VR in Interior Design: 3 Ways to Transform your Pitch with VR

In the world of interior design, there are countless firms that are highly skilled and qualified in executing stunning projects. From 2D renderings to 3D live animations, every professional interior design firm or team will develop their own eye for design in producing high-quality photorealistic renderings. However, while there may be differences in style or artistic approach, most firms will end up using the same CAD software like SketchUp or CET Designer and offer almost identical services.

It’s no secret that interior design is one industry where standing out amongst competitors can be really difficult. Not only will you need to do so to draw prospects in, but especially when pitching to them in person. Most likely, the other firms pitching their vision for the same potential client’s space are using a slide deck that includes a collection of their best renders. Although this tried-and-true way of pitching does work, if there was a better way to grab your audience’s attention, why wouldn’t you take it?

Today, we’ll be exploring how exactly upgrading your pitch with VR experiences could help you win more projects and ultimately business for your firm.

1. Create an Interactive Client-Facing Meeting

One of the best features of including VR into your pitch is how it can instantly engage your audience. Client-facing meetings and pitches can quickly become boring, repetitive and even feel like a waste of time after an “X” amount of presentations. Thinking from your client’s perspective, if there is nothing within a proposal that would stand out to you or is vividly memorable, chances are that the journey into considering their services ends there. The last thing you would want during your pitch is for your audience to lose their attention and drown out any pertinent information that you prepared for your potential client.

Having VR experiences as your interactive element in your pitch can engage your audience in a whole new way

Adding an interactive element to your meeting increases your chances of your audience staying alert throughout your presentation as well as recalling your proposal during the selection period. Whether you choose to bring a standalone headset like the Oculus Go, VR glasses like the Homido Mini’s or decide to project your project to a TV, VR can help wake up your audience a little to renew their interest in your proposal. Plus, if you choose to bring the hardware to your pitch, you have allowed your audience to engage with your presentation in a tactile way. Giving your audience the chance to use their hands to engage with your pitch can help break up your presentation so that you’re not just talking at them the whole time. And having an opportunity to experience your proposal with their own eyes will definitely leave a lasting impression.

2. Communicate Your Visual Story Better

Another reason why VR is a fantastic tool for interior designers is its ability to tell visual stories in an immersive and intuitive way. Interior design in its nature is a visual profession. Designers are experts in creating stunning images that captivate their audience while conveying a message. The power of telling a story visually is the ability to communicate abstract details that would be too complex to explain to an audience with no design background. And if a picture is worth a thousand words, imagine what kind of a visual story you could communicate with a VR experience.

Give your potential clients the chance to not just hear about your proposal but to experience it for themselves

While 2D renderings are still the most popular visualization method in the industry, VR allows you to walk your audience through your story better. Depth, dimension, and spacing are just a few pieces that get lost in flat pictures like 2D renderings. The beauty of exploring a space in VR is that the user feels like they are right within the environment, interacting with it like it's their reality. And with designing office environments or ‘lived’ spaces, VR allows you open up your pitch to invite your audience to create their own ‘lived’ moments in your proposed layout. So while 2D renderings are a great material to still bring to your pitches, having a complementary VR experience where you allow your potential clients to jump into the image can help elevate your pitch.

3. Stand Out From Your Competitors

While VR isn’t necessarily “new technology”, it has only been a recent development where headsets are priced reasonably with adequate hardware and software support. Although the VR industry has seen mass adoption rates even within Enterprise, many interior designers have yet to explore this powerful platform. Not to mention, chances are the potential clients you will be seeing have heard of VR but have not tried it out for themselves. The great news is that you can use this unchartered territory to your advantage.

Stay one step ahead of your competitors with adding an immersive experience to your pitch

VR is a stunning platform that can really elicit the “wow” reaction from your audience, especially first time users. Once sliding on the VR headset, your prospects will be transported into your virtually curated space and out of the small meeting room they were just in. Plus, with how the high-performing VR headsets are designed, the experience really makes the user feel like they are inside and interacting with your project. Not only can pitching with VR make your presentation stand out from the rest, but the exciting experience can leave a lasting positive impression that could affect the end decision. Ultimately, many interior design firms are still in the consideration stage weighing whether they will experience a great ROI with using VR. Beat out the competition with making the decision today to take your pitch to the next level.

A Few Tips, Tricks, and Considerations

Now, if you’re ready to pitch with VR in your upcoming client meeting, there are a few steps to consider to ensure your audience has the best experience. As you approach your VR experience section, make sure to leave ample time to make sure your headset is on and loaded to your project. When using the headset for the first time, remember to guide the user to look up, down and all around in order to help them feel oriented in a new virtual environment. Our top tip when using the Oculus Go is to remove the straps so any time the user feels uncomfortable, all they have to do to remove the headset is to lower it from their gaze. Make sure to give your audience time to feel adjusted to the virtual environment to decrease their chances of feeling dizzy or sick during the experience.

VR has the power to elevate and transform your pitches to help you get to the sale quicker. Companies that have committed to integrating VR into their practices are seeing direct ROI from those efforts. From how you should budget for VR to choosing the right VR solution for your business, for more information on how to integrate VR into your firm for maximum ROI, you can check out our Whitepaper here. To learn more about Yulio and how you can start pitching with VR, book a demo to speak to one of our experts -- we would love to chat with you!