Key Points
- 360º Virtual Reality utilizes video footage from omnidirectional cameras to create immersive environments accessible via headsets, desktops, or mobile devices.
- Users in a 360º VR experience remain in a fixed location but can navigate branched learning scenarios using interactive hotspots and buttons.
- Common 360º Virtual Reality corporate applications include soft skills development, hazard simulations for high-risk industries, and virtual employee onboarding tours.
- The average cost for a custom 360º VR training program ranges between $30,000 and $75,000 depending on scope and interactivity.
Table of Contents
What is 360º Virtual Reality?
360º video is a version of virtual reality that uses an environment made of a recorded video shot with an omnidirectional camera, providing a 360° view. The VR experience can be accessed through VR headsets, desktop, or mobile devices.
Users are fixed to a location and have the ability to look around them in all directions to view the video. Scenarios and branched learning can be built into the 360º VR training where selections can be made with hotspots and interactive buttons.
How to Use 360º Virtual Reality in Training?
Virtual Reality has become an increasingly valuable tool in learning and development, allowing your education to extend beyond an eLearning course or classroom setting. In a report by eMarketer, it’s estimated that 42.9 million people will use VR at least once per month.
VR simulates any world you can imagine, enabling your learners to encounter true-to-life scenarios without facing real-world risk. You can develop a shared experience for your remote team, let learners interact with virtual scenes and hazards, and provide a safe space to practice technical and hands-on work.
Examples of 360º VR Corporate Training uses
- Scenario-Based Learning – Refine soft skills with a first-person perspective of real-life customer situations. Create a realistic sense of a tense situation and learn how to make critical decisions.
- Multi-Step Tasks – Work through troubleshooting products and repair equipment by outlining the steps and guiding the student to work through the problem step by step.
- Onboarding – Introduce new employees by showing them the ins and outs of the business, shop floor, process, and more from their own training room.
- Simulations – Military, aviation, and law enforcement are great examples of simulation-based training where you can work on reactions in hazardous situations without actually being in danger.
How Much Does 360º Virtual Reality Training Cost?
When an organization wants to jump into a 360º virtual reality training program design, you can expect to pay, on average, between $30,000 and $75,000.
Now let’s break down the factors that affect the price of your program.
- Instructional Design and Programming – Depending on the level of the instructional designer and programmer expertise, it can cost between $150 and $300 an hour to design and program 360º VR content. The level of user activity, number of interactions, types of interactions, and the virtual setting all affect the number of hours needed.
- Filming – When you are creating a 360º VR training, the video production, actors, travel and other costs to film on location can cost between $8,000 and $12,000 a day — with most production taking only one or two days.
- VR Headsets – You can expect to pay your vendor the cost of the headset ($500 – $1,200) plus a setup and shipping fee ($150 – $200 per headset). Working with a vendor will help you get a better deal and ensure that your headsets work properly on arrival.
- Extended Reality System – With any management system, your price will depend on your number of licenses, in this case, one license per headset. You can expect to pay between $10 – $20 monthly per license plus a baseline fee for an XRS portal.
Want more information about the cost of 360º VR? Cost of Virtual Reality Training: 360º VR
FAQ
360º Virtual Reality – What is it?
360º Virtual Reality is an immersive media format that uses recorded video from an omnidirectional camera to create a 360-degree view users can explore. Unlike computer-generated VR, users are stationed in a fixed location but can look around and interact with specific elements within the real-world footage.
How is 360º VR used in corporate training?
Organizations use 360º VR for scenario-based learning, such as refining soft skills through realistic customer interactions or guiding employees through multi-step equipment troubleshooting.
How much does a 360º VR training program cost?
A typical 360º VR training program costs between $30,000 and $75,000, though this varies based on project complexity.
What equipment is needed for 360º VR training?
To deploy 360º VR training, organizations need VR headsets (or mobile/desktop devices for access), an Extended Reality System (XRS) for content management, and the original video content captured via omnidirectional cameras.
