As immersive technologies advance, the list of enterprises leveraging virtual reality (VR) solutions to reshape the way they interact with customers, staff, and corporations grows. Business leaders and key decision-makers across various industries recognize how VR can refine customer service, patient experience, communications, and sales methodologies. However, in recent years, organizations are taking advantage of VR’s ability to enhance company learning and development (L&D) strategies as well. With applications ranging from new-hire onboarding to safety training, immersive learning offers teams interactive training experiences proven to be more effective than traditional approaches.
As immersive technologies advance, the list of enterprises leveraging virtual reality (VR) solutions to reshape the way they interact with customers, staff, and corporations grows. Business leaders and key decision-makers across various industries recognize how VR can refine customer service, patient experience, communications, and sales methodologies. However, in recent years, organizations are taking advantage of VR’s ability to augment company learning and development (L&D) strategies as well. With applications ranging from new-hire onboarding to safety training, immersive learning offers teams interactive training experiences proven to be more effective than traditional approaches.
Personalize lessons and drills, enabling trainees to learn at their own pace and repeat exercises as necessary.
Streamlines employee onboarding efforts, ensuring each experience is consistent and reliable.
Enhances knowledge transfer efficiency, helping teams train faster and retain information longer.
Reduces training costs by replacing expensive simulations and equipment with virtual environments and resources.
Presents facilitators with the analytical insights and tracking tools needed to optimize programs and procedures.
Personalizes lessons and drills, enabling trainees to learn at their own pace and repeat exercises as necessary.
Streamlines employee onboarding efforts, ensuring each experience is consistent and reliable.
Enhances knowledge transfer efficiency, helping teams train faster and retain information longer.
Reduces training costs by replacing expensive simulations and equipment with virtual environments and resources.
Presents facilitators with the analytical insights and tracking tools needed to optimize programs and procedures.
Teams complete virtual reality training programs 4x faster than classroom-based training approaches.¹
Staff trained within virtual reality environments are 35% more confident than those trained online.¹
80% retention rate one year after training in VR compared to 20% one week after traditional learning.²
Teams complete virtual reality training programs 4x faster than classroom-based training approaches.¹
Staff trained within virtual reality environments are 35% more confident than those trained online.¹
80% retention rate one year after training in VR compared to 20% one week after traditional learning.²
✓ Deliver actionable feedback and instantly identify areas of improvement throughout personalized training procedures.
✓ Reduce the likelihood of workplace accidents and injuries by adequately preparing teams for any potentially hazardous situations they may encounter.
✓ Minimize training costs by boosting the speed, accuracy, and effectiveness of corporate development strategies.
✓ Instill muscle memory within trainees, aiding the transition from virtual exercises to physical practice.
✓ Motivate and engage staff by providing meaningful experiences and ample opportunities to learn and grow.
✓ Strengthen confidence in employee performance and improve employee retention.
✓ Integrate with existing learning management systems (LMS) to analyze each trainee’s performance and progress.
Because virtual reality is modifiable, immersive learning presents the opportunity to ease employees into their roles, alleviating the stressful transition from preliminary onboarding to job-specific responsibilities. A Crawl-Walk-Run approach to learning and development harnesses this flexibility, tailoring each training experience to match the user’s unique level of expertise. Implementing this three-step method within an organization’s virtual training program ensures that every trainee is confident and prepared to succeed.
Employees are introduced to new procedures in the form of guided experiences. Using prompts, text overlays, and other forms of assistance, trainees familiarize themselves with relevant processes, regulations, and techniques.
Employees are walked through procedures with limited guidance. As they become less reliant on external assistance, staff begin to grow confidence and develop muscle memory.
Employees are challenged to complete procedures without any form of guidance. At this stage, individuals can be evaluated before gaining experience in the physical world. Understanding each user’s strengths and weaknesses gives executives the ability to adequately supplement training programs as needed.
Incorporating virtual reality within a learning strategy begins with the end result; defining the ideal outcome of a training solution enables the efficient development and implementation of a suitable experience. By answering these questions, your organization will have clear expectations and set goals to work towards throughout the process of scaling your virtual reality training program.
Knowing who the end-user is will inform design choices. We consider the person’s needs and motivations to ensure we are talking to them in a way that resonates.
Do you plan on sending headsets to the trainee’s home, or will they come to a facility? Do you want the experience available on multiple platforms – i.e, headset and desktop or headset only? This will help our team identify the hardware to develop for and what types of interactivity are best suited for the environment.
Start with a use case that has a measurable impact. Consider opportunities in areas such as minimizing safety infractions, reducing the cost of resources when training, increasing knowledge retention of abstract concepts, and teaching complex processes that require muscle memory to perform adequately.
Document the top three goals that would make this training simulation a success.
Defining what the key performance indicators are will guide the design of the experience to ensure it accomplishes the goals your team sets forth.
