Virtual reality technology is moving at an incredible pace, rapidly approaching the point where it may start to offer a serious option for members of virtual teams to communicate. Until recent times, the costs of the hardware to participate in a virtual reality experience was prohibitive for all but the most committed early adopters, and the experience was not sufficiently evolved for users to achieve a meaningful experience.

While virtual reality technology is still probably not quite there, and the social and human interface aspects of the technology still need lots of further research, it is easy to see that, in the next couple of years, more businesses will begin to experiment with virtual reality.

Virtual Reality Technology

Before moving too much further with this article, I wanted to consider what virtual reality technology is. In it’s current incarnation, the technology comprises three principal components: the headset, the server and the software.

* The headset, which essentially resembles a large set of goggles with some form of earpiece, is used to provide users with an immersive experience, it displays computer generated images of either a fictitious or a real environment, that appear to the wearer to be either real, or a suitable approximation to convince the user’s brain that it could be a real environment. There is a great article on the current state of play in headsets here.

* The server, or more accurately servers, are used both to store the software and to provide the computing power to match the displayed images to the intended virtual environment. Servers to process data needed to support truly convincing virtual reality experiences, are becoming more cost effective and more available to those wishing to use the technology.

* The software is both the platform on which the virtual environment sits and, the simulated environment its self. Software is evolving rapidly, as both the physical hardware and the understanding of how to get the best form of user experience from the hardware develop.

All three components are as critical as each other to the overall experience. Without a capable headset, powerful server or cutting edge software, the user experience is severely degraded, and without a meaningful user experience the technology will not be adopted.

Environments For Virtual Reality Meetings

There are a couple of different meeting environments to consider when determining if its appropriate for your business to dip its toe into the virtual reality space. You could either try to blend the technology into your normal meeting flow or look toward more of a second life form of meeting space.

Blending into your current meeting flow

For many businesses, the idea of a virtual reality application for their meetings will be considered as a replacement or augmentation for their normal meetings. The technology is certainly attractive, as it could give a greater user experience to more traditional video conference meetings. The challenge will be to work out who will need to wear the headsets and how they, and the rest of the meeting attendees, will each see and experience each other.

Imagine, for instance, a business meeting where everyone was wearing virtual reality headsets such as the oculus rift unit shown above. Sure they would all get a really impressive user experience of whatever was being shown in their headset, but the experience in the meeting would need a lot of manipulation so that they did not simply see a room full of people wearing headsets.

Similarly, imagine a meeting where only some attendees, whether virtual or physical, were required to wear the headsets and others were not. In this instance,