR, VR Tech