VR is tipped to go mainstream in 2016 – but could it become a serious buyers’ tool? REALITY CHECK
THIS YEAR SEES THE LONG-AWAITED RELEASE of a raft of virtual reality (VR) headsets. Google Cardboard may have stolen the limelight last year, but the likes of Oculus Rift and HTC Vive look set to take the experience to a new level. Prices vary from £400 to £800 for these full-feature headsets, which don’t require the user to slide in their smartphone, and they are being tipped as big sellers. As a result, 2016 could be the year VR goes mainstream. While most people associate VR with the gaming industry, other sectors are jumping on board. Ikea, for example, has a virtual kitchen app for HTC Vive users, so they can walk around, or even design, their potential purchase. The healthcare industry, meanwhile, is using VR for purposes such as simulation training and rehabilitation. Then there’s travel. Tour operators were
quick off the mark with VR, including Thomas Cook with its ‘Try Before You Fly’ virtual
20 BBT MAY/JUNE 2016
holiday experiences, offered in its Concept Stores since last year to help boost sales. Yet offering such immersive experiences needn’t be confined to selling holidays, and travel management companies (TMCs) can also use VR to stand out from their competitors. Toby Guest, Bayer’s strategic sourcing manager, believes TMCs offering practical VR would aid the travel buyer. “It would benefit those employees forming a travel programme for the first time, or for those with more mature programmes to experience new products on the market without having to travel in person, or to rely on flat 2D images on websites or in marketing materials,” he says. Meanwhile, as global distribution systems (GDSs) develop ‘rich content’ and branding to help airlines and hotels grow ancillary sales, VR may be the next logical step in helping them to stand out. Sabre’s head of innovation, Joakim Ever- stin, says VR is not something they currently
offer but has the possibility to change the way GDSs display content. “There is poten- tial for VR to be built into Sabre as a form of rich content. Airlines and hotels could then feed their own content into it for TMCs using our Sabre Red App platform, which is fully integrated into the Sabre workspace.” Bayer’s Guest adds that with airlines constantly upgrading their business class products, it is often hard to differentiate with just comparison charts and seat photos alone. “Being able to pan around the cabin and zoom in on specific features would be beneficial – and help drive compliance or assist with moving frequent flyers away from their traditional carriers as travel- lers get to experience a possibly superior product via VR,” he says. Marc Zuber, global procurement manager at Nestlé, suggests VR can also help “break myths” surrounding certain carriers. “Some travellers refrain from using
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