Virtual Solutions for Industry and Leisure.
This blog is one of a series of blogs exploring communication and technology. This looks at virtual communication solutions for industry. The business landscape has changed forever with the impact of Covid-19 on our communication networks, businesses globally have adopted conferencing technology as the norm as we try to stay connected. What benefits can virtual reality bring to industry in the current climate where travel restrictions and interpersonal communication continues to be a barrier?
Virtual Reality has been around for many years and in a previous blog we discussed how it has developed over the years, utilised predominantly by the military and in gaming. The advancement of technology and the integration of video conferencing offers a signifiant leap in it’s benefits to a wide range of industries.
Link to blog on the history of Virtual Reality
Traditional Practices
There are many reasons why clients, trainees or guests need to be shown around a venue. To showcase features and benefits, for training purposes, to showcase technology or to simply sell a space. Traditionally this would involve a lot of time. Organising the viewing, preparing the site, travel to the site for everyone involved and time viewing the site, perhaps food and other hospitality is involved. If you are showcasing the same venue, the travel, planning and time needed is required every time a viewing is booked. Time is money and traditionally venues have had to be viewed in person.
But what if you could prepare your venue to look it’s best, just once? What if you could show this site instantly to anyone, anywhere in the world without travel? If you have multiple sites, what if you could have all of these sites available at the same viewing? With Virtual Realiity and Integrated conferencing this is now a possibility.
Immerse in Virtual Reality
How does it work?
A virtual tour is created by scanning a venue using a specialist camera that captures images in 360 panoramas, images are stitched and then mapped together to create a feature rich virtual tour in stunning clarity. A finished virtual tour enables the viewer to ‘walk through’ a venue on a computer, smartphone, laptop or for a fully immersive experience, using a VR Headset. There are many features that can be added to a virtual tour that enhance the user experience. Hotspots can link to external websites or e-commerce sites, links can be made to galleries of photographs. We can integrate videos of products and services, training or information tips and advice. The integration of hotspots and added links means a virtual tour has additional benefits to the host when they are showing people around that are not available on an in-person tour.
Having a virtual tour created enables venues to ‘dress’ and prepare the venue only once for a site viewing, the finished tour can be shown time and time again without the need to re-clean and prep for a viewing. The only potential downside to simply producing a virtual tour, is the lack of face-to-face communication, which is essential if you are selling a product or service. Integrated Conferencing Technology has changed this and has revolutionised the benefits of virtual tours for a range of industries.
Integrated Conferencing Technology.
Live guided tours is a brand new solution for taking clients, students or colleagues on a walk-through of a premises. The experience is unique in that it is a shared experience. Live video conferencing allows you to make a video call inside a tour, a personal connection that has not been possible before. This is a revolution in terms of benefits to any sales team or training provider that needs to show clients or students around a venue. Take guests, trainees or new clients by hand around a virtual venue explaining features, benefits, site details in real time. This is a game changer to businesses needing to explain or train.
Site security can often be an important consideration in many industries. Utilising video conference technology enables the host to book site viewings with invited guests. This can restrict venue visibility to only those booked on the site tour.
Although Virtual Tour technology has been around for many years, the impact of Coronavirus on global movement and interaction has meant businesses are realising true benefit of virtual interaction. This new technology has opened up the possibility to show multiple venues situated around the globe on the same conference call. Multiple attendees can book to view sites remotely without site visits, reducing travel costs and increasing sales team productivity.
Follow this link to view a tour.
Firetree Visual Media
At Firetree we are market leaders in producing a wide range of visual media solutions for businesses. We organise multi-media shoots which can combine virtual tour render with video production, photography and drone. Our pre-production team work with businesses to consider what solutions are best for their product. We work with large and small businesses alike and understand that one size does not fit all, businesses may have multi-uses for their venue, weddings, conferencing and training for example. Understanding how to create media to appeal to multiple target markets gives businesses a significant return on investment. We work regularly with many clients ensuring their media is current, up-to-date and relevant.
Coronavirus and Virtual Reality
The current Coronavirus pandemic has significantly impacted how the world communicates. Virtual Reality gives businesses the opportunity to replace face-to-face sales and communication. At Firetree were are one of the first Virtual Reality producers to integrate video conferencing technology and have undertaken considerable research to determine the best systems to deliver the service to our clients.
Virtual Reality Tours with integrated conferencing has the potential to transform the working practices of a wide range of industries from real estate, hospitality, wedding, manufacturing and warehousing. Reducing the impact of travel on the environment, increasing productivity and during the current pandemic, mitigating the risks imposed by Covid-19.
Link to contact Firetree Visual Media.
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