Virtual reality for business

The second breakfast session of academic year 2018-2019 took place at the Nyenrode premises on the Keizersgracht in the heart of Amsterdam. The theme of the session was focused on creating impact through virtual reality for business and included a keynote speech by tech entrepreneur Adriaan Rijkens, Co-Founder & CTO of Warp and Nyenrode MSc Alumnus.

Rijkens kicked-off the session with an introduction to his life as a tech entrepreneur after graduating from Nyenrode and Warp the virtual reality company he co-founded. Warp provides a unique way for companies to train their employees. Creating real impact by using Virtual Reality for training.

The impact of VR learning

The advent of new technologies also gave rise to virtual reality and reports indicate that the size of the global virtual reality market is expected to grow to 55 billion dollars by 2024. Virtual reality has already transformed various industries for good as it is helping architects to virtually asses their structural designs and it is training doctors to train for complex surgeries. Compared to traditional methods VR learning has proven to be more effective in knowledge retention.

According to Rijkens VR learning can positively impact companies as it allows their employees to train for real-life challenging situations in an engaging way. Furthermore VR training can be used across various locations and time zones at ease. Cutting down training costs, with no operational downtime and at the convenience of both the company and the employees. Rijkens also highlighted the impact VR can have on our own world and shared his dream of ‘saving lifes with VR’. For example: allowing people to safely exit a building in case of a fire because they learned how to do so with VR training.

From start-up to scale-up

As one of their first clients, KLM cooperated with Warp to develop a new virtual reality training for their maintenance staff at Schiphol Airport to replace its less engaging PowerPoint presentations. The 360 videos emerge staff into real-life situations while answering on-screen questions allows them to show whether they know the related safety instructions. In two years time more brands have found their way to Warp and Rijkens mentioned that they now cooperate with companies in different sectors. During the session students, faculty and the business community worked on how Warp can grow from a start-up to scale-up.



Ideas presented focused on how to expand the company with limited resources and ranged from serving international clients directly to setting up new offices in new target countries with similar sectors. The ideas presented by the participants further sparked Rijkens enthusiasm for creating more impact with VR and growing his company Warp. Rijkens promised to share all pitches with his colleagues at Warp and to report back to the participants of the breakfast sessions with their future results.