Host Your Next Conference Call Using Virtual Reality

With the coronavirus outbreak taking over the world this year, many events and businesses had to be put on pause. Schools were closed, concerts were canceled, and business conferences and other major events had to be postponed indefinitely. Workers and students alike were obliged to be confined to their own homes and to continue their interactions virtually. Thankfully, this is where Virtual Reality (VR) comes in.

Gone are the days when VR was only recognized for gaming. Though it first became popularized in the gaming industry, virtual reality development has now transcended across other industries and is now being used for medical training, creating ideas and forecasting trends, pain management, and work collaboration such as virtual reality meetings.

Using Virtual Reality (VR) in Conference Calls

Humans are spatial learners who learn best by applying what is taught or told to them. This may be the reason why whenever we are on a phone or video call with someone, our brains tend to wander around. Our brains understand that the person we’re interacting with is not physically present. As a result, we end up being virtually present, but mentally distracted.

Virtual reality brings a whole new level of immersion in conference calls or virtual meetings, allowing users to stay more focused and present. When we are immersed in a virtual environment, our interactivity and engagement increase as we get rid of most distractions from our physical world. Our brains also cognitively process virtual communication faster and we get to remember the new information thrown to us more.

Advantages of using VR in your conference calls

Convenience - Save time and transportation costs.

Increased retention - VR allows you to stay more focused and present as it helps eliminate distractions from the physical world.

Safety - With VR, your team can hold a mass gathering from the comfort of your own respective homes as you share ideas and collaborate together.

VR apps for your virtual meetings

1. Spatial

Spatial is like a science fiction-dream turned into a reality. With this app, you can interact with others through your generated 3D avatars (when you sign up, you may simply upload a photo, and Spatial will generate your 3D avatar for you). While it was originally built for AR headsets, Spatial can now run on Oculus Quest and has a mobile app for both Android and iOS in beta.

Spatial supports four virtual environments that provide a spacious feel as if you’re really in the office. And in these virtual environments, you can even conjure things up such as writing on a whiteboard during a meeting or typing with a virtual keyboard.

2. MeetinVR

MeetinVR optimizes your virtual meetings to be more intuitive. It provides great avatars and interactive gestures that can increase engagement in your business meetings.

With this app, you can pick up a pen and produce a writing surface while you take notes. It’s also easy to import and display documents like PDFs, powerpoints, and spreadsheets. You can even virtually shake the hands of the person that you’re meeting with.

MeetinVR runs in Oculus headsets and is available for desktop mode on both Windows and Mac.

3. Glue

Glue defines their platform as a “virtual extension of your workspace where you can learn, plan, share, and create” together.

Glue’s toolkit includes post-it notes, whiteboards, and freehand 3D drawings which enable users to share their ideas during sessions with ease. Like MeetinVR, they also have enterprise-level security and their custom rooms are customizable, which makes them ideal for meetings that include up to 20 people or more.

4. FrameVR

Frame is a simple 3D collaboration tool that allows you to create spatial presentations and places with 3D photospheres, 3D models, and more. You also get to import PDFs, images, videos, and 3D videos to your space. The best thing about FrameVR is that it works from a browser, desktop, mobile, and VR. To meet with other collaborators in your space, all you have to do is to share a link to invite them into your space.

5. Mozilla Hubs

Hubs is a platform created by Mozilla where you can create and share virtual spaces with your co-workers and collaborators. Like FrameVR, you can easily share private meeting space with your collaborators in Hubs — no downloads or app installs necessary — all you have to do is share a link or your room code.

Hubs runs directly in the browser in most VR headsets as well as on 2D browsers on desktop or mobile. You can also import files like images, videos, PDFs, and 3D models in your space to share with others.

Conclusion

In this new normal, virtual reality can help bring more interactivity in the way we work with others. Now that most are limited to the confines of their house, VR can help enterprises and even small companies to increase live collaboration among their teams while also allowing dynamic interactions, somehow filling in that gap for human connection even though most are now remotely working from home.