Top 10 uses for VR: from training to gaming
V3 explores the potential for VR in a diverse range of sectors
Virtual reality (VR) has come a long way since the days of migraine-inducing headsets and strange ‘4D experience' attractions at theme parks.
The release of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive means that VR now has the potential to reach widespread audiences. And with that scope comes a huge amount of potential for the technology to be used in a variety of sectors and situations.
We have a rundown of the top 10 uses for current VR technology.
10. Marketing
Communicating a company's services, products and brand values is mostly a 2D process, with marketers providing catalogues, brochures, websites and other documentation to promote their company and clients.
But VR offers a way to make this a more interactive experience that aids the promotion of a company's offerings. For example, VR apps and hardware can provide virtual tours of hotels and other venues to give people a better idea of what the company can offer rather than trying to sift details from promotional material.
VR is also a way to make marketing activity more interactive and experience-led, pulling in curious punters with something more appealing than a post on Twitter or Facebook.
Top 10 uses for VR: from training to gaming
V3 explores the potential for VR in a diverse range of sectors
9. Sport
There is lots of potential for VR in the world of sport. The first would be from a fan's point of view. This could involve apps that let you see the view from players, for example a goalkeeper, a wicketkeeper or a front row in rugby.
This would offer a view of events that would otherwise be impossible, especially if watching old moments in sport, be it Geoff Hurst in 1966, Ian Botham in 1981 or Andy Murray in 2013.
There is also huge potential for athletes and teams. VR could be useful for training and practice, perhaps helping players get used to an away team's stadium, or recreating a dreaded penalty shoot-out.
Tactical practice in VR could be useful for watching how an opposition team operates from the view the player on the pitch, or rehearsing a move you hope to pull off on the field without the risk of anyone seeing your tactics.
Top 10 uses for VR: from training to gaming
V3 explores the potential for VR in a diverse range of sectors
8. 3D art
Art has not evolved that much over the centuries. Drawing and painting has become more digital and robots can do sculpting, but these are updated versions of practices that haven't changed in a millennium or two.
However, VR tools such as Google's TiltBrush allow artists to paint in 3D in a virtual environment, offering a completely different perspective and essentially melding drawing on canvas with sculpting.
We tried TiltBrush with the HTC Vive Pre and found it very compelling, although it took a few moments for our brain to adjust to painting in 3D.
Arguably, VR has the scope to evolve how artists create and present art, along with how people view it, and there is plenty of potential for virtual galleries as a way to make viewing art more immersive and interactive.
Top 10 uses for VR: from training to gaming
V3 explores the potential for VR in a diverse range of sectors
7. Visualising complex information
Some topics, particularly complex data analysis, can be difficult to understand, and visualisations that can be manipulated and interacted with in a virtual environment could be the solution.
Presenting complex topics in a visual and interactive way can make them easier to digest and give researchers and analysts a chance to spot trends and anomalies in big data and other information.
VR presentations could bring topic to life that would otherwise be a dull collection of PowerPoint slides, or present research in a more interactive and absorbing way than a white paper or dissertation.
Designers could benefit by creating and presenting products and concepts in a virtual world that allows others to view and interact with life-size prototypes rather than with sketches or scale models. It would also bypass the need to construct full-sized physical prototypes.
Top 10 uses for VR: from training to gaming
V3 explores the potential for VR in a diverse range of sectors
6. Evolving social interactions
The future of VR will involve social interaction, despite the fact that putting on a VR headset is a fairly isolating experience.
But as VR grows and more cross-platform interoperability is created, developers will create virtual worlds for people to interact, work and play games together, rather than simply act as a standalone individual experience.
Given that Facebook bought Oculus Rift it would not come as a huge surprise if the company created a virtual version of the social network in which people could 'meet' even if they are thousands of miles apart.
There is an argument that this could erode real-world interactions, but a counterpoint would be that it augments everyday social activity and could give people with mobility problems a chance to interact with friends and family in a way that empowers, rather than limits, them.
Top 10 uses for VR: from training to gaming
V3 explores the potential for VR in a diverse range of sectors
5. Hazardous environment training
Working in hazardous environments such as an oil rig requires a good deal of safety training.
However, this training involves people being put in these environments, which is not necessarily an ideal way to ensure that rookie workers are able to function in a hazardous place.
Large simulators can go some way to aid safety training, but can be expensive and limited in scope. VR has the potential to offer a third way by providing immersive and realistic training in the safety of a virtual environment.
It could also facilitate remote training, allowing experts to coach greenhorns without needing to be present or even in the same country. This could boost the spread of knowledge and help manage training costs and resources in a more efficient way.
Top 10 uses for VR: from training to gaming
V3 explores the potential for VR in a diverse range of sectors
4. Gaming
The resurgence of VR technology and consumer headsets was galvanised by the gaming industry, particularly when Steam joined HTC to create the Vive headset.
So it comes as no surprise that VR has a lot of potential for games. It takes a fairly powerful PC or laptop to power games for the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, but VR offers a much more immersive experience than simply sitting in front of a monitor or TV, particularly when playing games that involve driving a vehicle or piloting a spaceship.
Games designed specifically for VR are rather thin on the ground, but as the technology continues to evolve and developers get comfortable with creating native VR games, the catalogue of immersive games is likely to grow in size and variety.
Top 10 uses for VR: from training to gaming
V3 explores the potential for VR in a diverse range of sectors
3. Education
The world of education has its share of technology to make teaching a more engaging and effective process.
There are several educational programs that make learning about geography and history more compelling, but VR allows teachers to transport pupils to a range of virtual environments and make the information more immersive.
Students could witness the birth of the universe with a virtual big bang, or get a feel for the rank and file military battles of the Napoleonic Wars. A few clicks or taps could transport them to prehistoric times to see a tyrannosaur or the Battle of Britain up close while sitting on a cloud.
The potential to evolve the way traditional subjects are taught and how information is absorbed through VR is vast.
Top 10 uses for VR: from training to gaming
V3 explores the potential for VR in a diverse range of sectors
2. Virtual showrooms
If the mass of people scurrying around London is anything to go by, life for many people is increasingly hectic making it difficult to find time to chew over big purchase decisions.
But VR could bypass the rat race by allowing people in the market for big-ticket items, such as a car, to enter virtual showrooms and get close to the object of their desire without needing to be physically there.
Car brands such as Volvo are beginning to trial VR showrooms and augmented reality technology to improve how potential customers view their products.
VR could also aid e-commerce by giving people a way to browse a simulated store rather than scroll through products on a website, thereby making the shopping experience more compelling and less passive.
Top 10 uses for VR: from training to gaming
V3 explores the potential for VR in a diverse range of sectors
1. Alternative experiences
They say it's a dog's life, but until someone like Elon Musk invents the technology for shape changing the closest we can get to a dog's life is to experience it through VR.
Providing alternative experiences that are out of the reach of modern science is an area in which VR could help.
VR headsets and controllers with physical feedback could allow people to see what life is like from the viewpoint of a dog.
Or it could enable people who didn't make it on the Saturn rocket programme to experience what it's like to visit the Moon at a fraction of the cost and with no potential danger.