A constellation of new features and accessories is helping XR training content grow more exceptional in 2024. As industry innovations continue to enhance experiential learning, 93% of executives agree that emerging technologies are helping build trust with stakeholders. With the goal of keeping learners engaged, it’s essential to know what interactions, features, and accessories belong in your XR training content and how incorporating more of what’s proven to work well in VR can help optimize learning outcomes in your organization. Let’s review what belongs in your XR training program.
What Belongs In Your XR Training Content
Virtual reality training is intended to be an active experience. When implementing VR as a corporate training solution, the stakes might feel high in delivering an outstanding experience. Most VR projects that fail have included content that doesn’t belong in XR training. Successful XR training content ties learning objectives with specific interactions to keep training an active learning experience. Let’s explore what belongs in your XR training content:
Haptic Feedback
Haptic feedback complements the VR experience by making it more immersive with lifelike touch. From basic vibrations received by controllers to HaptX gloves that allow learners to interact with objects, haptic technology creates tactile and dynamic force feedback, adding an important layer of realism to help build muscle memory. So, why does haptic feedback belong in your XR training content?
Perfect for hands-on processes, haptic feedback gloves have been optimized for enterprise collaboration. With an emphasis on tactile actions in VR training, haptic devices accelerate skill acquisition by improving hands-on processes. Imagine limiting learners to using point-click during fire safety training. Now, reimagine fire safety training with haptic feedback accessories, where learners can respond to temperature cues and experience force feedback as they utilize a 3D fire extinguisher. WeArt gloves even simulate the natural sensation of touching a hot door handle, illustrating the reality of such a high-risk situation. Fire safety trainingis just one use case where WeArt accessories present new opportunities in haptic feedback with temperature cues to help reinforce safety standards!
One of the best ways to tailor your training to your organization is to replicate the exact equipment learners will use on the job. From Point of Sale (POS) systems to scanners, showcasing what your systems look like instead of a generic representation adds a personal touch to the learning experience.
Organizations can also save time and money by replicating equipment in an immersive learning experience. Rather than borrowing actual equipment from the floor, 3D models allow learners to familiarize themselves with the right equipment without risking damage.
By faithfully recreating the equipment learners interact with on the job, XR training effectively improves employee confidence and proficiency.
Visual effects are the core of immersive learning. To make VR feel real – it needs to look real. This credibility factor is linked to the goal of true immersion. Much like VR gaming experiences, the quality of visual effects profoundly impacts user engagement for enterprise use cases of VR. By pushing the boundaries of visual effects in simulated environments, the digital world becomes less artificial and more believable. From immersive interactions to traversing various landscapes and environments, visual effects take visual learning to a new level.
Intuitive Learning
Don’t slow down the learning process! Intuitive interactions help learners keep pace during training, saving organizations time and money. Instead of explicit instruction for every interaction, intuitive learning designs give learners more agency within their training program. In VR, it’s wise to avoid wasting valuable instruction time with static content. Ultimately, this means removing heavy text, excessive voiceovers/narration, or legal information to benefit the user experience.
When learners intuitively interact with objects in a VR application, they are more likely to have a seamless experience that keeps them engaged. Intuitive and natural interactions can be achieved with thoughtful design that guides learners to the right actions. For example, an intuitive learning feature may include highlighting the corners of a 3D object that needs to be lifted correctly. Skip unnecessary narration, and make each step in your training intuitive!
Gamification
Ask any industry thought leader, and they’ll tell you that gamification belongs in your XR training program! Gamified VR content takes learner engagement to the next level by leveraging point systems, leaderboards, and rewards to motivate learners to compete for top-ranking scores. By incorporating a fun and competitive edge to training, your organization can strengthen company culture while making a substantial learning impact.
Using gamification for learning reinforcement is an effective strategy for organizations that want their training content to stick. As learners aim for their personal best, they can complete tasks against a time limit while practicing role-specific interactions. Best of all – gamification keeps VR an active experience. So long as it’s applied with a solid learning foundation, incorporating gamification in your XR training program is a worthwhile investment.
