How Virtual Reality (VR) can help companies during the Coronavirus outbreak
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) has dominated the news in recent weeks, as the outbreak, once its focus left China, has spread to become a global phenomenon. The main concern is obviously personal and family health during this time. But the impact on business has also been substantial, from lowering financial projections for almost every company in the world to the cancellation of major conferences of 2020.
The worry is that this situation is expected to continue indefinitely. For this reason, it is necessary to think of new ways to get ahead in work, classes, normal life of people and companies.
At this time, businesses and governments have to think about taking advantage of virtual reality during the Coronavirus outbreak to function better.
Next, we are going to give ideas, analyze improvement situations and provide solutions through VR to not only survive, but also come out stronger from an event like this, for which we do not have the control measures in place, due to the rarity of its nature.
Firstly, we start by reminding you of the main benefits of VR in general: To begin with, it is a science that is immersive, memorable, and the closest thing to “being there”.
As the Coronavirus has necessarily caused isolation and the cancellation of trips, meetings, events, etc. VR takes over. Activities that once required an “in-person” presence can now be done virtually.
There are many cases of VR use during the global Coronavirus response, but here are the ones we believe companies and governments benefit most from:
Remote training
In recent years, companies were already accelerating the adoption of VR for employee training. This is a measure that saves money whilst being easily scalable because a training lesson, a body to be dissected, any training experience, can be replicated as many times as desired, and in any location.
And as we have said, Coronavirus has prevented some workers from traveling, such as trainers and company managers. Recording and deploying virtual reality training or 360-degree experiences - whether for VR headsets, mobile or WebVR - allows employees to get vital training without having to leave their geographic location, and without others having to come to them.
VR training can help ease the burden of bringing in new employees, who may have to temporarily take over workers affected by government measures related to the virus.
In fact, for the future, every company should, as a matter of preparation, capture its key process in VR 360, should it need to be replicated.
VR experiences are excellent for training multiple employees at the same time, regardless of their location. The Coach or Corporate Manager would not have to travel to the impacted regions and can still lead the trainings. VR training makes a lot of sense in a world of restricted travel and quarantine requirements.
A solution for the problems that Covid-19 poses for the economy
With the cancellation of large events around the world, the closing of borders for tourism and the resulting situation, businesses must simply start thinking of new ways to interact with potential customers and clients.
With Virtual Reality applications that offer interactive and educational experiences for potential customers, there is no reason to stop outreach. Companies like Simlab IT around the world are thinking about and proposing solutions to companies and professionals, as well as to these events, so that they can carry out their activities normally.
With platforms like Simlab IT, companies without VR experience can use the platform we provide to create attractive and memorable experiences that potential customers can enjoy at home through VR headsets, mobile phones, the web, etc.
In addition, with the saturation that is beginning to be felt in hospitals in more and more countries around the world, VR is the best way to make doctors more comfortable with the diagnosis/treatment of a condition they have never seen before.
On the other hand, when it comes to training of health professionals, where mobile health clinics need to be built quickly, it is best to show how to do this using VR.
The Coronavirus is obviously having a substantial short-term impact on the revenues of many companies. An innovative commitment to customers needs to be maintained during this time, so that when fears of the outbreak subside they can return to their normal sales activities. Don’t underestimate the ability of VR to connect with your most important customers, regardless of their location.
Conclusion
While each of us certainly hopes that the coronavirus does not become a major health event in our part of the world, the reality is that companies are already considering every contingency plan with an eye toward avoiding a serious disruption of their operations.
Telecommuting, or the practice of working for an extended period of time away from the official office, is steadily growing in popularity, thanks to a range of digital tools of virtually every kind, from web conferencing and email to mobile collaboration applications and virtual event platforms.
The impact of Coronavirus has hurt many people and businesses. As the fear of the disease becoming a pandemic grows, VR has the ability to address some of the issues that arise. From small changes, such as being able to train workers without having to travel. To large impacts, such as preparing doctors to treat a disease they have never had first-hand experience of before.
Major advances in virtual reality hardware, from powerful cameras like the Insta360 Pro to high-resolution, self-contained headsets like the Oculus Quest, have increased the quality of VR experiences. And the Simlab IT platform makes it possible for any company, institution, brand, or professional to create and distribute VR applications in minutes, without the need for extensive technical knowledge.