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Virtual reality for businesses: what do you use it for?
Four applications with real-world examples
By
By
By
Ton Kuper
Ton Kuper
Ton Kuper
Founder & managing director
Founder & managing director
Founder & managing director
Short answer: Companies deploy virtual reality when people need to experience or practise something that they cannot see or do safely in real life. Four applications emerge from our own projects: training and onboarding employees, awareness and behavioural change, engaging stakeholders in a plan that does not yet exist, and letting buyers experience what you make. If a broad group only needs information, an animation is usually the better choice.
Virtual reality is often spoken of as a technology. This article approaches it the other way around: first the problem, then what VR actually does to address it in practice.
Short answer: Companies deploy virtual reality when people need to experience or practise something that they cannot see or do safely in real life. Four applications emerge from our own projects: training and onboarding employees, awareness and behavioural change, engaging stakeholders in a plan that does not yet exist, and letting buyers experience what you make. If a broad group only needs information, an animation is usually the better choice.
Virtual reality is often spoken of as a technology. This article approaches it the other way around: first the problem, then what VR actually does to address it in practice.
Training and onboarding employees
Achmea transitioned to a new SAP landscape. For nearly a thousand employees, it was difficult to understand how the systems interconnected, and documentation and presentations offered too little guidance. C4Real built Metropolis, a VR city in which the IT architecture becomes recognisable. The police station represents the IT fraud centre, the motorway junctions represent the APIs connecting systems, and the central station represents the customer portal. Employees walk through the city and discover each component via animations and explanations.
Employees grasped the new IT landscape after just one day, and the system went live without errors. Over 300 employees explored the city, far more than is usual for internal projects. The case won, among others, a Platinum AVA Digital Award.
The same logic applies where practising in real life is costly or risky. For OOMT, we developed a VR truck experience in which drivers run through realistic scenarios without risk to people or equipment. According to the case study, the number of errors and misunderstandings during actual journeys decreased noticeably, and the experience grew into a standard tool for onboarding new drivers and operators. At Nouryon, it is all about safety: with an animation and later a VR training, we show customers what happens inside a tank—something that normally remains invisible.
Awareness and behavioural change
OOMT, the development fund for the mobility sector, wanted to make garage owners aware of the electric transition. Their target audience finds it difficult to discuss serious topics. Therefore, OOMT was looking for a tool that immediately sparks interest and prompts a conversation.
The VR experience takes the user through four car dealerships, from a traditional business to a fully future-proof company. OOMT advisers have now visited 1,700 automotive businesses with the experience, sometimes individually and sometimes in group sessions. The result lies in what happens next: employers and employees engage in conversations about the changes ahead. That was precisely the goal.
The experience was so successful that OOMT launched a second VR project, now focused on the truck industry. There, the focus is not on awareness but on training: a VR truck experience with which drivers and operators train in a safe learning environment.
Engaging stakeholders in a plan that does not yet exist
With infrastructure projects, it is difficult to show the impact on the environment to people who do not read technical drawings. Together with Qirion, we developed a VR application in which stakeholders experience the latest high-voltage pylons in a realistic 3D environment, as if they are already standing there. It helps make spatial plans easier to understand and aligns with the emphasis that the Environment and Planning Act places on transparent communication and participation.
Allowing buyers to experience what you make
Anyone supplying materials that cannot be seen from the outside struggles to demonstrate their value. For TenCate Advanced Composites, we built three tools for the automotive market: a 3D animation, a 3D product explorer, and a VR experience for car brand buyers. According to the case study, this approach led to a major deal for the Alfa Romeo 8C.
When do you not choose VR?
An animation reaches everyone, at any time, without anyone needing to put on a headset. VR requires the experience to actually be initiated, as was done by the OOMT advisers who visited 1,700 companies with their headsets. Therefore, choose VR when the experience needs to open up the conversation, when people need to practise, or when a topic only becomes understandable once you are standing inside it. If that is not the case, a 3D animation achieves the same goal with less effort.
Moreover, the projects above are rarely just VR. OOMT and Achmea combine VR with 3D animation, 2D animation, audio, and storytelling. Technology is a part of the story, not the story itself.
Where do you start?
