Virtual reality (VR) is no longer just for entertainment – enterprises are investing heavily in the technology as they see the potential for a wide range of VR applications. Facebook recently introduced the Oculus Quest, a stand-alone headset that leverages VR to improve productivity, increase collaboration and elevate the customer and employee experience. Enterprises are considering virtual reality to train employees more efficiently and respond to the needs of a remote workforce.
VR in the workplace
Today, virtual reality in the workplace is practically nonexistent. However, a recent ZDNet article, states that the most potential lies in VR employee training. The technology is potentially a more effective training tool than traditional in-person or video and computer programs because it allows trainees to experience simulations and react in real time. Because of this, enterprises are starting to embrace VR’s potential for training – Walmart is planning to utilize over 17,000 Oculus headsets by the end of 2018 for its employee training program.
Enterprises are also beginning to explore VR to further enable telecommuting and remote collaboration. Facebook has developed an early VR solution, Facebook Spaces, which places users in virtual meeting rooms where they can draw or take photos within the program as well as leverage video and photo content from Facebook. It’s not hard to see how these types of capabilities will facilitate collaboration across a distributed workforce – enabling productive and convenient collaboration.
Enabling VR
Virtual reality could be a transformative tool for enterprises, but it requires incredibly fast data transmission to deliver the best possible experience for the end user. With more enterprises planning to adopt VR as a business tool, IT infrastructure needs to be bolstered by robust and consistent connectivity.
Elevating processing speeds and leveraging VR capabilities requires an always-on IT infrastructure that can transmit data at high speeds. By supporting content delivery methods with interconnected colocation, enterprises have access to strategic ecosystems including carrier and network providers at the edge of core markets, bringing content as close as possible to the end user. Interconnected colocation supports the ultra-low latency necessary to process VR data.
To learn more about how Netrality’s interconnected colocation, please, contact us.
