The XR training services firm offered impressive insights during a fireside chat at a global industry summit
The global learning and development (L&D) industry has been fully transformed by multiple factors in recent years, namely due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has presented incalculable challenges to training workforces and furthering education for learners.
XR technologies have presented a growing number of use cases evidencing the benefits and flexibility of immersive learning systems, allowing for the continued development of employees, companies and universities – many who have begun collaborating to tackle skills development concerns amid COVID-19.
Jeremy Kenisky, Chief Technology Officer for XALTER and Stacey Flanagan, XALTER’s Chief Marketing Officer, held talks with Matt Worley, Head of VR Trucking and Rail at Marathon Petroleum at the Industrial XR Forum’s Global Summit in Houston, Texas, to discuss the benefits of using virtual reality (VR) solutions for workforces.
XALTER is the merger of firms Steelehouse Productions and XR Global and develops VR training modules for the public and private sector, including universities, heavy machinery, and the US military. The firm has worked with top organisations and firms such as Marathon Petroleum, the United States Air Force (USAF), and Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology (OSUIT).
Shifts in Learning and Development
Opening the conversation, Kenisky noted three major shifts in the L&D industry, which included the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, changing workforce demographics, and the adoption of digital workers.
The indefinite right to remote working was also “here to stay, whether companies want it or not,” he said, adding companies continued to mull developing rules on remote working schemes for workforces.
He also cited World Economic Forum (WEF) figures revealing only 12 percent of companies planned to return to classroom training post-pandemic.
Explaining further, Kenisky noted further data showing remote work had boosted employee productivity and that large multinational consultancy groups were converting to remote working schemes, namely as younger workforces chose to back such initiatives to save money and increase personal freedom.
According to the WEF figures, he said roughly five percent of the Boomer generation, 50 to 70 percent of millennials, and roughly 25 percent of Generation Z would remain in such positions by 2025.
He explained further, stating Generation Z workforces internalised information much faster and in shorter durations than previous generations, namely by adopting social media, video streaming services, and others to learn in “micro-sessions” and “smaller bites.”
He discussed further, stating,
“So the idea that these people learn things, they watch things, they read Twitter [which is] 120 characters. They watch Snapchat, which is like click, click, click… they click through the videos. So the way they consume information is just different from the way you and I did when we sat in classrooms for two hours [or] made us able to sit in movies for two hours”
But VR and AR tools allowed such learners to connect with training modules, which “provided extra [sensory input] to reading a book or PDF,” helped create memories, and improve retention rates.
Speaking on previous research and talks at Ohio State University (OSU), a key university for mixed reality (MR) programmes and education, he urged employers to redesign training and engagement for younger workforces to “be successful long-term.”
Marathon Petroleum: Use Cases for VR Instruction
Worley, who’s company Marathon Petroleum had previously collaborated with XALTER, created a VR simulation for truck load racks, which allow fuel lorries to refill and transport petrol to stations.
The VR training module would instruct drivers to conduct processes in a specific and effective sequence to avoid downtime from “very expensive” misfuels as well as protect staff from deadly explosions. Marathon would later provide field training to tanker operators to supplement their virtual instruction.
Example of XALTER truck load rack VR trainer exercise. PHOTO: XALTER
Worley described how drivers would use the VR training module to complete “training anywhere, at any time” to boost the efficacy of drivers failing to link trucks to refuelling stations.
He explained further,
“With the VR training, we could take that driver, put them in the headset, and go through the hookup process 10 times in an hour or faster, depending on how they do the process, saving us a lot of time. That was really exciting to see that [the module] was working”
Worley explained that, as the module was Marathon’s first VR project, his company needed greater planning prior to development to benefit future projects such as its training centre in Brecksville, Ohio.
Speaking on initial reactions to the training course, he explained,
“There were people who look at a VR headset, and would say, ‘Nah, it’s not for me,’ but then you put it on them, get them into it, and just watch them change. They’d say, ‘Oh, that was really cool. That’s not what I was expecting’. They were expecting a Lawnmower Man kind of VR experience’ [but found] it was something completely different”
He concluded both younger and older generations readily adopted VR headset use for training and instruction, with the former rapidly using them due to previous experience with video games.
Collaboration with Institutions, Businesses
Flanagan offered numerous insights on developing education platforms, where she explained her firm aimed to build “the workforce pipeline for the future.”
Discussing her work with OSUIT’s XR Integrated Curricula, she said it was crucial to work with institutions and companies to procure graduates for future employees, stating,
“We really want to partner with companies to develop curriculum that can not only be used for your current workforce – but if there’s no intellectual property or anything like that aligned [but rather] a need in this specific industry [for] oil and gas [workers] – that can help all companies because it’s a safety need or a training need. Then we also use that XR curriculum for the future workforce pipeline and on campus”
Such efforts made “the campus relevant,” allowing firms to recruit students from OSU by broadening the reach for universities and companies to hire future employees. VR training modules could also expand across numerous disciplines to incorporate even greater numbers of learners into programmes.
Speaking on partnering with additional institutions, the XALTER representative said her company would hold demos for those interested in VR training, stating
“We can talk about what your needs are, and [consider] financial commitment, of course, as we’re always looking to bring resources to the university to help the students succeed”
Corporate funding for programmes could come from training budgets, donations, and marketing to boost brand visibility and rapidly deploy and upskill workforces with virtual lab training, which was “a great example of a public-private partnership where it benefits both parties,” she concluded.
The Industrial XR Forum’s Global Summit took place from 27 to 28 October and featured numerous speakers across sectors in the XR market, solution providers, and software developers for XR firms.
Attendees included representatives from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), XALTER, Taqtile, Varjo, Motive.io, Siemens, Chevron, the USAF, and many others.
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