Google Cardboard branded VR headsets |
As the expression goes, virtual reality, or VR, has been
around the block a couple of times in the last twenty years or so, making a
comeback early this decade thanks largely to the gaming industry.
While VR has been defined by gaming in the past, that may
change in the future. According to Prateek Jose writing in SnapMunk late last
year, “Despite being perceived mostly as an accessory to gaming consoles,
virtual reality is an extremely versatile piece of technology. Some early
adopters in different industries have shown that it can be used for more than
just a novel gaming experience. These implementations may just be what it takes
to carry VR into the next stage of its development.”
Early adopters in the food and beverage space are indicative
of the kinds of consumer driven VR applications one may see in the future.
Brooke Linville, CEO of IonVR |
Accoding to Brooke Linville, CEO of VR headset startup IonVR interviewed at her company's exhibit at CES 2016, “A lot of people talk about games, entertainment, you know
the mass part of most cases, but virtual reality is far beyond those
experiences. What we are talking about is in the enterprise space and even in
the consumer space. How this can apply to retail, how it’s going to apply to
food manufacturers, beverage makers, all kinds of interesting applications…We
had one guy talk to us about a jerky company who used a virtual reality
experience to help sell most of his jerky…he went to a trade show and because
virtual reality is such a cool exciting space, he landed a huge food contract
because of the experience he offered at the trade show booth.”
Gail Barnes, Brooke Linville, Ben Mann at CES |
Read the rest of this article in SnapMunk.