Tech expert: Local developers, employers could thrive in metaverse
Springfield and Clark County are well poised to join the many other economic developers and employers using virtual reality tools to host meetings, guided tours and more in the metaverse, according to a technology expert.
The metaverse, simply, is a virtual world where people can interact, said Aaron Brossoit, the CEO of Golden Shovel Agency.
Brossoit will be the keynote speaker at the Greater Springfield Partnership’s annual meeting on Thursday at the Hollenbeck Bayley Conference and Arts Center in Springfield, where he will discuss the metaverse and how technology can connect people across the world.
His Minnesota-based business is credited with pioneering the use of virtual reality tools for economic development.
Virtual reality has grown since Golden Shovel’s start in 2009. The company’s beginning steps with virtuality tools began in 2017 with the use of Google Cardboard, where users could slip a smartphone into eye gear made out of cardboard to use virtual reality apps, Brossoit said.
Years later, companies began developing VR headset technology, which Golden Shovel has been using to help economic development agencies and businesses across the world to connect with site consultants and tap into the workforce.
Clients of the agency have used VR to connect with businesses eyeing land for sale in their area by taking them on virtual tours of their communities. In these tours, potential buyers can see the property, learn more about the community surrounding it and see 3D models of buildings for their site.
“This is the perfect way for economic developers to showcase their locations, because it feels like you’re standing there,” Brossoit said.
The use of VR has blossomed among promoters of rural and medium-sized communities like Springfield, Brossoit said.
“They’re the ones that have a harder time getting people to come there to visit or to check it out,” he said. “They don’t have the big brand names, especially internationally, like San Francisco or New York. So they saw the opportunity for VR technology.”
Brossoit’s agency has worked with the Greater Springfield Partnership on multiple marketing projects, and other Ohio organizations — including some in Montgomery County and Piqua — have used virtual reality tools with the company over the last several years.
VR helps developers reduce costs of transportation-related expenses. The technology also increases a person’s ability to absorb and retain information about what they’re seeing through the screen, Brossoit said.
“It does this little trick of the brain that kind of fools it into thinking that it’s somewhere else,” Brossoit said. “Biological receptors in the brain act the same way when you travel somewhere new, where you haven’t been before. You’re alert.”
Employers looking to gain a competitive edge in the “workforce war” have used VR to give potential employees digital tours of their facilities and more, Brossoit said.
Golden Shovel has also developed an app to create VR office spaces. The pandemic had many businesses and agencies pivoting to the work-from-home model, and Brossoit’s clients asked for help reconnecting with their managers and coworkers in virtual spaces.
“At the heart, it’s really about bringing people together,” Brossoit said.