VR: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Unless you’ve avoided the Internet over the past few months, you know that Virtual Reality, or VR, seems to be quite a hot topic. In that time, marketers have begun to implement it, or, at the very least, discussed the potential uses it can serve as we look to the future. Personally, I’ve already begun to research its potential uses and advantages in my own professional work, but I find myself in a bit of a morale dilemma, as well. Our digital world has already hidden the value of face-to-face communication and interaction, creating new standards for how we deal with one another on a daily basis. So is VR set to be a positive addition to our digital world or another detriment to how we interact with one another?

THE GOOD

I’m sure I will not be the first to make this observation, but the biggest benefit VR provides is the fact that it leaves no room for distraction; it is an encompassing, wholly engaging experience. There is no minimizing or multi-tasking, because VR provides a user the opportunity to be submerged in a new environment. When someone watches a video on their smartphone, tablet, or computer, they can easily lose interest and tune out, knowing full well they can simply close out of that video to go read up on whatever happened to the actor who played Rufio in “Hook” or if the dress was really gold or blue.

For a consumer, experience is everything. Sell someone a product, and maybe he or she will be a repeat customer. But sell someone an experience, and you’re more than likely going to have a new fan and loyal customer. As author Simon Sinek once said, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” VR has been around for years and years, but it wasn’t until recently that the technology finally caught up with making the vision a reality (there’s a joke here somewhere, but I digress). With that said, VR will undoubtedly provide a significant platform for improving customer engagement, brand experience, and much more.

THE BAD

The arrival of VR as a legitimate digital distribution and entertainment platform means that there is just one more platform for marketers to worry about. Fast Company’s Diana Budds recently wrote, “Today, brands exist on dozens of platforms. This...has limited what designers can do.” ("The Precarious State of Logo Design") Budds was writing about the current state of logo design, but the thought easily can be applied to the advent of VR. While it provides another avenue to connect with consumers, it is one more thing to design for. And with so many brands and advertisements out there today, Budds’ comment that designers are limited can mean that the diversity of a brand appears in the mediums it uses to communicate, and less so in what it communicates. Today, designers are taking key messages and translating them into the language of their chosen platforms (e.g. Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, etc.) -- or designing for platforms.

As VR enters the fold and quickly evolves over the next few years, it will most certainly influence the language of design. Its potential seems limitless now, but it will undoubtedly provide just another outlet for more content – something we already have an increasingly large amount of with everyone posting hourly, daily, to things like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

THE UGLY

There is no denying that we all see the world in a different way thanks to the evolution of the Internet and our digital existence online. But this lens of the Internet that we view the world through has created a serious bias and flawed perception of reality. Just because we can know what’s happening on the other side of the world instantly or learn about what this or that celebrity did over the weekend doesn’t mean we’re more informed of the world around us. This flood of information at our fingertips is a powerful resource, but often times we soak it in without considering how real or true it might be. With our constant overstimulation from videos, digital and print ads, social media, etc., we feel like we have a strong grasp of the world even when that perception of the world can sometimes be fed to us. We go through life with the framework to “understand” or “know” things that, in reality, we may very well understand and know very little about.

Sure, we do know the world better than ever before because we are “connected” to all that goes on, whether it be actively or passively. But this world we know is more of the “digital world,” a place where far too often hate and negativity overshadow love and positivity. Sometimes, we don’t feel wrong when we hold something to be absolutely true or we pass judgment on something because we believe we have the facts and see the reality of things. But it goes without saying that the absolute truths are found at a local level, through face-to-face interaction.

More and more, human connection and interaction occurs through digital means, but the same connection and interaction is a lot more enriching and real when done in the presence of one another. But take a look around when you’re out in public. How many people are conversing with one another and how many are making eye contact with their digital companion (i.e. smartphone, tablet, or computer)? Psychologist Sherry Turkle summed up the affect of digital communication in her 2012 TED Talk “Connected, but alone?” when she said, “Human relationships are rich and they’re messy and they’re demanding. And we clean them up with technology. And when we do, one of the things that can happen is that we sacrifice conversation for mere connection.” And the scary thing is that it has more to do with convenience than authentic experience. “We turn to technology to help us feel connected in ways we can comfortably control. But we’re not so comfortable,” she said. “We are not so much in control. These days, those phones in our pockets are changing our minds and hearts” (“Connected, but alone?).

VR will undoubtedly provide an avenue to experience things we might never experience in our lifetime – due to financial constraints or physical ones – but how will it contribute to the evolution of human behavior?