L-R: Heath Walker, Dan Bradby (Mantel Group)
Technology and design consultancy Mantel Group has established a virtual reality (VR) work hub to provide a collaborative space for its own operations and to assess its business use case for clients.
The work hub is set across various platforms, including Meta’s Horizon Workspace, Mozilla’s Hubs and MeetinVR 2.0, and is accessed via Meta subsidiary Oculus’ VR headsets.
For its own the businesses, the work hub is being used to collaborate across its eight brands, with its most recent acquisition being Itty Bitty Apps back in March, on a weekly basis.
It also plans however to expand this concept, claiming it sees many use cases for current and future clients.
“There are so many use cases for remote interaction that feels far more personable, and also allows for a greater experience through virtual reality,” said Dan Bradby, emerging technology and innovation principal at Mantel Group.
“We have defaulted to chat bots and messaging for customer service due to the convenience during COVID, but this reduces the two-way interaction and ease of direction, especially when doing something technical.
“Imagine being able to self-serve or be directed one-to-one through virtual demonstrations - specific to the support you need from the brand you purchased the product or service from.”
The automotive industry is one vertical that Mantel Group sees being able to utilise VR, according to head of marketing Heath Walker.
“With a shortage of vehicles in the market, high demand and a shift to electric drive trains, the demand on manufacturers and dealerships has never been higher. Yet the customer still wants a better experience,” he said.
“Ordering online is becoming the norm, with trusted vehicle endorsement from family and friends being the strongest consideration of brand. Imagine being able to sit inside a vehicle whilst in your lounge, looking at the interior and exterior design, changing colour and interacting with the technology, all the time having a friend or family member also able to join you."
“Ordering your car whilst in that experience with the design you customise," he added. "When delivered to your driveway, a similar experience could occur with a walkthrough of your new vehicle, but this time with AR [augmented reality], to create a digital meets physical interaction, making the experience personalised, interactive and easy.”
Mantel Group said it plans to share its VR experience with other companies during the next year, although it claims this will “ironically” take the form of physical meetings at their hubs until it attracts enough companies with headsets.
While some like Meta's Mark Zuckerberg claim widespread business adoption of VR is an eventuality, there are others who claim the enterprise future of the technology is not so clear cut.
