Rachael Power is an editor at TechForge Media, writing about marketing tech, connected cars and virtual reality. She has written for a number of online and print titles including the Irish Times, Irish Examiner, accountingWEB and BusinessZone. Rachael has a passion for digital marketing, journalism, gaming and fitness, and is on Twitter at: @rachpower10.











It was the night before Christmas, and all through the house, nothing was stirring – except Santa, who was busy playing Minecraft on his Samsung Gear VR.

Santa and virtual reality is really not a pairing you would put together, but then again 2016 is a year of many surprises.

And indeed, Santas from all over the UK have been attending a VR Santa Training School from Carphone Warehouse, to get to grips with virtual reality technology before they head to grottos, stores and shopping centres ahead of Christmas.

Carphone Warehouse's category director of accessories, Dean Kramer, says he expects this Christmas to be the first year where VR will become more mainstream – as do many others in the industry.

Central to this, he adds, is educating people as to how to use the newest tech.

"As technology experts, it’s sometimes easy to assume that everyone knows how to get the best out of the latest craze, but that’s rarely the case. So to ensure we make VR something everyone can enjoy, we’ve opened a VR Santa School to start with educating the figurehead that most represents Christmas. We kicked this off with our first training session, which saw us help a classroom full of Santas tackle the basics in order for them to embrace the fun of VR.”

Armed with VR headsets from Samsung and Goji, the UK's Santas were supervised by elves as they participated in an immersive, two-hour session with VR experts from Samsung.

Being Father Christmas is about far more than white beards and belly-laughs – you have to stay on top of the latest trends and must-have toys

For most, this was their first time using the new technology so were given an ‘introduction to VR’, ‘top content and apps’, ‘an etiquette guide to using headsets’, as well as a quick ‘elf and safety’ session on setting up the devices with a range of mobile devices.

According to Michael Facherty, Santa-in-chief: “Any Santa worth his weight in snow will be all over tech-trends like VR. Being Father Christmas is about far more than white beards and belly-laughs – you have to stay on top of the latest trends and must-have toys, which is why the VR training school is so useful.

"The most sought-after grottos and retailers all demand their Santas come armed with a solid understanding of what kids want for Christmas – after all, they’ve been receiving letters for weeks already. Tech gifts like VR headsets are certainly high on the list this year, so it’s good to get my head around this as it’s an entirely new world.”

Black Friday gave Carphone Warehouse a preview into what looks set to sell for Christmas this year, as VR products were the store's most viewed accessory over the weekend, with sales increasing 10 x on the day itself.

Earlier in November, the business carried our research which predicts that one in 10 UK homes will have some form of VR by Christmas.

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