The Three Industries VR Will Reinvent Next

The promise of VR hardly stops with movies and games. Nearly every industry will soon use VR for teleconfer­encing and training.
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The price of a decent virtual reality headset has fallen to a few hundred dollars (or about $20 if you have a phone compatible with Google Cardboard). And they�re not just for movies and games. Nearly every industry will soon use VR for teleconferencing and training. But for some professionals, 3-D experiences will transform how they do their jobs.

real_estateReal Estate

Instead of spending hours driving around looking for the perfect house, savvy realtors will give clients VR tours of properties. Matterport is already selling a 3-D camera system to help agents create these walk-throughs. Looks like they�ll have to find a new way to make tiny rooms seem huge.

mental_healthMental Health

Doctors at research hospitals have used VR for decades to treat patients with burns and PTSD. But now a company called Psious offers a headset and software bundle to help therapists treat anxiety disorders like arachnophobia and fear of flying with a VR version of exposure therapy.

autoDesign and Engineering

Ford Motor is using Oculus tech to evaluate virtual versions of vehicles before they�re built, and startups are developing VR design tools for everyone from architects to nanotech engineers.

Illustrations by Diego Patiño