In a world where practice makes perfect, immersive technologies like virtual reality (VR) have transported employee training into a new realm of hands-on learning. That’s my conclusion after talking with Tom Symonds, CEO of Immerse, a startup that incorporates VR, AR (augmented reality) and 3D technologies into interactive employee experiences that replicate real world situations.
“Employees love VR-based training because it’s a far more engaging and interactive experience than looking at slides or watching a video,” said Symonds. “They can practice on their own, or with a trainer and colleagues, making for a much richer, hands-on experience.”
Employees at a global pharmaceutical company that used VR-based training learned a new manufacturing process 56% faster compared to traditional methods. An international transportation and logistics provider recreates real-life warehouse conditions on the Immerse platform to train employees in optimal container stacking procedures. A global mining company consolidated existing training content onto the Immerse platform, integrating the data into the company’s learning management system for tracking and recordkeeping. Immerse also has customers in the energy, healthcare, and manufacturing industries.
“Our vision is to be the leading immersive ecosystem for enterprises,” said Symonds. “The brilliance of VR as a training tool is that you’re totally focused on the task at hand. Being immersed completely in the moment speeds up knowledge retention and muscle memory because you learn by doing. When people reach competency faster, that frees up everyone for greater productivity.
VR delivers low risk, high reward training
VR-based training modules overlay someone’s existing reality with digital information or objects that reflect the actual experience. After identifying targeted processes for training and expected results, the Immerse team builds and iterates 3D models and interactivity for replication with uncanny detail. The technology captures 40 data points per second, allowing companies to be precise about trainee movements.
“Instead of binary pass/fail information, companies can pinpoint exactly when and where someone takes too long or too little time to complete the task – both situations impact productivity and quality,” said Symonds. “If I put 100 people through a training assessment and notice everyone makes a mistake at let’s say step 25, then there’s probably an issue with step 25. We might need to reconfigure that process, or maybe the instructions are wrong. The data allows the company to quickly take remediation steps for those key moments.”
Business value from mixed reality
Once built, employees can use VR-based training sessions to practice and reinforce learnings over time for ongoing preparedness. For example, a health and safety module for oil refinery workers could replicate a fire or other hazardous situations that trainees need to manage appropriately. Training healthcare providers in using advanced medical equipment is another scenario where VR-based learning works well, providing people with almost hands-on learning minus machine down time or patient risk. The same applies to industrial manufacturing workers who might need to be trained quickly in sync with fluctuating market demands.
“With VR we can create a training experience as close to the real thing as possible, allowing someone to learn faster with less time wasted. They can fail safely and keep practicing until they get it right,” said Symonds. “There’s a lot more business value locked into this platform than traditional classroom and online learning. With 3D, you can’t fake it as you go through the process; trainers can see immediately whether you’re performing the tasks correctly or not.”
VR injects the fun of interactive gaming
Symonds began thinking about how immersive technology could improve learning about 10 years ago following a career that focused on digital transformation in the corporate and media sectors. Once consumer VR headsets arrived, he was off and running as an entrepreneur at the helm of Immerse.
“Multiplayer online gaming drives incredible levels of engagement and attention, and I wanted to bring that experience to enterprise learning,” he said. “I realized the 20-year old classroom plus e-learning space was ripe for disruption, and new technologies like VR were perfect for driving a more engaged learner.
Future of employee training with SAP.iO
Immerse was part of the future of work cohort of SAP.iO Foundry San Francisco, the company’s global B2B accelerator. Symonds said that he valued the market insights he gained from SAP experts that helped his company hone pricing and positioning. Immerse is listed on SAP Store, and integrated with the SAP SuccessFactors Human Experience Management (HXM) suite.
Looking ahead, Symonds wants to expand the company’s VR-based trainings from its origins in health and safety and technical skill-building to people skills, including D&I, communications, and more.
“Softer skills are typically taught through role play, and VR allows you to practice that over and over much more easily,” he said. “Our recently launched Marketplace, which has this kind of off-the-shelf content, is the next logical evolution of VR-based training in the workplace.”
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Immersive technologies like augmented and virtual reality are among the most innovative employee learning tools to emerge in the post-pandemic workplace for faster and more effective digital training experiences.
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