Back in December, I had published a marketoon by Greg Kessler on my LinkedIn account, suggesting we would be relying on VR headsets to paint a vision of the
future. The idea behind this cartoon is the topic of a New York Times real
estate section article this week. 'A New Dimension in Home Buying' by Jennifer Miller shows how Hallstead Realty is selling multi-million dollar properties by
showing prospects a vision of what these condos will be through VR headsets.
It's about evoking emotions and converting lookers to buyers when in the raw
construction phase.
Hallstead's initiative is not only a clever gimmick, but
hope that VR will have real commercial applications beyond gaming. Similar to
real estate, VR headsets can be used in retail to show how to dress, cook, or
experience a vacation. In auto, it can help drivers test their car in the
wilderness, or through narrow streets of old European cities without leaving
the dealer's showroom. If done right, VR stories can help propel new authors to
best seller status by showing a preview of what those 300 pages hold.
As companies tie increasing profits to VR marketing, this
type of storytelling will become mainstream (and with hopefully more attractive
headsets)
