Virtual Reality — Not Just for Gamers

With every week that passes I seem to be getting more and more excited about the possibilities presented by innovations in the Virtual Reality space.

I would never describe myself as a gamer since I have seldom played computer games since my teens however my first taste of VR blew me away!

Not just because the games are more fun and immersive but because I can see this technology having a far wider impact than just for games and entertainment.

I can see Virtual Reality being the ultimate escapism and a game changing (excuse the pun) tool for various industries.

Here are just a few reasons why I think VR is finally getting closer to mainstream adoption and being able to make it’s mark!

When people experience VR they don’t talk about what they played or watched the night before, they talk about where they have been.

Who can Virtual Reality Help?

As I mentioned Virtual Reality has the potential to do great things, not just provide cheap thrills!

Education

Imagine having the best teacher in the world taking your history class? and how about that history teacher taking you on a tour of the Battle of Bosworth during the action in the middle ages?

If it were up to me I would love someone like Stephen Fry as my teacher giving me a tour of somewhere of historical significance while actually walking around the sports field without leaving the school grounds.

The below video Transforming History Education through Virtual Reality by Tony Ford at TEDxTucson gives an insight into what we can do with virtual reality.

Historians in Syria recently began taking 3D 360 degree panoramic photographs and creating 3D models to preserve ancient monuments and structures in digital form as they are being destroyed as a result of war.

This means while generations to come may never be able to see or experience these beautiful structures in their physical form they will have the next best thing and be able to take virtual reality tours for centuries to come.

Imagine your biology teacher taking the entire class on a tour of the human body?

This year “Ready Player One” a new film by Steven Spielberg adapted from a book written by Ernest Cline about Virtual Reality is going to show the potential VR can offer to a massive new audience.

Interestingly the film will also demonstrate what it is like to go to school from home wearing a VR headset as the main character Wade Watts uses a school-issued headset to enter the “Oasis” a virtual world that allows Wade to attend class and a place where anything is possible.

Learning Difficulties

As a proud dyslexic, I am fairly familiar with some of the common obstacles that people with learning difficulties can face and how visual learning with physical objects can help.

I am certain that VR is going to have a positive impact on the lives of people on the autism spectrum, dyslexics and those with ADHD.

Of course, with any new technology, the studies and evidence are still limited but some researchers and developers have already been hard at work to find out more.

Read this research article A Psychometric Tool for a Virtual Reality Rehabilitation Approach for Dyslexia.

Physical Impairments

VR is about the experience, and these devices can transform you to anywhere in the world in a heartbeat and from the comfort of your own home.

The video below is a perfect example of what Virtual Reality can do for somebody who is unable to walk and do things that other people can do.

Virtual Reality allowed Evan to go to Burning Man festival something he had wanted to do for a long time and allowed him to experience skiing which he hadn’t done since he was 15 years old.

Since the experience, Evan has got his own VR setup and has also taken an interest in learning how to program using the device and help others like him benefit from this amazing new technology.

Older Generation / Pensioners

Virtual reality is the perfect escapism for older people who may not be able to leave home very often or may even be in a nursing home.

If you are no longer able to travel, being able to put on a VR headset and travel Egypt and the Inca ruins via Google Earth VR is a beautiful experience on its own.

Combine this with being able to socialise with your friends remotely and you can experience shared adventures with friends.

If you are unable to travel but there are so many places you wanted to see in life then this will bring you closer than any photo or documentary on a 2D screen and the therapeutic benefits that can provide are surely going to help people in palliative care for instance.

If you are not as young and healthy as you used to be and trapped at home or in a nursing home it’s easy to feel bored, claustrophobic and cut off from the world you once knew.

This kind of technology can provide a plethora of different experiences ranging from games and puzzles to travel experiences and immersive storytelling.

Watch what happened when some senior citizens tried VR out for the first time.

What interested me most about this video was that when I have ever seen one of our seniors see a computer or a smartphone they want nothing to do with it. But when you see them try a more immersive experience with a more natural way of interacting the feedback is VERY different.

