[ad_1]
[Londres, 24 de Reuters]- Virtual reality (VR) that was once monopolized by gamers. Now, the financial sector is crazy about the world. While stimulating the telecommuting of lone merchants and isolated executives, real-world sales activities, networking, training events, etc. they are reproduced in virtual reality.
Following the re-spread of the new corona virus, 90% of employees at some of the world’s largest financial institutions are moving to work from home, and more and more companies are testing virtual reality. Some jobs that use virtual reality can be sustained even after the end of the Corona disaster.
At investment trust company Fidelity International, executives are trying to give lectures on virtual reality, take questions from colleagues in a virtual venue, and walk around audience seats.
“Working from home has led to a rapid increase in interest in virtual / online spaces,” said Stuart Warner, head of the company’s technology division, which has $ 3.3 trillion in assets under management.
Fidelity has been researching augmented reality (AR) technology internally that projects computer-generated elements onto a smartphone screen, although it is not as completely immersive as virtual reality and virtual reality. Currently, the sales team is trying to use virtual reality for business negotiations with customers.
For Ed Grieg, London-based director of disruption at Deloitte Digital, thanks to virtual reality, he’s just like his business partners and colleagues in remote cities. The conversation started to bounce as if we were chatting in the office.
“The other day when I left his office after a VR meeting with someone, I ran into someone who was coming in for another meeting. Those few minutes of interaction led to a decent business story after that.” Grieg says.
Virtual reality is useful not only for scheduled meetings. It also has the effect of alleviating the feeling of isolation and can also provide such an environment for workers who miss office noise and find it easier to work.
Swiss bank UBS is conducting an experiment to distribute Microsoft’s smart glass “Hololens” to merchants operating in London. This will allow traders to recreate their experience on the trading floor at home.
With a virtual reality viewer, you can interact with other users in the same room in the virtual space, and movements such as turning the face are reflected in the movement of the user’s “avatar” in that space. TO
Reconstruction of the sense of interaction between humans. That is leading to the push to promote the use of virtual reality.
Business executives say they are working on so-called “zoom fatigue.” This means that if you have a lot of video conferences, meetings and messages exchanged every day through tools like “Zoom” and Microsoft “Teams”, you will be exhausted.
The virtual reality space is expected to regain the team’s sense of unity, especially when welcoming new employees.
Hear from Mark Vina, who runs the digital audit business at Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) in the UK.
“In a virtual environment, you can hear multiple people talking at the same time, which is different from a zoom meeting. (Omitted) With this (VR) headset, you have a whiteboard and office furniture. Transferred to a large conference room. conferences where you can exchange ideas with other colleagues. “
“You can look around and interact with your colleagues as if you were in the office. You can regain the feeling of working together.”
At the end of the VR meeting, Vina could move to another area with her colleagues, have a virtual drink, and move from table to table.
“You can really recreate the environment as if you were attending a cocktail party through your avatar. The only downside is that you will get pretty tired after hours.”
According to a survey conducted by PwC in June, participants in the virtual reality workshop are three times more confident that they have acquired the learning content than participants in the conventional training room and e-learning courses. Turned out.
According to this survey, in the case of training 13,000 executives, the cost will be eight times higher if it is done in the conventional in-house training room compared to the VR course.
PwC and American Express are using “VRtuoso” for training and promotional purposes. It is a virtual reality presentation platform that uses headsets manufactured by Pico Interactive.
Until now, the majority of virtual reality applications in real world business have been done in the medical and retail industries. For example, department store salespeople use it to train a variety of customers.
Julie Ask, president and chief analyst at Forester, a market consulting firm operating in the United States, says virtual reality will inevitably become more widely adopted.
“I think the adoption of virtual reality technology will continue to grow for some time,” Ask said.
However, an immersive work experience costs a lot. Microsoft’s Holorens 2 cost $ 3,500 per headset.
However, investment related to virtual reality is accelerating in the financial industry. Fidelity says that technology-related spending will increase “100-200%” this year compared to 2019, and will remain at the same level next year and next.
The growth in demand for virtual reality is a “sign of hope” under the pandemic, according to David Reperto, director of the British branch of the VR / AR Association. People are using this technology to rebuild events and conferences that were canceled in the real world.
“It’s really cool to use virtual reality for networking events. It gives you a sense of belonging and connection that you don’t always get with flat-screen video conferencing,” Reperto said.
PwC estimates that the development of immersive technology will allow the banking industry to save up to $ 1.5 trillion by 2030. Almost $ 500 billion will be reduced just through the use of virtual reality, such as training and business negotiations through the virtual reality.
Deloitte estimates that 19% of UK companies will invest in virtual and augmented reality technologies during 2019, and an additional 31% will invest in these technologies by 2021.
A few years ago, Citibank focused on Microsoft’s Holorens and built the first experimental business simulation environment. At a bond-related conference in Munich last year, Finnish bank Nordea offered investors a virtual tour of its Copenhagen trading floor via a virtual reality headset.
The use of virtual reality is gaining momentum, but for this technology to be fully effective, it must overcome limitations such as narrow viewing, lack of processing power, and insufficient battery life.
That’s why many startups are struggling to enter the market by offering a simple, low-cost way to achieve remote work hassle-free. Platforms like “Sococo” and “Gather” are virtual online reproductions of physical space, where you can move and interact without wearing headphones.
“If you’re trying to do something with Google Meet or Zoom, it’s hard to recreate the unexpected aspects of your work,” said Philip Wang, who founded Gather with a friend from college.
Various events such as wedding banquets, parties, meetings and conferences are held during the meetings, and 30,000 users from more than 100 countries visit the virtual space every day.
While new companies are expanding rapidly, existing leading companies are also introducing new innovations.
Zoom Video Communications says it expects VR / AR to become more important in online communications in the future.
For example, there could be new enhancements such as transforming the user’s appearance into something suitable for work (such as hiding training clothes) or carrying real-world details such as the ability to shake hands with virtual space.
Microsoft says it has more opportunities to use virtual reality this year. Google declined to comment.
“I think the (Corona) pandemics have changed people’s perceptions of what is possible and what is realistic,” said Fidelity’s Warner.
(Translation: Acrelen)
