CRE Has a Chance to ‘Guide the Conversation’ about Using Virtual Reality
CREW Network panelist discusses the latest, including simulating a “spider crawling up your arm.”
Commercial real estate’s use of virtual and augmented reality has advanced greatly from recent consumer perceptions of it, according to Michelle Sipics, director, technology innovation, Accenture.
She was part of a panel that spoke Sept. 22 at CREW Network annual conference in Chicago.
“The metaverse is a continuum,” Sipics said. “It’s just getting started. And commercial real estate has this great opportunity to get in early and guide the conversations about the metaverse because right now, no one knows [exactly what role it will play].
“When we see it in the form of large glasses and immersion, that’s not all it is today and it’s not its ideal application,” she said. “What virtual reality (VR) does is allow multiple people to experience the same thing. It can be customized to meet your needs. We shouldn’t be using it to design things we already have. It can be more than that.”
Sipics referenced how the Detroit airport has leveraged VR and augmented reality (AR) for passengers checking the arrivals and departures board. One reporter called it, “something straight out of a sci-fi novel.”
Virtual Reality’s Touch and Smell
Currently, AR and VR are often used to simulate conditions (such as a busy retail story) so that employees can train within it and not have to face real customers in an on-the-job-training scenario. CRE companies can leverage it for training in client relations or other interactions.
One criticism of AR and VR is that it lacks sensory functions such as touch and smell.
She said VR has made great strides in enabling touch, citing high-tech gloves that have been developed that can simulate the feeling of a tiny spider crawling up one’s arm.
“Having the option to include touch is up to the companies,” Sipics said. “The option is available.”
As for smell, which Sipics said is a key element for memory of a situation, technology is still working to improve this. “Look for a ‘smell edition’ of VR sometime soon,” she said.