At Yulio we consider VR to be a mainstay of the tech world. Multiple industries have adopted the tech into their workflows, and many different manufacturers and programmers working around the clock to bring us new VR hardware and software. VR isn’t a gimmick, nor is it a fad. It is here to stay. Despite this, there are many people out there who have yet to experience VR, let alone within a business setting. Because of this, if you planning to use VR in business you should make sure you create a welcoming introduction to VR for new users.
If it is someone’s first time using VR, that can be disorienting experience depending on the person. You will want to make sure you ease them in and address any concerns they might have. At Yulio we have a lot of experience with being someone’s introduction to VR. To make sure you can create both a welcoming and seamless experience for new VR users we have some of our top tips for your consideration. When it boils down these tips fall under three major steps:
- Prepare
- Communicate
- Guide
We hope you find these tips helpful whether you’ve been using VR with your clients for a while, or if you are still in the consideration phase and are curious about how to create an introduction to VR for your future clients.
Prepare – Set Up for Success
Before you even bring your audience into the room for your VR presentation you should do some prep to make sure things go as smoothly as possible. Follow the steps below to ensure you are prepared.
- Consider your space – The first thing is to make sure that you have the correct space to view VR in. Are you going to have your audience standing up with a VR headset on? Will they be seated and viewing? Either way, you need to make sure you have a space that will work and not be awkward to move around in. Need to move furniture? Make sure that is done beforehand to make things go quicker. Going to have them seated? Make sure you have a chair that can easily rotate so they can have a full range of motion. Prepping the space will ensure that the presentation goes smoothly, and you don’t have to rearrange anything once they are in the room.
- Prep your devices – What devices will be used to facilitate the VR experience? If you’re using a device like the Meta Quest, make sure that you have the device updated and fully charged. Nothing will hinder a VR experience like a low battery warning or a total shutoff. Not to mention waiting for an update to download. In that same vein, make sure that if you are using VR software like Yulio, you have your VR projects downloaded and ready to go, you may even want to load them into the app before passing the headset off to a client to transport them immediately.
One final recommendation that may be something you want to consider is removing headset straps. While having a VR headset strapped to your face frees up your hands and creates the most immersive experience there are a few things to consider. The straps can mess up someone’s hair as it presses down, or the pressure they create could trigger someone’s claustrophobia. By removing the straps, you can just have the viewer hold the headset to their face and they can easily remove it when they need to. - Use a Simplified VR Project as a Tutorial – One thing you can prepare ahead of time is a VR project that is a little simplified as a way to break the ice in VR. Yulio has many sample projects available on our site that don’t have an abundance of hot spots or complex floor plans. You can drop a new user into one of these projects for a brief introduction to VR and the Yulio experience. There they can get a feel for the controls for looking and moving around a VR project and interacting with elements. After they get a feel there, you can bring them into your VR project which could be a little more complex.
Communicate – Let them know what to expect
Communication isn’t just a part of a VR presentation, it’s key in any presentation. When working with someone who may be new to VR, make sure to establish that beforehand and make sure they are okay with trying out VR and let them know what they can expect in the experience.
How open are they? Perhaps before the presentation, reach out and let your presentation viewers know that you are looking to include a VR element in your presentation. Ask if they foresee any issues with this. Some key questions to ask are if they deal with claustrophobia or motion sickness as new VR users can feel these sensations sometimes. If this is the case, prepare an alternative way to view the VR project. Project the project on an external screen so that they can follow along. Or share a desktop-friendly version, such as Yulio’s fish tank view, that they can follow along with. During the actual presentation, also make sure to check in regularly to make sure they are still comfortable and that they aren’t getting nauseous or anything.
Guide – Watch and Steer Along
Lastly, you will need to find the right balance of how guided your VR presentation should be. The key draw of any VR experience is the immersion and the ability to look where you want and see things that you are interested in. While the goal of your presentation is to highlight the work and decisions you made and you want to make sure they are aware, you should balance that with your audience by allowing them to explore on their own for a part of the presentation.
We find that allowing your audience to explore slightly, gets them more engaged as they examine the different parts of your VR project. They can make small discoveries for themselves of “Oh that looks interesting” and “Oh I love this setup” but it can also bring questions up such as “Should this go here?” and “Are there other options for this?”. Follow along with your audience as they explore and be ready to answer these questions. Yulio allows you to follow a viewer’s perspective so it will be easy for you to see what they are asking about and have clarity.
When it comes to the point in the presentation where you want to be a little more direct, you can use the tools that Yulio has such as spotlight and markup tools to draw viewer attention and highlight key parts of your project. You can easily get everyone on the same page and look at what you want them to see.
No Fear for the New VR Users
We hope we have given you some good ideas of how you can ease someone into their first VR experience. With these ideas, you will be able to create a welcoming introduction to VR that should be stress-free and memorable. It will take some prep and clear communication, but so does any good presentation. And when you take advantage of the tools and samples that Yulio has, that experience should go even smoother.
For more of our VR presentation tips, sign up today for our Business Ready VR course - it’s a free 5-day program of videos and other assets to make you an expert in 10 minutes a day. Or, if you’re ready to start presenting your designs in VR, grab a free account.
