“[Virtual Reality] enables productivity and collaboration in a way that has never been done before.”
— Shachar Scott

Today, the Speed of Culture heads to Las Vegas for CES 2024 to learn more about the emerging trends in the Technology Space. One of them will be VR & AR technologies. On this episode, we sit down with Shachar Scott, VP of Marketing for Meta Reality Labs. Shachar walks us through the innovative virtual and augmented reality technologies that Meta is working on, including their recent collaboration with Ray-Ban. She also explores the opportunities of marketing these new technologies, shaping the future of work and the way we connect with one another.

Shachar has over two decades of experience in the marketing world and was recently selected for the prestigious Brand Innovators‘ 2023 Industry Innovation and Campaign40o40 Awards for her contributions to the Tech industry.

Tune into the latest episode or read the transcript below to learn more. Here are some top takeaways:

• Stay curious and be willing to try new things in your career. Back in college, Shachar was set on becoming a lawyer. However, she took a detour and ended up falling in love with marketing and communications. She was drawn in by the ability to tell stories and connect with people in meaningful ways, and entered the philanthropic, nonprofit space, working to educate people through storytelling about the causes she was passionate about. To her, marketing offers the strategic thinking aspect of being a lawyer without being in a courtroom. Her story has one clear message: don’t be afraid to try something new for your career.

• Demoing new technologies is crucial to overcoming adoption barriers. At Meta Reality Labs, there are several different product pillars, including gaming experiences and the Meta Quest headset. With many innovative technology pieces that consumers have little experience with, Shachar and her team have to pull out all the stops to get people to adopt them. For them, demoing is crucial. Getting people to try on headsets or smart glasses is always tricky. But once they do, magic happens. Shachar further stresses that employees must dogfood the products so they truly understand them when making marketing campaigns. She emphasizes that marketers need to put themselves in the shoes of their consumer, be curious, and take risks to build an effective marketing strategy.

• The future of work will involve seamless collaboration and productivity in virtual environments. While virtual reality is most commonly associated with gaming, it has some incredible use cases in the world of work. With work from home becoming increasingly more common, virtual reality offers a way of bringing teams together in an immersive environment, even while spread across the globe. It enables productivity and collaboration in a way that has never been done before. Shachar has seen businesses use headsets to fast-track training, particularly in retail work, allowing employees to navigate situations without impacting a customer’s experience. Leveraging virtual reality sooner means being ahead of the game in productivity.

• Mixed reality has the potential to revolutionize gaming, education, and other industries. With virtual reality also comes the premise of mixed reality. Wearable devices allow users to still be in the moment while taking advantage of the prospects virtual environments offer. An example of this is Meta’s collaboration with Ray-Ban on smart glasses, which seamlessly integrate technology into everyday life. People already integrate tech into their everyday lives, wearing AirPods and smartwatches regularly. But virtual reality will take things to the next level, offering new forms of communication. As Shachar explains, the more connections we have, the more we thrive. Mixed reality will revolutionize industries, from gaming to education, or even how we market products. Businesses just need to be willing to make the first leap.