Virtual reality (VR) is no longer a technology reserved for the gaming industry. The applications are manifold in industries such as education, engineering, healthcare, insurance, sports and telecommunications. But, unlike other technology disruptions such as telematics, IoT, mobile, digital and cloud, which I have outlined in a previous blog, VR is yet to catch up in terms of adoption by insurers.
However, there are some applications from which the early adopters of this technology have started benefiting and others from which they could soon start benefiting.
Current Enterprise Applications
The Applications: VR simulation of car crashes - Insurers better understand what happens in a car crash for a safety demonstration
The Benefits: Improvement of driving behavior by creating awareness on safety and reducing accident claims
The Early Adopters: Australian insurer NRMA Insurance built a car crash simulation in collaboration with an ad agency and a film production studio and provided the experience to customers through an Oculus Rift headset in a crashed car showroom exhibit.
The Applications: Training - Safety experts and workers in manufacturing plants and warehouses are trained on safety practices and risk handling by creating a virtual world with various scenarios
The Benefits: Immersive and effective training experiences
The Early Adopters: Travelers insurance is working with AppliedVR in developing a VR mobile application aiming at industrial safety
The Applications: Advertising - Ad campaigns in VR gaming and on other platforms
The Benefits: Connecting better with the tech-savvy audience
The Early Adopters: Axa partnered with Google Niantic Lab Ingress to protect the gamers in a virtual real world using Axa Shield.
Ideas Insurers Can Explore
The Applications: Risk Assessment - Underwriters can look at all the possible risk hazards in a building without actually visiting the building.
The Benefits: Cost saving on travel and hiring
The Early Adopters: Insurers can steal ideas from the travel industry and see how they can customize VR for their needs. Marriott Hotels "teleports" guests to places like Hawaiian beaches and downtown London with sensory experiences.
The Applications: Analytics - Data scientists can analyze and visualize large dynamic datasets in VR, and executives can interact with the dashboards and take decisions
The Benefits: Quick and informed decision-making, scenario analysis
The Early Adopters: Insurance industry can draw inspiration from solutions developed for power, oil and gas and logistics industries. Space-Time Insight has recently demonstrated the capability of big data analytics and VR for power substation maintenance using Oculus Rift.
As an array of companies such as Google, Facebook, Samsung and Sony beef up their investments in VR and the number of enterprise applications spread across industries, the technology will soon prove to be disruptive for the insurance industry. Though customer experience, product demos and employee engagement are the key applications for the insurance industry, the ideas could be limitless as the technology matures. The day when we will compare the insurance product, take a driving test, purchase by interacting with an agent and talk to the customer care executive for claims, all through VR, is not too far away.
