We had our first real dose of virtual reality recently, when Bonnie Foley-Wong, Pique Ventures and Pique Fund founder and investor was invited to speak at a VR/AR Association event hosted by the Vancouver Chapter.
Angela Robert, CEO Conquer Experience demoing Periopsim with Bonnie Foley-Wong, photo credit: Susan Washington
Pique Fund is generally industry-agnostic and although we’re relatively new to the VR/AR space, we can’t ignore these technologies. The expertise that Bonnie brought to the event focused on capital raising and investment relationships and she also shared her perspectives on VR/AR with an impact and diversity lens.
- Virtual and augmented reality is information. Early applications of VR/AR have been predominantly in gaming and media. At Pique, we’re huge proponents of integrating information from analysis, emotion, body, and intuition into our decisions and VR/AR has the potential to be a very compelling medium for communicating information.
- Experience impact. Experience is the best way to feel and assess the impact of something, but it’s the least cost-effective. An extension of the perspective above that VR/AR is information, what role could VR/AR play in helping to communicate impact?
- VR/AR impacts us all, so start designing for diversity from the start. When you have homogenous cultures or groups of people designing and building technologies for the many, lots of people get left behind. Leadership diversity and an inclusive environment in the VR/AR space brings different perspectives. You’ll find different problems and solutions being identified.
Thank you to VRARA Vancouver for inviting Bonnie to speak and including diversity in the conversation. We look forward to seeing how this space evolves and perhaps we’ll even dip our toe in and invest in VR/AR technologies in the future. Watch this space!
Photo credit: main image VRARA Vancouver via Twitter
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