(from EarthNet E-Commerce, January issue)
With the advent of sustainable access to virtual reality without surgical implantation, the world of commerce has been opened to new opportunities to welcome customers. Consumers can now view how clothing will look on them before ordering, test-drive cars in vehicle simulations before even visiting the dealership, chat and make deals in virtual cafes despite being thousands of miles apart from each other, and perform almost any activity imaginable within the safety of the Virtual.
As such, establishing a Virtual presence for your company is an important aspect of your business platform, regardless of what you're selling. A virtual office with a VE secretary to handle customer queries, a virtual store for customers to browse, or a virtual representation of your company headquarters for ease of access are all possible and perhaps practical developments of a growing company.
The typical first step in establishing a Virtual for your company is to set up your Virtual host - either using online VIM (Virtual Instance Management) platforms or hosting on your own dedicated server. Be advised that vandalism is quite alive and well in the virtual age, and you get what you pay for in securing your virtual space.
Once you have a host for your VE (virtual environment), you can begin the process of modeling it, or install a prefabricated VE from a professional or open-source developer. Once established, you can populate it with autonomous VE entities, and customize their appearance to better suit the needs of your company. You can augment this with employees dedicated to working within the Virtual to better serve your customers and partners, adding a more personal approach. Studies have shown that an engaging VE storefront with live employee Avatars has an average sales increase of 249% compared to a traditional flatscreen shop interface, and 35% over a holostore platform.
Of course, all forms of commerce, from traditional flatscreens for tablet and phone users, AR augments for local shoppers, holostores for holoequipped systems, and full Virtuals for cutting-edge wheelers and dealers, are important facets of a business presence, and customers will appreciate your willingness to offer them a variety of means by which to purchase your products.
For the entrepreneur who is just starting out, CodeCrucible has OfficeSpace, an open-source low-res Virtual environment with one Door point, four Terminal points, and one Fileshare point pre-configured during setup, with the ability to customize further with basic instructions. While not as flashy as high-end Virtuals, it runs smoothly even on public hosting VIM systems and can easily support even low-market VR rigs, enabling low-cost accessibility. Installation and setup instructions are included for first-time VE builders to make the most of their environment.