Get Fit

It might be a surprise to some but VR can be a bloody good workout!

On many occasions, I have had to take a lie down after an intensive game of Box VR where you can shadow box to dance music while punching balloons that fly at you in various combinations.

Playing a game called Spring Vector should come with a towel warning, you can sweat that much after a challenge.

At CES 2018 a VR company unveiled Gym equipment that works in conjunction with a HTC Vive Virtual Reality HMD to immerse you in the ‘metaverse’ while you lift weights, ride bikes, use a treadmill and various other workout equipment.

Gamifying fitness and using brain hacks with achievements is a great way to get people to enjoy working out that generally find it boring.

If you are somebody who is bored to death at the gym but love playing candy crush on the train then I strongly urge you to give VR fitness games a try!

Designers & Creatives

Virtual Reality is also fantastic for the makers out there who want to design in a 3D space and push the boundaries of their art.

TiltBrush is one such example that allows you to paint in virtual reality and create your own animated stories. Combined with sister product “Blocks” also from Google you can create even more complete virtual experiences.

Another tool aimed more at professional designers and 3D sculpting called Masterpiece VR is another impressive example of a creative suite reimagined in three dimensions and also incorporates collaboration allowing two people on opposite sides of the globe to work together on a single masterpiece!

One complaint you will hear from 3D animators, games designers and special effects artists is how the process of creating such materials is a labor of love and extremely time consuming.

Using Virtual Reality brings you closer to your physical creations and offers a more physical and faster workflow and experience.

Marketers & Data Analysts

Marketers and data analytics often have to look at large amounts of data that could include sales data, website analytics, financial markets and trends but often seeing the numbers can be hard to digest and comprehend.

When you turn this data into a visual representation of charts, graphs, and infographics it drastically helps to understand the significance of one set of data against another.

Take it a step further and put this data in a 3D environment then you can learn to understand and analyze data in an entirely new way.

The clever data folks over at Lookers have created a fine example of data analysis in virtual reality where you can even climb your bar charts to get a sense of their scale.

Though you need to be a customer of Lookers to use this tool it is available on the Steam repository.

Another developer has created a virtual reality app for exploring your Google Analytics data, something that sounds awesome to webmasters out there and digital marketers that also have VR headsets.

Currently the scope of the tool seems limited but hopefully there will be further development allowing you to go through the visitor flow in a 3D world.

Doctors & Medical Professionals

VR is having a big impact on the medical field as it’s helping in the training of student doctors.

Virtual Reality is also being used to help get a better perspective of the human anatomy and in the future VR headsets and controllers will allow physicians to operate on a microscopic scale by remotely controlling extremely precise robots.

So if you thought VR was a fad and was unlikely to have any serious market penetration, think again young padawan and brace yourself!

You need to get yourself ready for the metaverse.

EVERYONE!

Sorry about the caps, bad habits die hard I guess but I mean it when I say, EVERYONE!

Socially conscious virtual reality projects are also popping up.

One project I have seen is a virtual reality experience where you spend time living through the eyes of a homeless person.

The experience is aimed at helping people to experience more empathy for our homeless fellow men and women out there.

Another is aimed at helping teachers to better prepare and train to respond to live shooter scenarios on school grounds.

These are just a couple of examples already in use and over the next 5 or 10 years, things are going to continue to evolve.

It’s not all serious though, there are of course games and many of which will appeal to people who have never been into video games in their lives, like puzzle experience sand murder mystery stories.

I haven’t had a single person try VR in my presence for the first time that hasn’t been impressed.

Whether it be an Elton John virtual journey through his career, going under the ocean in the Blu which is as close to being inside a David Attenborough documentary as you can get or the obvious of playing arcade games there really is an experience for everyone.

Want more like this?

I share articles, growth hacks and innovative ideas that can help businesses and individuals make a bigger impact online.

Here is an article on how marketers can start using virtual reality already — Virtual Reality Guide for Marketers.

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