It’s March 2016 and Virtual Reality is becoming more and more visible. Facebook buying Oculus Rift for 2 billion dollars made everyone realize this could be the next big thing. And not only Facebook is investing. Big companies – like Google and Samsung – are developing both hard- and software for Virtual Reality. Even small companies and startups are investing in Virtual Reality. And the wind energy sector is noticing this. Anne Schipper BSc, from Bosch & Van Rijn, talks to PES about the Lagerwey L100 experience…
Finding a partner
At the end of the summer of 2015, Lagerwey, the Dutch wind turbine manufacturer producing onshore wind turbines in the range of 1.5 to 4 MW, was interested to hear how Virtual Reality could benefit their sales and marketing. We presented the potential of Virtual Reality: creating immersive experiences and showing wind energy in an exciting way. Lagerwey realized that Virtual Reality is a powerful communication tool that can be used in amazing ways. This makes it very valuable for the wind energy sector.
With this realization came the idea that Virtual Reality has the power to improve the reputation of wind energy. If an experience is immersive in its excitement, it makes the perceiver think he is excited by what he is looking at. In this case: wind turbines. Ideas tumbled over each other as Lagerwey became fully aware of the possibilities. Making a Virtual Reality commercial for their L100 would mean people would line up to see their new turbine, and showing it at different fairs and gatherings would mean a widespread positive impact on the perception of wind turbines. Henk Lagerwey, founding father of Lagerwey: “Experiencing Virtual Reality makes you completely forget your surroundings. You are amazed by the grandness of the wind turbines and you are able to enjoy the feeling of flying besides the rotor blades”.
