A picture is worth a thousand words. That may be just a saying but to some of us, it is true. A picture can bring a thousand imaginations and interpretation, just like Mona Lisa painting. With recent technology, not only we can create a 2 dimensional image, we can also create virtual reality via application or websites. If the image shown is a full rotation of 360 degree, how much are words “valued”?
What is virtual reality? According to Wikipedia, it is is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds. In this article I will try to explain what opportunity we can have if virtual reality, in a simpler technology like web can be applied to help technology startup increase users experience.
Let’s take Smarta Indonesia for example. Smarta Indonesia provide 360 degree Virtual Reality photo. In this technology, one room can be mapped 360 degree so that visitors can see the room’s physical condition clearly. All you need are computer, browser, and enough bandwidth to access it. If the technology is applied to startups in house rental, selling, or hotel service, it will be a sell booster because it helps customers to see the real physical image without having to visit the place.
Other than that, the technology can be applied to show panoramic view from a landscape. Urbanesia Bali by Urbanesia will be more interesting with this technology. Users can feel that they are on the spot without really being there.
Of course the issue is technology limitation. Like shown by Smarta Indonesia on their website, VR 360 degrees works better when using Adobe Flash. Not to mention bandwidth issue is a problem in this country, and when taken to mobile realm it should be taken to consideration that not all cellphones have good quality processors and graphic card to accommodate such technology — other than problems on iOS platform, it is not compatible with Adobe Flash. But I’m sure that there must be a way to overcome this.
Such technology is yet to be vastly adopted. Even in US, I don’t think any websites apply this. So I think, it will be good for publication if a startup can adopt this. One thing for sure, consumers will like this. You won’t miss it right?
