Uses of virtual reality for communication in financial services

This paper examines the use of virtual reality to organize online meetings and compares them to an approach using traditional video conferencing software.
The search was conducted using Virtual Reality meeting software and Skype for Business as a test environment for comparing a virtual reality meeting to a videoconferencing environment.
The results indicate an improvement in feelings of presence, proximity, and excitement for virtual reality environments, but also demonstrate a difference in experience between female and male participants.
In particular, participants preferred to use video images of Avatar rather than actual images, which suggests a potential for reducing bias for virtual reality environments.
The results also indicate the need to explore different interface designs and discuss lessons learned from the historical adoption of technology by the financial services community.

About the speaker: Abraham Campbell is an Assistant Professor at University College Dublin (UCD) Ireland. He currently teaches at the Beijing-Dublin International College, a joint initiative of the UCD and BJUT. Abraham coordinates the UCD Virtual Reality Lab, which examines the use of augmented reality and virtual reality to explore tele-presence applications and enable true distance learning. He is a funded researcher for the SFI CONSUS Center and a contributor to the EU funded AHA – AdHd Augmented project. Along with this research, he explores his commercialization potential as a technical director of MeetingRoom, an online meeting software and meeting software company. These projects contribute to Abraham's future vision of telepresence teaching, where a virtual Abraham can teach his clbades in Beijing.

This research builds on his previous research on the use of multi-agent systems to create mixed reality applications conducted as part of his PhD. In continuing his research on the combination of augmented reality, multi-agent systems, ubiquitous computing and immersive virtual reality, Abraham has published more than a dozen articles evaluated by peers. Abraham also helped found CAMARA, a charity that teaches computer skills to underprivileged children in Africa. In addition to his charities, he is also known to be a strong advocate for the use of virtual reality and augmented reality technologies to change the world. In this role, he appeared on television, radio and in newspapers to discuss the effect of these futuristic technologies.