How Virtual Reality Will Change Team Building Events Forever
There has been a lot of talk and media coverage of VR, as it has become a buzzword that people like to drop, such as AI. However, anyone who has used virtual reality for any practical application will know that VR is more than some trend, and is rather something that will slowly but surely become a standard tool for all kinds of industries. Let’s take a look at how virtual reality will change team building events for example.
You might be wondering, what is the goal of team building? It is both an exercise to have fun, and improve the relationship and morale of a group of employees or associates. It is much more than just an opportunity to blow off steam. In the long run, communication between team members can improve and the practice of critical thinking in new ways can take place.
Virtual reality is already becoming somewhat of a norm for gamers, with IDC (International Data Corporation) analysts predicting that sales of VR and AR headsets will increase by 54% in 2019 in comparison to 2018. A lot of the VR games being developed are excellent for team building exercises. Another thing to keep in mind is that although setting up virtual reality headsets may be expensive, the cost of all of the equipment you would need to buy in order to experience what you otherwise would in VR is much more expensive.
An example of one of these games is Fantastic Contraption, a game which requires players to use their creativity to build almost anything they can imagine from a set of tools, in order to solve virtual reality puzzles. There are endless ways of solving each puzzle. Seeing all the different ways people approach the problem, and how efficient everyones solution is, can be both a an incredibly fun and educational exercise.
Another game which is great for team building, is NBA 2K VR. This is a VR version of the extremely popular NBA 2k games that come out yearly. Players get to try out their shot-making ability with all kinds of different game modes. Being able to compete and keep scores with your friends can be a fun little competition. It being a sport that most people are familiar with also allows people to quickly jump in and get the hang of it.
One more game I have to mention is Pictionary VR. It’s very similar to regular Pictionary, in that one person draws a picture using the VR equipment and the other players have to guess what they’re drawing. Pictionary, by nature being a team-oriented game becomes even more team-oriented when you realize how much the VR aspect adds to it. Being able to draw in three dimensions instead of two allows much more detail. Just like the basketball VR game, this is something that will be able to pickup extremely fast, before moving on to more sophisticated games.
Escape room is a popular team building activity. Why not make it a VR escape room.
There are countless other games I could go on about, the point is that there is a game out there for everyone. One of the benefits of this to consider is that you can constantly change activities. For example, if a team of employees were to go out golfing and there was an employee that despised golfing, they would either have to skip the trip or put up with it. Now, each person in a group could have their turn for a set time and then instantly move on to the next activity. Not having to travel from location to location for each activity is a huge convenience as well.
Now that you’ve seen how virtual reality will change team building events, you might be wondering how to go for a trial run. There are many new virtual reality companies and studios arising that allow groups of employees, or any group of any people for that matter, to get together and experience these team building activities. You can choose from off-site VR events to private team VR events.
As virtual reality continues to take off, these studios will become increasingly more commonplace, making the whole experience really convenient. It is widely known that businesses which embrace and adapt to new technology are the ones that don’t fall behind. It seems like an extremely wise decision for business teams to take advantage and get ahead of the curve by utilizing this emerging technology.
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