Advances in VR and AR technology have opened up a whole new world of immersive experiences, and a variety of industries and companies have begun to use them for entertainment, prototyping, training, and more. As customers or employees share these devices, it is important to keep them clean and safe: but that can prove challenging. A UV sanitization box offers the best way to keep headsets clean and customers and staff safe from contagions.
Wiping down every surface requires time and attention to detail, and an employee who is in a hurry to keep things moving can easily miss important surfaces. But even if they clean VR headsets thoroughly and with careful attention, certain areas on a headset are almost impossible to sanitize adequately with wipes alone.
Why Businesses Should Move Beyond Conventional Cleaning Methods
Most of the cleaners we use to sanitize surfaces and stop contagions come in a liquid form. This poses a challenge when it comes to cleaning sensitive pieces of technology. Odd shapes and crevices make it difficult to apply the liquid, and applying too much can damage or destroy the device.
On top of the practical hurdles, overuse of a cleaner or a failure to let the device adequately dry risks exposing wearers to chemical residue. This is certainly a situation customers want to avoid when placing a device around their eyes. The best approach to safely and effectively cleaning these devices is the use of UVC light.
The Benefits of UVC
What Is UVC?
Most people are familiar with UVA and UVB light, which the sun emits and which causes tanning and sunburn. UVC is a wavelength of light that doesn’t naturally exist in the Earth’s atmosphere because it gets totally absorbed in the ozone layer. UVC can be used safely, won’t cause cancer, and won’t hurt people.
Many businesses default to using cleaning wipes on their headsets, but wipes are costly, ineffective, and slow. An employee can spend a lot of time trying to use the wipe on every surface and still fail to clean every spot. The proper application of UVC light hits every surface every time while saving money on man-hours and endless wipe resupplies.
How Is UVC Used?
UVC may be safe for humans, but the same cannot be said for viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Because UVC light doesn’t naturally exist in our atmosphere, pathogens that threaten humans have no natural immunity to it. UVC disrupts these pathogens’ DNA and RNA strands and renders them powerless to cause illness in human bodies.
UVC light isn’t a new technology; it has been used for decades as an effective disinfectant. It has been used to kill viruses, bacteria, and fungi in the air, water, and on surfaces. The fact that it can be artificially created in a bulb makes it a great alternative for liquid cleaners, offering thorough cleaning without the risk of destroying sensitive devices.
UV Sanitization Box: the Best Option for Clean VR
Cleanbox Was Made for This
Before the pandemic, Cleanbox’s founder and CEO was considering a project at the Smithsonian for immersive virtual reality experiences. The biggest challenge facing this project was keeping VR headsets clean for a facility that received 30 million visitors a year. The Smithsonian project didn’t materialize, but it did give rise to Cleanbox—a cost-effective approach to safely cleaning VR headsets with a UV sanitization box.
Location-based VR took a hit as the pandemic shut down many public entertainment spaces. Cleanbox arrived just in time to ensure that people can return to enjoying VR experiences without fear of catching an illness from using the equipment. Cleanbox is effective for various applications, but it was initially developed to clean VR equipment and excels at that original purpose.
Cleanbox Is More Effective Than Conventional Cleaners
Cleanbox products use a proprietary, patented UVC LED light system that is engineered to impact every surface and shadow of shared electronic equipment. Unlike wipes and cleaners, Cleanbox removes the margin for human error and guesswork from cleaning a device. Customers don’t have to wonder whether someone adequately cleaned a VR headset before placing it on their faces because Cleanbox hits every surface.
This technology has been independently lab tested to ensure that Cleanbox kills 99.999% of all contagions. One Cleanbox product, the CleanDefense, has even been tested in a Biosafety Hazard Level 3 lab and eradicated COVID-19 on all three layers of an N-95 mask in under 120 seconds. With that level of cleanliness applied to every surface and shadow, businesses can share their devices with confidence.
Cleanbox Helps Businesses Offer a Healthier Environment
People touching their faces after touching a contaminated surface creates one of the fastest avenues for an illness can spread. So, some people are understandably squeamish about sharing equipment that touches their faces, particularly during a pandemic. Removing the guesswork of wiping down equipment can instill employees and customers with confidence that they can safely participate in public VR experiences.
Location-based VR experiences took a hit when the pandemic shut down live entertainment venues. As people return to those experiences, they are more cognizant of health risks than ever before. Cleanbox can reassure them that they can engage in these experiences safely.
Cleanbox Is Less Wasteful Than Conventional Cleaning Methods
Keeping wipes in stock to clean these devices down and using precious man-hours to clean each individual device starts to add up. Quality UVC lights may not seem as affordable as wipes at first glance, but over time, using these lights proves much more cost-effective. A quality UVC LED will last for years.
Cleanbox is also less wasteful from an environmental perspective. VR cleaning wipes wind up in the trash and start to stack up in the landfill. 60 seconds of UV light saves on environmental impact as well as cost.
Cleanbox Simplifies the Cleaning Process
Effective UVC disinfection requires proper surface exposure, distance, and time, but Cleanbox handles all of that without requiring more than a button press. An employee simply places the device inside, presses the button, and in 60 seconds, it is clean and ready for use. The requirements for UVC disinfection may be complex, but the process of using Cleanbox is not.
Cleanbox is also less hassle than conventional cleaning methods. Employees could easily collect devices after an entertainment experience and clean them quickly and with little waste, or an employee coming in for training could select a device and clean it in the first minute of their shift. This procedure is far more simple and reliable than wiping down the devices.
Time to Get Clean?
Any industry that uses VR devices wants its employees and customers to know that they can wear those devices with no risk. Wipes are wasteful, and they never offer certainty that the person who used the wipe actually hit every surface. The use of UVC light to clean headsets removes the guesswork and allows people to use those devices with confidence that it will not compromise their health.
Cleanbox is the best product for using UVC light to clean headsets: it has been independently lab tested to ensure that it removes 99.999% of pathogens from every surface and shadow. Contact Cleanbox and join a live 15-minute webinar every Monday at 10:30 CST to learn more.
