A lot of things have changed since the 2020 pandemic. The workplace has evolved into a hybrid environment where people can operate either in the office or remotely. The way we purchase products has changed, with a massive increase in ecommerce and contactless selling. Even the way we travel has been changing at a sensational rate.
All kinds of travel ground to a halt during the 2020 pandemic, with airplanes and various other vehicles deemed too dangerous. This didn’t just cause problems for tourists keen to explore the world. It also meant that business travel had to shut down too.
To replace the lost benefits of being able to connect with people around the globe, companies began embracing video and eventually even extended reality. Now that VR has become a more acceptable way to travel, will it be the future of the way that we connect?
VR As an Alternative Travel Option
The pandemic of 2020 helped VR to shake its reputation as a gimmick in tourism. Companies began offering customers a chance to experience new destinations through VR headsets, a strategy that’s likely to continue to help clients make flying decisions going forward. VR also became an essential way for team members to meet, without leaving their homes, replicating the face-to-face interactions we have in the real world, but without the threats.
VR is quickly emerging as a valuable tool for recreating the sense of “presence,” which has made business travel so vital over the years. Though companies have been able to make calls to clients worldwide for years, many believe it’s the face-to-face interactions between staff members that really strengthen human connections.
Video conferencing has been offering opportunities to cut down on the need for business travel for a while. However, video has its limitations when it comes to creating human connections or interacting together in a shared space. VR, on the other hand, can allow companies to share a virtual room, interact with digital versions of documents and products, and connect on a much deeper level.
How VR Will Replace Some Parts of Business Travel
Virtual Reality is unlikely to replace traditional travel entirely. However, it does offer intriguing possibilities in the business landscape. A VR adventure may not be the same as exploring an environment in-person as a tourist. However, if all you need to do is share a different office with someone in a distant part of the world, VR can allow you to do that, almost without any compromises on the overall experience.
For simple business meetings, VR will offer a much less expensive way of bringing people together from different parts of the globe. What’s more, using VR could even allow companies to work together on digital blueprints and experiment with experiences that they couldn’t create in real life. The result is better connections between teams for reduced cost and complexity.
VR might not be the future of all business travel, but it certainly can reduce the amount we travel for work.