Start with three questions. What needs to change for the user after the experience: knowing something, being able to do something, or deciding something? How many people do you want to reach, and how will they access the experience? And what is not possible in real life because it is too dangerous, too expensive, or does not exist yet?
With those answers, we work in two phases. In concept and design, we define what the user sees and does. Production follows thereafter.
Training and onboarding employees
Achmea transitioned to a new SAP landscape. For nearly a thousand employees, it was difficult to understand how the systems interconnected, and documentation and presentations offered too little guidance. C4Real built Metropolis, a VR city in which the IT architecture becomes recognisable. The police station represents the IT fraud centre, the motorway junctions represent the APIs connecting systems, and the central station represents the customer portal. Employees walk through the city and discover each component via animations and explanations.
Employees grasped the new IT landscape after just one day, and the system went live without errors. Over 300 employees explored the city, far more than is usual for internal projects. The case won, among others, a Platinum AVA Digital Award.
The same logic applies where practising in real life is costly or risky. For OOMT, we developed a VR truck experience in which drivers run through realistic scenarios without risk to people or equipment. According to the case study, the number of errors and misunderstandings during actual journeys decreased noticeably, and the experience grew into a standard tool for onboarding new drivers and operators. At Nouryon, it is all about safety: with an animation and later a VR training, we show customers what happens inside a tank—something that normally remains invisible.
Awareness and behavioural change
OOMT, the development fund for the mobility sector, wanted to make garage owners aware of the electric transition. Their target audience finds it difficult to discuss serious topics. Therefore, OOMT was looking for a tool that immediately sparks interest and prompts a conversation.
The VR experience takes the user through four car dealerships, from a traditional business to a fully future-proof company. OOMT advisers have now visited 1,700 automotive businesses with the experience, sometimes individually and sometimes in group sessions. The result lies in what happens next: employers and employees engage in conversations about the changes ahead. That was precisely the goal.
The experience was so successful that OOMT launched a second VR project, now focused on the truck industry. There, the focus is not on awareness but on training: a VR truck experience with which drivers and operators train in a safe learning environment.
Engaging stakeholders in a plan that does not yet exist
With infrastructure projects, it is difficult to show the impact on the environment to people who do not read technical drawings. Together with Qirion, we developed a VR application in which stakeholders experience the latest high-voltage pylons in a realistic 3D environment, as if they are already standing there. It helps make spatial plans easier to understand and aligns with the emphasis that the Environment and Planning Act places on transparent communication and participation.
Allowing buyers to experience what you make
Anyone supplying materials that cannot be seen from the outside struggles to demonstrate their value. For TenCate Advanced Composites, we built three tools for the automotive market: a 3D animation, a 3D product explorer, and a VR experience for car brand buyers. According to the case study, this approach led to a major deal for the Alfa Romeo 8C.
When do you not choose VR?
An animation reaches everyone, at any time, without anyone needing to put on a headset. VR requires the experience to actually be initiated, as was done by the OOMT advisers who visited 1,700 companies with their headsets. Therefore, choose VR when the experience needs to open up the conversation, when people need to practise, or when a topic only becomes understandable once you are standing inside it. If that is not the case, a 3D animation achieves the same goal with less effort.
Moreover, the projects above are rarely just VR. OOMT and Achmea combine VR with 3D animation, 2D animation, audio, and storytelling. Technology is a part of the story, not the story itself.
Where do you start?
Start with three questions. What needs to change for the user after the experience: knowing something, being able to do something, or deciding something? How many people do you want to reach, and how will they access the experience? And what is not possible in real life because it is too dangerous, too expensive, or does not exist yet?
With those answers, we work in two phases. In concept and design, we define what the user sees and does. Production follows thereafter.
Case study in the spotlight
Achmea: Training and onboarding employees
The challenge. New IT staff at Achmea needed years to understand the IT architecture. How do you make such a landscape comprehensible all at once?
The approach. C4Real translated the IT landscape into Metropolis, an interactive city in VR where buildings, roads, and stations represent the systems and their connections.
The result. Onboarding went from three months to one hour, and the implementation of IT chains was shortened by nine months, accounting for savings of more than 1.5 million euros. The case won a Platinum AVA Digital Award.
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