4 Immersive and Innovative VR Experiences to Explore in 2018



If you are fascinated by the idea of virtual reality, this year promises to provide you with a variety of experiences designed around this innovative technology. No longer reserved for video games, VR headsets are becoming more mainstream and are allowing us to visit more destinations, sporting events and more. With that in mind, let’s look at four immersive VR experiences that you can enjoy in 2018:

Touring luxury properties

If you are in the market for a new home or vacation property, it can be challenging to find time in your busy day to tour different places, especially if you live in New York and you want to purchase a beachfront luxury home in Hawaii. Thanks to innovative realtors who are offering VR home tours and the latest and fastest mobile processors, which are available from companies like Qualcomm, you are now able to tour luxury properties from the comfort of home. The Qualcomm Snapdragon mobile processors are designed to offer immersive VR and AR experiences, including incredible graphics that will allow you to feel like you are walking through the lush backyard of a vacation property and checking out all of the details of each home. The Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform, the fastest mobile processor available, also gives you a movie-like home tour experience, even in low-light conditions. Ask your Realtor if they offer this technology or Google “VR home tours” to find a local real estate agency features it.

Attend the 2018 FIFA World Cup via VR

If you are a soccer fan, you will be able to feel like you are attending the 2018 FIFA World Cup in person. Companies like NBC Universal/Telemundo are using VR to bring fans even closer to the action. Thanks to VR, you can feel like you are on the sidelines during the games. Fans will be able to watch the matches both as a live experience and also as a 360-degree video-on-demand experience. This way, if you do not have the time in your busy schedule to head to the World Cup, you can use the power of virtual reality to feel like you are there in person.

Use an app to see the world

Thanks to apps like Discovery VR, you can enjoy a number of immersive travel experiences that will take you around the world without needing to leave home. The app features VR videos that are supported on a variety of VR gear including Samsung Gear VR and Google Daydream. The app features exclusive content from popular shows like Shark Week and Deadliest Catch. It also allows you to rescue rhinos, go mountain biking at remote locations, and dance a jig in a Dublin pub.

Venture into outer space

No discussion of virtual reality would be complete without at least one game. An ever-expanding variety of VR experiences go beyond games designed for tweens and teens and offer adults the chance to enjoy a VR challenge. BBC’s Home: A VR Spacewalk was inspired by real-life NASA training simulations and allows you to experience a space walk in first-person. Imagine walking 250 miles above Earth while sitting on your couch; you will feel like a real astronaut as you tackle an emergency or two along the way and enjoy the beauty of space.

While virtual reality will never replace live an in-person experiences, the technology can certainly allow us to visit all corners of the world and even outer space without leaving home. From practical applications like letting you tour vacation properties to enjoying your favorite sport from the sidelines, immersive VR has it all.