DIY VR Is Now A Reality
Virtual, alternative and augmented immersive reality (XR) has been promised as “the next big thing” since at least 1935, and the external design for head-mounted displays hasn’t changed much since 1960.
Learning leaders recognise the power of immersive experiences but have rarely been able to justify the investment that XR used to require.
Uptake of immersive learning has been held back by the costs of 3D environment production, a fragmented technology landscape and limited access to equipment and content, which were often not compatible with each other.
In the past year these issues have been addressed and mid to large sized organisations can now, realistically, afford to start experimenting with XR
The 3 biggest hurdles to deploying XR are now overcome:
- Simplicity of XR Creation: You no longer have to budget over $50k for XR technicians, low or no-code tech is readily available. For instance, ARuVR have launched a DiY virtual environment creator facility. Simple and user friendly, with templates. It’s no more difficult to use than Powerpoint, but powerful enough to enable you to develop tailored XR environments. This includes the ability to import your in-house CAD depictions of your buildings or products.
- Simplicity of XR Access: Immerse.io have created a platform to enable storage and access to libraries of XR content as well as the ability to create (in your own SDK space), store and share your own content. With over 120 XR courses already available in a library that can be accessed via all the common headsets and learning content systems, your learners can immediately experience a wide range of generic XR courses, ranging from safety and first aid to sales to soft skills.
- Headset and Equipment Availability: Until now, the logistics of equipping learners with VR headsets has been a major impediment to the uptake of the technology. It won’t be long before headsets are in most homes now that omnipresent companies like Apple and Meta are pushing headsets. In the meantime, XR companies (including ARuVR and Immersive.io) offer low cost VR start up kits and can supply good quality, compatible equipment.
The XR industry is painfully aware that headsets have been a stumbling block for the penetration of the medium and have addressed all the common objections. ARuVR even supply wall mounted UV headset sanitisers to clean headsets between users.
XR is no longer a Sci-fi dream or unaffordable. If you aren’t already using it for your learning or induction programmes, you are falling behind.
Isn’t VR New
Virtual Reality (VR) was initially an art concept,…
by 1935 it was sci-fi,...
then a sensory gimmick,…….
then an early adopter toy,…
then an expensive innovation for training,...
then an essential immersion in dangerous and remote environments,...
then an AR head-up display for military use,
then a way to maximise the impact of experts’ time,
then a mass market development, a brand building initiative, a mainstream grad recruitment & onboarding tool, a commercial metaverse, exhibition space, corporate convention, AI avatar populated showroom, merged space for AI and human interactions — and it will soon be a part of everyday working life that HR will define and coordinate.
How is XR being used in HR and Learning?
XR technology and the development market have now reached a pivot point. There are $Billions being invested and development costs and logistics related to hardware are the only things holding the tide back; both of those barriers are dropping fast.
The virtual environment is already a source of major HR investment and activity, with applications throughout the employee lifecycle:
· Recruitment in the metaverse (HR Magazine)
· Soft Skills and Wellbeing Training in VR,
· 3D avatars collaboration and immersive meetings (via The Verge)
· 2022 Guide to Hosting a Virtual Conference
As hardware prices come down, standards become aligned and integrating platforms are developed to enable access to multiple sources of XR Learning Content and are integrated into LXPs, HR leaders need to be considering augmenting their HR technology ecosystem to accommodate XR including:
a. integration of the metaverse with HR processes;
b. AR work task enablement / training; and
c. supporting multiple channels for inter-employee communication.
It is highly likely that the next 24 months will see HR leaders revising their of XR as it becomes a mainstream business and consumer communication tool.
- How is your HR team going to drive the agenda?
- How is your Learning team integrating XR with other media and the workflow?
- Are you retraining learning content designers?