Spatial Audio and Sound Effects
Sound effects help shape immersive experiences to invoke realism, guide learners with audio cues, and improve situational awareness. In short, sound effects are another way of bringing immersive training to life.
When someone honks their horn in real-world traffic, your attention immediately redirects to the direction of the sound. This same level of awareness should be cultivated in VR training experiences. Spatial audio emulates the origin of sound, from direction to distance. With the help of audio filters, learners can hear sounds that grow louder in the distance, respond to sounds on the left or right channels of their headsets, and practice performing tasks in a realistic environment. Who knew sound design could be so crucial to a learning experience?
Ultimately, spatial sounds help illustrate realistic job previews for employees. In synthesizing audio effects with application visuals, the most effective sound designs iterate spatial audio when it is the most relevant to the training experience. For example, when audio plays in conjunction with haptic feedback to signal danger, multi-sensory experiences set VR apart from traditional safety training. Sound and haptic integration are complementary features that make VR more seamless. By creating a realistic soundscape in a VR experience, spatial audio impacts the level of immersion but also keeps learners alert. With all of the turnover in the warehouse industry, it has become even more important for learners to traverse a virtual warehouse with forklifts, overhead voices, fans, and beeping to demonstrate their ability to cross a busy aisle safely.
Sound effects can signify positive or negative reinforcement associated with user actions. These sound effects are efficient when they signal danger during VR safety training. They can also be delightful, corresponding to completing an action or performing an interaction correctly. It’s all in the small details because with the right sound effects, utilizing a 3D pressure washer in VR makes for an even more satisfying experience!!
Performance Metrics
Performance metrics belong in your XR training. Determining which data points and analytics to track helps pinpoint skill gaps during training. For example, in an immersive driving simulation designed to train drivers to deliver packages safely, VR programs can track how many times a driver skipped a step or made an error. In a module dedicated to mitigating overhead obstructions, the program’s thoughtful design included several road signs indicating to learners that a bridge is ahead and the height of the bridge. If learners hit an overhead during the virtual training, performance metrics help illustrate where learners were less aware of their environments and paying attention to their surroundings.
Virtual reality is an exceptional learning tool for practicing hands-on processes and building muscle memory. Experiential learning impacts how learners perform in the real world by creating a learning flow filled with action-based tasks. XR training data can highlight to trainers where their current training process has left skill deficits. Full-session playbacks show instructors where and why learners failed and help inform learning reinforcement strategies. This data-driven approach allows organizations to measure the effectiveness of their training programs with meaningful feedback and results. The more options you give learners, the more significant potential data you can collect to optimize your training program.
Get to know your workforce and learn their habits using performance metrics to get an accurate pulse check on learning. From onboarding to technical skills training, your training should highlight the inconsistencies that impact your organization the most. From there, your organization has the advantage of reinforcing the right behaviors. For example, if learners choose the wrong option 25% of the time, instructors can spend additional time working 1:1 with learners to reduce errors.
3 Tips For What Interactions Work In VR Training
The mark of a successful VR program is one that activates learner senses. Spatial Audio, personalized 3D models and visual effects, gamification, and haptic feedback contribute to three concrete goals: immersion, intuitive learning, and reinforcement.
Now that you understand the scope of what belongs in your XR training and what takes to build an effective immersive learning experience, let’s review what interactions can showcase the power of immersive technology. Let the note-taking begin!
1. Learning-Centric
Interactions in VR should be tied to specific learning objectives. With a labor market shift in hiring for skill-based roles, immersive learning onboards and upskills employees 4x faster than traditional modalities. Blended learning approaches enhance your training by catering to different learning styles, and tying skill objectives to experiential learning scenarios.
2. Action-Based
With an emphasis on body ergonomics, action-based interactions that physically engage learners are more likely to help your employees see in real time the benefits of experiential learning. From safe lifting practices to PPE training, action-based interactions connect learners with the reality of their roles.
3. Tactile
In VR, interactions should be tactile. Tactile safety training helps reduce risks and injury in your organization by putting learners in specific scenarios that help learners develop the right skills in a safe learning environment. Haptic feedback is making tactile interactions even more immersive!
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