The rapid growth of virtual reality is opening the door for small businesses to use the emerging technology to their advantage, Baton Rouge VR specialist Morgan Krutz says.
Krutz offered a group of business owners and entrepreneurs suggestions on how to employ the technology — from immersive interactive environments for real estate professionals to digital overlays of physical reality — during a recent Louisiana Technology Park Academy seminar.
“VR is just another communication tool, so don’t let it intimidate you,” Krutz says. “It’s just a medium that nobody really knows how to deploy yet, but there’s going to be applications for just about anything.”
A native of Louisiana and a graduate of the University of New Orleans, Krutz began his career in the visual effects industry as a compositor and 3D generalist. After working on film series such as “Harry Potter” and “The Chronicles of Narnia,” he transitioned to the world of VR and “augmented reality” development.
Driven largely by the gaming sector, the virtual reality industry has grown into a multibillion-dollar enterprise, with analysts projecting that 90 million VR headsets will be sold by 2020 as adoption spreads.
Krutz says widespread growth will create increased demand for content — and in turn offer opportunities for small businesses across numerous sectors. The emergence of cheaper camera technologies and user-friendly development tools like Vuforia and Unity makes it easier than ever to jump into the VR space.