If you are deciding whether to adopt VR systems for your training program, statistics show that a silent wave of the VR revolution is sweeping across companies worldwide.

Several organisations are exploring the untapped potential of VR in corporate training, and before you know it, using VR for training is going to be the norm.

People generally associate VR with computer games, mainly because the initial growth of VR happened through it. However, studies have indicated a rapid surge in the use of VR technology for workspace training.

Virtual reality training in the workplace

One of the best-proven methods to impart a new skill is through practical experience. This means a unique combination of absorbing the instructions and implementing what is required.

VR training acts as a catalyst to create a memorable learning experience that positively impacts memory retention and skill improvement. 

The main difference between regular classroom training and VR training workshops is that in VR training, trainees learn specific tasks by repetitively doing them, which further helps speed up the learning process.

Several studies have given substantial evidence that learning through practical experience is the best way to learn a new workplace skill.

Read more on how virtual reality job training helps in skill development in a corporation. 

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Virtual reality training methods

The VR technology developed and used these days can be broadly classified into three categories. This includes non-immersive, semi-immersive and fully immersive virtual realities.

Let us understand each in detail.

1. Non-immersive virtual reality training

Many of you are probably using non-immersive VR unaware. This technology helps to provide a computer-generated world, but users can control the environment and are aware of their surroundings.

One of the most common examples of non-immersive virtual reality is computer games or a video game console, display monitor and input devices such as controller, keyboard and mouse.

In recent years, non-immersive VR technology has become more advanced where the system can detect motion and translate it to the monitor.

2. Semi-immersive virtual reality training

With this technology, users can feel the perception of being in a different reality when they focus on the digital image, but at the same time help to remain connected with their physical surroundings. Sometimes physical environments are created to supplement this type of virtual reality.

Semi-immersive virtual reality is commonly used for training or educational purposes and relies on HD displays, powerful computers and powerful projectors. This technology mainly includes 3D graphics displayed on a LED screen or projector.

This technology can partially replicate the functionality of real-world mechanisms.

3. Fully immersive virtual reality training

This type of VR is rightly termed as the complete type of VR, giving the users a fully immersive experience with sound and light effects.

To experience the full effect of fully immersive VR, the user needs to wear proper hardware equipment such as an (HMD) head-mounted display or VR glasses.

The headsets used for VR display create a stereoscopic 3D effect, merging the input to fabricate a believable experience.

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Photo by James Yarema on Unsplash

How to use VR for employee training?

Although employee training is an inevitable part of every business and comes with a bucket load of benefits, the flip side is that it costs a company a lot of money, effort and time.

For hands-on training, expert assistance is needed that takes time out of their working days. In some other cases, employees have to watch an instructional video or even worse; they will have to read huge manuals about the tasks they need to perform.

Instead, VR training places the trainees in a simulation hands-on learning environment.

Custom VR training helps simulate any world that you could imagine, allowing your trainees to experience real-life scenarios without facing real-world risk. In addition, it also allows participants to develop a shared experience with remote teams.

Here are some of the ways by which VR can be used for employee training.

  • Simulations – Aviation, military and law enforcement are great examples of simulation training. Here the trainee could work on reactions in hazardous environments without actually being in danger.
  • Onboarding – Introduce new employees to various business areas. This could also include showing them the floor on which they have to work, workshops, the process,  or their training room.
  • Technical skills – Effectively train new employees to assemble products and complicated machinery. Prompt them to walk around in a controlled virtual environment, pick up virtual objects and parts using handheld controllers etc.
  • Scenario-based learning – Helps to create a realistic sense of a challenging situation and teach employees to make critical decisions.
  • Multi-step task – Helps the trainee to repair or troubleshoot products by guiding them step by step.
  • Perform repetitive tasks – Just like the old saying; practise makes perfect, workers can sharpen their skills by repeatedly performing a particular task in a controlled virtual environment without worrying about real-world consequences.

Bottom Line

There is no doubt that investment in VR training systems offers long term benefits. Big and small businesses have already started leveraging VR as an effective tool for various training purposes.

From leadership development, future talent development, hiring and onboarding, soft skill development to training for life-threatening situations, VR offers an entirely safe and effective learning environment for the employees.

Using VR for corporate training will be vital to mass consumer adoption as more people accept its benefits.

Call us at Growth Academy Asia for all your virtual reality-based queries. 

The article is a part of our comprehensive series on “Virtual Reality”