Sales of virtual realitysoftware and hardware are expected to soar.
Facebooksnewly announced Oculus Quest 2and other headsets are making the technology more accessible than ever.
Logitech is teaming up to offer a real, full-sized keyboard that will work in the virtual space.
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Companies are already using VR for everything from collaborating to training to sales.
Verizon uses VR to teach its retail workers how to handle armed robberies.
Retail workers can play out in VR a scenario of what to do if theyre being held at gunpoint.
Spatial
“With all the data you get from VR, you could see where they look.
The coronavirus pandemic is pushing more companies to explore VR for work.
His company creates virtual reality spaces for collaboration that can host as many as 10,000 people at once.
Virtual vs. Video vs.
Reality
As the pandemic saps office culture, pure text interactions like email can feel sterile.
Even video conferencing often just shows peoples faces, which can make it difficult to read people.
Many people are also finding out that being on camera all the time is exhausting.
Even using an avatar can be socially awkward, it turns out.
“In some ways it protects people who might be marginalized.”
I just think we’re 20 years away from that ever happening.”
People also have to learn to adjust to interacting in VR.
“There’s just a psychological piece to that that makes it a little bit weird.”
Even its proponents admit VR is still in its infancy.
So what might the future hold for work?
The rollout of ultrafast 5G networks would allow for better VR connections everywhere, said Howland.
Faster processors will also allow for better graphics.
Update9/25/20 12:53pm ET: We’ve updated the article to match Alex Howland’s correct title.
It previously said he was the CEO of VirBELA.
