The past year has been disruptive, often defined by change, uncertainty, and doubt. This is true both personally and professionally as the pandemic reoriented many of the ways we embrace the day-to-day challenges that come our way. In this environment, reaching our personal and professional goals requires adapting and growing to meet the moment.
However, that can be especially challenging when remote work arrangements, social distancing guidelines and other factors keep us physically separated, often impeding the creativity and innovation that help us reach our full potential.
Now, at the intersection of today’s challenges and tech innovation lies an opportunity to harness the latest technologies to improve professional outcomes. More specifically, virtual reality (VR) — while new and mostly underutilized in a business context — is quickly becoming a powerful must-have tool for every remote team that cares about the cohesion of their team relationships and their potential to innovate.
As Col. Tucker “Cinco” Hamilton, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Artificial Intelligence Lab, explains, “I wanted to create a space where the team could bond and grow during this very difficult pandemic.... When we ‘met’ under the aurora borealis and began to walk around and connect … it felt like I was with people.”
Hamilton adds, “You feel like you can walk around and join conversations, chat with someone on the side, go explore with others and have a shared experience. You could even put your arm out and give a hand-shake. I was completely amazed at how much it felt like I was hanging out around a real campfire with colleagues versus the reality of standing alone in my apartment.”
VR allows hybrid teams to feel the emotions associated with a real-world experience, building better connections and prompting new ways of thinking and problem-solving.
Several big Atlanta companies, including CNN and Microsoft Atlanta, are turning to VR to train their product teams in innovation skills and team leadership.
CNN has deployed VR to provide experiences that challenge their teams to think differently, spurring innovation as the company adapts to a shifting news landscape in real-time. Their efforts are emblematic of the potential for VR to help hybrid teams flourish in 2021 and beyond.
The pandemic ushered in a season of change that required us to think differently about our purpose, priorities, and processes. In a professional context, this means finding new ways to build connections and spur innovation. This is especially true when we are physically separate.
VR offers a solution and a path forward. When Atlanta’s leading tech companies rely on this burgeoning technology to foster innovation, they model its potential for companies across the country and around the world to experience connections like never before.
Vestigo Adventures LLC is an Atlanta startup that facilitates virtual reality adventures for corporations to facilitate team bonding and innovation. CEO Marshall Mosher co-founded the company in 2015.
