diff --git a/examples/10_streaming_read.cpp b/examples/10_streaming_read.cpp
index 99da2c5a5c..12392b4e70 100644
--- a/examples/10_streaming_read.cpp
+++ b/examples/10_streaming_read.cpp
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ using namespace openPMD;
 int main()
 {
 #if openPMD_HAVE_ADIOS2
-    using position_t = double;
     auto backends = openPMD::getFileExtensions();
     if (std::find(backends.begin(), backends.end(), "sst") == backends.end())
     {
@@ -40,7 +39,7 @@ int main()
         std::cout << "Current iteration: " << iteration.iterationIndex
                   << std::endl;
         Record electronPositions = iteration.particles["e"]["position"];
-        std::array<std::shared_ptr<position_t>, 3> loadedChunks;
+        std::array<RecordComponent::shared_ptr_dataset_types, 3> loadedChunks;
         std::array<Extent, 3> extents;
         std::array<std::string, 3> const dimensions{{"x", "y", "z"}};
 
@@ -48,7 +47,7 @@ int main()
         {
             std::string const &dim = dimensions[i];
             RecordComponent rc = electronPositions[dim];
-            loadedChunks[i] = rc.loadChunk<position_t>(
+            loadedChunks[i] = rc.loadChunkVariant(
                 Offset(rc.getDimensionality(), 0), rc.getExtent());
             extents[i] = rc.getExtent();
         }
@@ -64,10 +63,14 @@ int main()
             Extent const &extent = extents[i];
             std::cout << "\ndim: " << dim << "\n" << std::endl;
             auto chunk = loadedChunks[i];
-            for (size_t j = 0; j < extent[0]; ++j)
-            {
-                std::cout << chunk.get()[j] << ", ";
-            }
+            std::visit(
+                [&extent](auto &shared_ptr) {
+                    for (size_t j = 0; j < extent[0]; ++j)
+                    {
+                        std::cout << shared_ptr.get()[j] << ", ";
+                    }
+                },
+                chunk);
             std::cout << "\n----------\n" << std::endl;
         }
     }
diff --git a/examples/2_read_serial.cpp b/examples/2_read_serial.cpp
index 8fb3ccb190..1ab1ac7d3a 100644
--- a/examples/2_read_serial.cpp
+++ b/examples/2_read_serial.cpp
@@ -75,20 +75,25 @@ int main()
 
     Offset chunk_offset = {1, 1, 1};
     Extent chunk_extent = {2, 2, 1};
-    auto chunk_data = E_x.loadChunk<double>(chunk_offset, chunk_extent);
+    // Loading without explicit datatype here
+    auto chunk_data = E_x.loadChunkVariant(chunk_offset, chunk_extent);
     cout << "Queued the loading of a single chunk from disk, "
             "ready to execute\n";
     series.flush();
     cout << "Chunk has been read from disk\n"
          << "Read chunk contains:\n";
-    for (size_t row = 0; row < chunk_extent[0]; ++row)
-    {
-        for (size_t col = 0; col < chunk_extent[1]; ++col)
-            cout << "\t" << '(' << row + chunk_offset[0] << '|'
-                 << col + chunk_offset[1] << '|' << 1 << ")\t"
-                 << chunk_data.get()[row * chunk_extent[1] + col];
-        cout << '\n';
-    }
+    std::visit(
+        [&chunk_offset, &chunk_extent](auto &shared_ptr) {
+            for (size_t row = 0; row < chunk_extent[0]; ++row)
+            {
+                for (size_t col = 0; col < chunk_extent[1]; ++col)
+                    cout << "\t" << '(' << row + chunk_offset[0] << '|'
+                         << col + chunk_offset[1] << '|' << 1 << ")\t"
+                         << shared_ptr.get()[row * chunk_extent[1] + col];
+                cout << '\n';
+            }
+        },
+        chunk_data);
 
     auto all_data = E_x.loadChunk<double>();
 
diff --git a/examples/4_read_parallel.cpp b/examples/4_read_parallel.cpp
index 477177cec6..8bd12627d9 100644
--- a/examples/4_read_parallel.cpp
+++ b/examples/4_read_parallel.cpp
@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     Offset chunk_offset = {static_cast<long unsigned int>(mpi_rank) + 1, 1, 1};
     Extent chunk_extent = {2, 2, 1};
 
-    auto chunk_data = E_x.loadChunk<double>(chunk_offset, chunk_extent);
+    // If you know the datatype, use `loadChunk<double>(...)` instead.
+    auto chunk_data = E_x.loadChunkVariant(chunk_offset, chunk_extent);
 
     if (0 == mpi_rank)
         cout << "Queued the loading of a single chunk per MPI rank from "
@@ -72,9 +73,20 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
             for (size_t row = 0; row < chunk_extent[0]; ++row)
             {
                 for (size_t col = 0; col < chunk_extent[1]; ++col)
+                {
                     cout << "\t" << '(' << row + chunk_offset[0] << '|'
-                         << col + chunk_offset[1] << '|' << 1 << ")\t"
-                         << chunk_data.get()[row * chunk_extent[1] + col];
+                         << col + chunk_offset[1] << '|' << 1 << ")\t";
+                    /*
+                     * For hot loops, the std::visit(...) call should be moved
+                     * further up.
+                     */
+                    std::visit(
+                        [row, col, &chunk_extent](auto &shared_ptr) {
+                            cout << shared_ptr
+                                        .get()[row * chunk_extent[1] + col];
+                        },
+                        chunk_data);
+                }
                 cout << std::endl;
             }
         }