The attention that Mark Zuckerberg has drawn to his world-changing metaverse aspirations has placed the limelight on virtual reality (VR) over the past few months, and the water sector is no exception to this. VR hardware is becoming more affordable, meaning utilities striving to reach net zero targets can no longer afford to overlook the possibilities of this technology in helping them achieve a smarter future. From minimising construction and risk to cutting travel, this virtual technology is having a tangible impact on the real world. In almost all cases, implementing VR software relies on utilities having effective building information modelling (BIM) processes. Although there has been a lot of innovation with BIM in the water sector over the last few years, many utilities using these 3D models will still not be making full use of them: this is where VR comes in. "Through immersing staff in a simulated 3D model, a whole host of traditionally on-site procedures can be carried out entirely remotely and before the facility is even built. VR unlocks valuable potential from BIM assets that is otherwise simply lost," noted Angel Say, CEO of Resolve. Up until relatively recently, VR headsets were very expensive to purchase and complex to set up. This would mean a utility would only invest in one or two at most, which would then be confined to one central use-case location. However, the price of buying a wireless VR headset has significantly lowered over the last couple of years and setting one up has become easy to do. "VR will become something that utility companies have to think about in the same way they do laptops or phones. At some point, it's going to be something that employees will just be issued," Say predicted.
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