How can your organization determine if virtual reality (VR) is the right solution for your training needs? We’re here to help you find out.
Here are the top 6 questions your organization should ask to determine if virtual reality training is the right solution for your training needs:
- How much time do you have to develop your training and what is your budget?
- How familiar are your employees with virtual reality technology?
- Are organizations within your industry adopting virtual reality training?
- Is your training topic well-suited for virtual reality?
- What success metrics are you planning to measure?
- What existing training content can you incorporate with virtual reality?
Did you know that learners are significantly less distracted with virtual reality (VR) training? In one study, VR-trained learners were up to 4x more focused than their peers who completed eLearning.
While this just scratches the surface of the benefits of VR training, it’s important to know that this technology may not be the best option for every training program. How can your organization decide if VR training is the right fit for you?
In this article, we’ll go over 6 questions your organization should ask to determine if virtual reality is the right fit for your training needs.
6 Questions To Ask To Determine If Virtual Reality Training Is The Right Fit For You
1. How much time do you have to develop your training and what is your budget?
When considering whether or not VR training is right for your organization, you should reflect on how much time you have for your training, as well as your budget.
Whether you develop in-house or outsource, your organization needs to discuss the following aspects of VR training with the VR project and development team:
- Development time – The average development time for a VR training program is 8-10 weeks or more, but some projects can be completed in as quick as 4 weeks or as long as 6 months or more.
- Cost – Depending on the technology, VR training can cost as low as $20,000 to $150,000 or more. While this cost may be higher compared to traditional training modalities, organizations can mitigate costs in several ways.
Read More: 5 Steps To Choose The Best Augmented And Virtual Reality Training Partner
2. How familiar are your employees with virtual reality technology?
Not every employee is familiar with VR technology and may be experiencing it for the first time. While they may not know how to operate a VR headset, you shouldn’t let this deter you from using VR for training.
To support your first-time VR users, your organization could complete the following steps:
- Schedule a tutorial – By scheduling a time to demo VR equipment, learners who aren’t experienced with VR can get a feel for the headset and controllers.
- Create a VR guide – A VR guide can be an ongoing support resource for employees not familiar with VR technology. This guide contains information about turning the headset on and off, operating the controllers, and navigating their activity.
- Provide ongoing support – Throughout your VR training’s lifespan, your organization should appoint technology experts to answer questions and help troubleshoot problems.
With the proper support, your employees can quickly get used to VR technology and complete their training scenarios without any hassle.
3. Are organizations within your industry adopting virtual reality training?
While VR is a good solution for training across different industries, we’ve seen it be the most beneficial in the following spaces:
- Manufacturing
- Retail
- Transportation
Within these industries, VR elevates traditional training programs by providing learners with hands-on, interactive activities.
For example, traditional manufacturing training involves job shadowing where a new hire follows around an experienced employee. With VR, organizations in manufacturing can scale a similar activity across their organization that allows learners to complete technical tasks on their own.
Check out Scott Stachiw, Roundtable Learning’s Director of Immersive Learning, as he discusses the ways VR is transforming the manufacturing space on Manufacturing Talk Radio.
4. Is your training topic well-suited for virtual reality?
When considering a VR training program at your organization, you should know what training topics you’re planning to cover and ensure they align with VR’s capabilities. Ultimately, VR training can cover any training topic, but it’s best suited for more technical tasks. For more foundational topics (e.g. software navigation and cybersecurity), we suggest eLearning or Instructor-Led Training (ILT).
From technical training to soft skills development, VR activities allow learners to complete hands-on tasks and feel as though they’re actually experiencing these tasks in real life. From a safety standpoint, VR eliminates any real-world risks and allows learners to learn from their mistakes.
For example, if your organization is looking to implement a new safety training program, VR is an effective solution to simulate emergency situations (e.g. equipment malfunctions, fire emergencies, workplace violence, etc.). We suggest completing a pilot activity to test out VR technology and ensure your training topic is a good fit for VR.
5. What success metrics are you planning to measure?
As with any new training program, you’ll want to ensure you set your metrics early on. Metrics should be set in accordance with your training needs, more specifically on the performance gaps your organization is looking to close.
If your success metrics are based on choice selection assessments and completion rates, you may not need to invest in VR. If you’re looking to track more in-depth metrics, then VR may be a great option to provide valuable insight into learner engagement, movement within the activity, and more.
VR training allows organizations to track a variety of in-depth metrics, including:
- Voice recording and recognition
- Eye-tracking
- Body movements
- Progress, Attempts, and Replays
With an Extended Reality System (XRS), organizations can more precisely track metrics and determine whether or not performance gaps in their employees are being closed. Additionally, metrics allow organizations to show the positive value of VR training to management.
Read More: How To Use VR Training Metrics To Measure Success
6. What existing training content can you incorporate with virtual reality?
A major benefit to VR training is that your organization doesn’t need to completely abandon your existing training materials. Instead, we encourage organizations to utilize training materials that they already have and use them as part of their new VR activity.
For example, your organization can take existing materials (e.g. eLearning modules, participant guides, slides) and incorporate them into the VR activity as pre- and post-work activities. These materials serve as learning reinforcement tools that support the main VR activity.
Is Virtual Reality The Right Solution For Your Training Program?
This article has reviewed 6 questions that your organization should ask to determine if VR is the right solution for your corporate training. After reading this article, we hope your organization feels more confident moving forward with the prospect of implementing VR training for your learners.
Looking to speak to a VR expert? Reach out to our team today to schedule a meeting, demo, or on-site visit to our VR lounge where you can explore all that VR has to offer.
