Samsung wants to bring virtual reality and wearables to businesses

There’s been a lot of talk about virtual reality and wearable devices these past few months, but most of it is about consumer products. You don’t see very many people talking about how these growing technologies could be applied to businesses, but Samsung has been thinking about it for a while now. In fact, the company is actively exploring ways to create enterprise-centric variations of these technologies. 

Samsung Electronics wants to make work fun and productive with its wearable devices and virtual-reality headset, and it thinks those devices will become more important in enterprises. The mobile-device company is currently selling smartwatches and the Gear VR headset mostly to consumers, but it is exploring the use of wearables in business with some companies. It is also working with developers to write applications, which are important for smartwatches, and also developing content, a key driver for headsets. Businesses are interested in smartwatches for alerts and immediate access to critical information, while VR headsets are drawing attention as a potentially powerful way to present multimedia content, said Eric McCarty, vice president of mobile marketing, at a Samsung event in New York. But both types of devices may also present challenges. For smartwatches, those could be security and weaving them into BYOD programs. Samsung may integrate a security layer if it develops an enterprise-focused wearable, much like it has in its Galaxy smartphones and tablets with the Knox platform, McCarty said.