ADT is using VR to warn people about house fires

The company has been shipping out free VR headsets that recreate the experience of a house fire

ADT has started using VR to help homeowners better understand what it’s like to experience a house fire. Through a direct mail campaign, the home security company sent select customers a VR headset and a link to an accompanying video.

We tried the VR experience ourselves and it’s extremely unsettling. You can experience it for yourself in the video below – even if you don’t have a VR headset handy.

According to ADT, the realistic, 3D experience is designed to bring awareness to the panic, disorientation, and limited visibility such situations entail. They go on to say the goal of the campaign is to highlight the company’s home monitoring services that help families to avoid these life-threating ordeals.

By most standards the campaign was a success, generating roughly 3 million impressions through social media. More promising, the company has decided to use the campaign to bring attention to the National Volunteer Fire Council via a $100,000 donation.