Have you’ve been asked to present a VR Demo? There might a couple of things to consider before strapping a Headset onto a random stranger. If you want to give a good VR Demo, you probably also want to incorporate some safety guidelines into the mix. So if you’re ready, get your helmet on and we’ll explain how to give a safe VR Demo.
In This Article
Improve Your VR Demo Through Trust
When a participant is wearing a VR Headset, they are essentially putting themselves into a vulnerable position. Please, keep in mind that while wearing a headset, a participant is effectively blind and potentially deaf as well. In order to give a safe VR Demo, it is your job to make sure that you create a sense of trust between yourself and the participant.
To build this sense of trust, you should always tell your participants what you are about to do. You should never try to grab their hand without specifically stating that you are going to grab their hand. Instead, try to narrate what you are doing so the participant can follow along. Even while wearing a headset.
Also, let the participant know they can take off the headset any time they like. What is important is that you show participants that you are there to help them every step of the way. This includes moments where they start to feel uncomfortable and want to remove the headset.
Finally, you can create a sense of trust by using some sort of an Ice Breaker. For example, before putting on the headset, you can start by introducing yourself with your name and ask the participant to do the same. This way, both you and the participant will get a chance to find out to know each other a little better.
Improve Your VR Demo Through Patience
Often, doing a VR Demo can be quite time consuming for both the participant and the presenter. This makes sense as the participant will have to be prepared for entering the VR Experience. Because of this, the amount of people that can participate in a series of demos is considerably lower.
As a result, both you and the participant may feel pressured to hurry up a bit. In reality, we all feel a little uncomfortable when there’s a queue of people waiting in line behind us. So feeling a bit rushed is perfectly normal. Yet, don’t let it distract you from your focus on the participant.
To enable a safe VR Demo, please make sure that you give a participant as much time as they need. Do not try to force a participant into a certain timeframe or time slot. If you are at an event, it can be useful to have multiple VR setups so that it can scale up with the demand.
Plan Out a Safe VR Demo Area
As mentioned before, whenever a participant puts on a Headset, they are effectively rendered blind. This is incredibly dangerous because VR users are completely unaware of potential hazards near them. When things go wrong in VR they can often go very wrong quickly. Usually, as a presenter, you don’t have enough time to respond. Therefore, prevention is always better than a cure.
While there are more and more wireless headsets, a common problem is that participants can get tangled or trip over the attached wires. If you want to improve the safety of your VR demo, please consider using a wireless headset. Another solution is to hook the headset cable to the ceiling, prevent it from dragging on the floor.
Also, to make your demo safer, please plan out how you are going to use the demo area. Often, it can help to mark out regions on the floor with tape. This way, you can create a so called safe zone to protect both the participant as well as potential onlookers. It is important to keep an eye on the area outside the safe zone at any time.
Make Your VR Demo Safe
Another way to make sure you are giving a safe VR Demo, is by building in safety from the start. If you have ever given a VR Demo before, then you’ll know it’s hard to communicate to the participant when they are wearing a headset. As a result, it also becomes increasingly hard to explain how they can use the demo or interact with it.
To fix this, we recommend you to build a start scene where a participant enters a quiet, blank scene. In this scene, participants can get comfortable using VR before proceeding. Yet, please make sure that you implement a smooth transition to the actual experience. Failing to do this can alarm a participant who is not used to VR
Equally important is that you calibrate the VR Demo correctly for the space you are in. Most VR Vendors will also allow you setup a Guardian which is a visualization of the safe playable area. If a participant were to get close to the boundary it would show up to them, letting them know not too cross any further.
Summary
It might be hard to fully remember and apply everything mentioned in this post, especially when you’re under pressure performing a demo. For this reason, we recommend you to pay attention to the following points. These points serve as a good foundation to improve the safety for your VR Demo.
- Try to create a sense of trust between you and a participant
- Always tell a participant what you are going to do
- Let a participant know they can always take off the Headset, no matter what.
- Be there to help participants every step of the way
- Give you participants enough time.
- Try using a wireless headset or employ propper cable management.
- Plan and mark out the demo area.
- Build a special scene where the participant can ‘dive’ into VR.
- Calibrate the Demo for the Space you are in
Conclusion
By now, we hope you have a more informed picture on what you can do to improve the safety of your VR Demo. You should have learned what to look out for and what steps you can take to up the safety of your demos. As always, it is far better to invest at prevention than it is to fix things after the matter. Good luck impressing everybody with your demo and stay safe!
Further Reading
