Virtual Reality - If you ignore it, you are putting your business at risk

There is almost no market or industry that Virtual Reality won't impact.  VR is potentially the greatest technology development since television itself.

Sounds like a bold statement doesn't it? How could anything be 'that good'? Isn't it just a toy? a gadget? a game?

Virtual Reality is probably going to be the most impacting technology that I see in my lifetime. There are so many variations to Virtual Reality, but the one that gets me is 360 video, or 'immersive video' as some call it.

My estimates are that gaming will be big, but it will still be only of interest to 5% of the market. Industrial/Commercial uses for VR will be another 5% of the market.

But, 360 video will be of interest to 99.9% of the market (0.015% of people are legally blind - so will mostly miss out, but still still be able to experience 360 audio - except the deaf people (0.0015% of the population)).

If you are alive, have an interest in almost anything, 360 video will be the way you consume content in the next year or two.

Using the Law of Diffusion of Innovations, I've mapped out all the key current technologies and where I believe they are on the timeline. Virtual Reality in my opinion has just jumped the chasm, and will probably break the LoDoI law/model itself.

This is because VR isn't just a new toy or technology, it is an entire underlying architecture of technology - like the internet itself.  So many things will be built on top of it, entire degrees, new jobs and professions, new workplace ways of doing things... VR will affect everything in ways that no one yet even realises today.

So. How much do you know about VR? Have you even tried it?

At VR the World / VR The People, we've been doing Virtual Reality general briefings, executive briefings, training, VR parties, consulting and much more for over 6 months.

Most of the time when we start, whether it is general staff, an open event, or a C-Level briefing, people have an excited, but cautious look on their face. Like they are thinking 'oh great, yet another toy to play with'. How wrong they are.

When we're done doing out thing, that simple, curious look on their face at the beginning turns into 'that look'. That look on their face is the one in which their mind is racing with ideas and about the possibilities that VR could do for them personally, their own products and within their own businesses. They realise the world is about to change - in a big way.

Getting people to the point of enlightenment is the thing I love most about VR. I love it, and I love what it does to them.

But I have a problem.

At the start, there is no words that let me articulate what 360 will be like that gives anywhere even close to the experience itself. I can only describe in intellectual terms what it will be - but the true realisation comes with the emotional experience. 

I recently thought of a good analogy. Try explaining sex to someone who hasn't had it. You can explain the mechanics, say how good it will feel... but there are NO words that will do justice to what it will actually feel like.  Well, VR is just like that. When you 'feel' it... the look on your face goes from 'Hmmm, curious', to 'OMG - holy sh!t' in a matter of moments. We love that look. Check out the videos below to see many of the reactions we've had from people at our events.

I cannot encourage you enough to try VR as soon as you can. More important is 360 Video. You NEED to understand this new medium for your own personal life, for how it will be used within your business, and how your business will be using it to engage with the world in areas such as your own products, marketing and advertising, your brand... and all that comes with it.

If you think you are involved in technology and know what VR is.. maybe you saw it in the 1990's... then you need to know... it is nothing like it. 360 video did not exist back then. Check the header picture with Kevin Bloch, MD and CTO of Cisco ANZ checking it out for the first time... we all need to lose our VR Virginity :)

This is a new world.  Right now you need to make a decision on whether you will be left behind and open yourself up to rapid disruption, because believe me, if you don't think about this - your main competitors just well might be gearing up for it.

If you are in Sydney, Australia (or sometimes Melbourne/Brisbane), then we run all sorts of training/briefing/demo options.  The training can be tailored to your business needs or it could just be for general staff awareness.

Please visit the following links for more information: https://vrthepeople.io/landing and watch the videos below for some reactions when people first experience VR. It's a lot of fun and we've helped amaze people from 5 years old to 95 years old.

If you want to keep up to date with our Virtual Reality training and events in Australia, please join our mailing list and we will occasionally let you know what is happening: https://eepurl.com/b2UegT