Virtual reality (VR) is one of the most talked about emerging technologies of this decade. It’s making waves because it can transform traditional classroom-style training into immersive and engaging experiences. Whether you’re managing a team, selling products and services, or even training for a qualification exam, VR training can be integral to your success.
This technology has been used successfully in the medical field, education, and business sector as a tool for training. There are several names for it: virtual or mixed reality technology or immersive 3D training technologies.
It is already getting widespread adoption in classrooms and corporate campuses worldwide, but there’s still not much information about how to use this training tool for different purposes.
Today, we’ll look at why you should invest in VR training and how it works. We will also examine how users interact within an immersive training environment and types of VR training.
What is VR Training?
Virtual reality (VR) training is an interactive learning tool that allows users to experience a simulated environment or scenario without physically being there.
A recent report by PWC found that learners were four times faster to train on VR and 3.75 times more emotionally connected to content than in the classroom.
In their survey learners were 275% more confident to apply skills learned after training and four times more focused than their e-learning peers.
Virtual reality has become an important tool in education, as it can help students learn new concepts more efficiently. Students can learn about the different parts of a car or motorcycle by exploring the car themselves within the simulation environment.
Similarly, medical students can experience surgeries through virtual reality simulations in order to practice hands-on procedures.
Can VR Training be Effective?
It has been shown that virtual reality training can be significantly more effective than in-person or online training.
There are many factors that affect the effectiveness of your training, of course. VR training is proving to be beneficial in improving productivity, cost-savings, and knowledge retention, according to early data.
Benefits of VR Training
The benefits of VR training are many, but this is a great place to start. Here are the top 4:
-It’s cost-effective. VR training can be up to 50% less expensive than traditional training methods, and it’s more cost-effective than most other technology solutions as well.
-It’s effective. The immersive nature of this type of training makes it more likely that learners will retain the information they learn.
-It’s flexible. You can use VR training with any kind of content you want, including videos, simulations, games, and more!
-It provides an increased sense of presence in the learning environment. This means that your learners feel like they are really there — in a physical space or virtual environment — when they are learning new skills or practicing existing ones.
Examples of VR Training
- VR Training in Healthcare
- VR Training in Workplace
- VR Training in Education
- VR Training for Soft Skills
- VR Training for Recruitment
- VR Training for Health and Safety
VR Training in Healthcare
Virtual reality is the next great innovation in healthcare. It’s a way to give patients a better experience and improve their lives.
Virtual reality allows for a more immersive experience, allowing doctors and nurses to treat patients in ways that were not possible before.
For example, virtual reality can be used to simulate a patient’s living room or even allow them to walk through their own home.
Patients can also take part in virtual reality programs that show them different scenarios from their own experiences — helping them learn from their mistakes and move forward with confidence.
Virtual patients can also be placed inside medical equipment, allowing doctors to see what it would look like if they were treating a patient with a particular condition. This gives doctors a better understanding of how something works before they actually need to use it on an actual patient.
Virtual reality can also help surgeons learn new techniques through demonstrations, giving them the ability to practice quickly without having to wait in an operating room or hospital bed.
Use Cases:
XR.health, for instance, offers a wide range of solutions for VR medical training to help you master various tasks and processes.
The OssoVR system allows doctors to hone their surgical skills and train using robotic surgery systems.
VR Training in Workplace
Virtual Reality is a type of simulator that creates an immersive experience in the form of computer-generated imagery. The user wears a head-mounted display with a screen that produces images and sounds that simulate a virtual three-dimensional environment.
In the workplace, VR training can be used for practical purposes such as to train employees on how to use new software or systems. It can also be used to train employees on new skills or procedures.
AR (Augmented Reality) is a technology that superimposes digital content on top of the real world through sensors such as cameras or GPS systems. This allows users to interact with digital information while they are still in meatspace, which is why it’s often used by marketers and advertisers.
Use Cases:
Fsstudio.com – Creating a metaverse/digital twin experience for your business is absolutely vital in our digitally connected world to engage with your audience.
VR Training in Education
Virtual Reality Training is becoming more popular because it offers a different way of learning for those who are visual learners. It also provides opportunities to experience things that are not possible in the real world.
VR training can be used in many different ways:
– Teaching skills that are hard to explain in text or video
– Providing a safe environment for students to practice and experiment without risk of injury
– Helping teachers provide a more immersive experience for students
– Giving students access to places they wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to visit.
Use Cases:
Victory XR provides classrooms, 3D VR objects, professional development, and a platform that allows students and teachers to interact in an environment simultaneously (e.g., discussions, questions/answers, collaboration, etc.)
Classvr – Delivering immersive learning with curriculum-aligned VR content for schools.
VR for Soft Skills
Most of us don’t devote enough time to practicing our business skills in order to master them. In VR, employees can practice these skills and learn from their experiences in a safe environment.
It is often considered vital to our working lives to possess skills such as public speaking, sales, negotiation, and networking.
In contrast, they are rarely taught in school, so they are not ingrained in our minds in the same way as facts and figures. Despite this, new hires and employees consistently seek these enterprise skills when seeking jobs.
Using VR training, companies can fill these skills gaps and train their employees in transferrable enterprise skills.
Use Cases:
Bodyswaps.co – award-winning soft skills training platform gives students an opportunity to practice and develop their communication, teamwork, and leadership skills.
VR Training for Recruitment
Virtual reality is a powerful tool for recruitment. It allows you to see how prospective employees would work in your environment and gives you the opportunity to try out their skills without having to make a commitment.
The ability to try out different scenarios and test out different requirements is an important part of any recruitment process. It helps you find the right candidate for your business, who is likely to be able to make an impact from day one.
By using virtual reality as part of your recruitment process, you can:
-Meet candidates face-to-face before making a decision about them.
-Identify areas where candidates are lacking in order to help them improve their performance.
-Make sure that all candidates understand the role they will be taking on and how it will benefit them.
Use Cases:
Jet.com is letting candidates experience its office culture, from wherever they are.
Intuit spent just 10 days creating a VR experience of its culture that students loved.
VR Training for Health and Safety
VR has been used for many years as a way for companies to train their employees on how to use machinery safely. This can be achieved by creating a virtual scenario that allows them to practice in an environment that resembles real-life situations.
If you’re a company that deals with hazardous materials or chemicals then VR could be the perfect tool for you.
By creating a virtual environment that replicates real-world scenarios, your employees can learn how to use equipment safely without ever having to put themselves at risk. This could reduce workplace accidents significantly which will save your business money in the long run!
Use Cases:
Immersive Factory – Implementing immersion learning puts innovation at the forefront of prevention strategy and safety culture to ensure your employees can adapt to new situations.
Does the future of training lie in virtual reality?
Having innovative new training programs is an important part of an organization’s evolution to meet the demands of our changing world.
With advancements in immersive technology, VR and training may offer a unique solution for motivating, training and maintaining your employees’ productivity during those critical times.
A range of measures has shown that VR training reduces training time, saves money, and improves outcomes. At IGIVU, we have VR headsets to transform VR training into a seamless experience, controlled via natural hand gestures that reinforce learning.
