HOW VIRTUAL AND AUGMENTED REALITY CAN HELP YOU GROW YOUR BUSINESS

Starting a business or looking for ways to enhance your product or service offerings? Consider this Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are proving their ROI in many ways, delivering remarkable value for a broad range of industries that go far beyond gaming and other entertainment-related applications. In fact, it’s fast becoming the way many startups introduce and build interest in new products, as well as providing risk-free training environments for the medical profession, finance, the oil and gas industry, and so much more.

Virtual Reality is Disrupting Virtually Everything:

VR is a completely immersive experience that gives the participant the feeling of “being there.” It requires a specialized headset, which is either app-enabled or works with a smartphone. Here are just a few of the industries already taking advantage of what it offers:

Real Estate:

The use of VR in real estate allows potential buyers the ability to view listings from the comfort of their homes or office. International real estate brokers such as Sotheby’s are already using VR as a way to sell high-end homes and international properties, saving busy professionals the time and expense of physically traveling to the location. Condo buyers can get advance access to a finished unit, where they could tour the entire building, check out the view on different floors, and decide well in advance of the build which unit is right for them.

Tourism:

Want to take a trip, but not sure where to go? VR tours are a great way for travel agents to sell vacations, giving the traveler a chance to check out different hotels and discover the local sights before they fly.

Oil and Gas:

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality have been utilized throughout the oil and gas industries, delivering 3D simulations of survey results and simulation-based training to mitigate risk while reducing the cost of travel and the time spent getting to a location.

Finance:

In the financial industry, VR is being used to help traders visualize data, and learn through virtual trading. In the future, we may be able to access bank branches from within the virtual realm as well.

Medical/Healthcare:

VR is widely used in the medical profession to train and educate. There are several ways that this plays out: virtual classrooms, virtual cadavers to practice on, virtual emergency situations, and simulations of complex surgical procedures that, until the advent of VR, have been rare or impossible to access. This way of learning gives students access to subject matter experts and cutting-edge techniques that would have never been possible otherwise.

Law Enforcement, First Responders, and Military Training:

As with the medical profession, there is a great deal that can’t be taught in a classroom. VR allows these situations to come to life, giving first responders real experience, which in turn saves lives.

Education:

In schools, VR is being used to provide a safe excursion experience for young students, allowing them to travel to museums, galleries, and other locations without leaving the classroom. VR has also proven to be more effective in helping young learners understand STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math) than any other type of learning.

Augmented Reality: The Collision of the Virtual and Real World

Augmented Reality (AR) is just as exciting as VR in its potential to enhance and engage. Unlike VR, it requires no additional hardware, as it runs on smartphones and tablets. There are already many apps that use Augmented Reality technology, some of which you may already be familiar with – think of Google Glass, or the Pokemon Go phenomenon of 2016 – but AR goes far beyond gaming.

Medical:

Augmented Reality helps doctors to plan surgeries and has even connected doctors in different countries to assist with complex procedures. There is an app called AccuVein that helps doctors and phlebotomists visualize veins to puncture for IVs.

Finance:

AR improves the customer experience by helping consumers locate bank branches, ATMs, and more simply by scanning the local area with their smartphones. Soon, potential homebuyers may be able to scan real estate listings for details and access a mortgage calculator, as well as a 3D VR property tour.

Consumer Goods:

We are seeing a huge swing towards Augmented Reality in consumer goods: furniture, clothing, makeup, hairstyles, and more can be tried on prior to purchase.

Find Out What Things are and Buy Them:

Some remarkable AR apps are emerging, Blippar among them, which allows users to point their smartphone at just about anything and discover information about it. Want to know what kind of tree that is? Blipp it! Any object that you capture can potentially connect to its source, which you may then be able to purchase directly from within the app.

Wearables:

The wearable AR market is about to boom as well. The failure of Google Glass to fully penetrate the market has not stopped other developers from bringing their versions to the table. Many currently available offerings are tailored toward cyclists, athletes, tourists, or busy executives, providing them with hands-free access to need-to-know information on the go.

Endless possibilities:

There is a long list of ways that AR can enhance lives, both personally and professionally. Some are pure fun – can you imagine being able to watch your favorite band play on your kitchen table? You can with First! Others are pure marketing genius – such as the collaboration between Coca-Cola and Spotify, with their AR-enabled drink cans. If it’s all about engagement, AR has that in spades.

AppMaisters: your best choice for AR and VR development

While there are hundreds of app developers to choose from, AppMaisters has the experience, the focus, and the agility to bring your VR or AR application to life. With more than a decade of experience building complex custom apps, we are at the forefront of innovation and dedication to enterprise-level access. We provide an end-to-end solution and can provide expedient and efficient delivery that is fully scalable to your needs. Put simply, if you have a vision, we can make it real. Call AppMaisters today, and let’s bring your idea to life.