Top 5 VR Learning and Development Applications!

Virtual reality is getting popular in the HR world, and learning and development could be a good fit for the technology because VR can sometimes deliver more active work, which could enhance employees’ overall work performance.

Some companies realized that virtual reality better interests learners and allows them to create educational events that would be difficult or unsafe in the actual world. However, certain users’ difficulty when using VR and its relative originality, which results in a shortage of available content, are disadvantages of using VR in L&D.

According to Allan V. Cook, executive director at Deloitte Consulting LLP, immersive learning may be powerful and help people keep what they learn.

Companies may choose to use virtual reality to improve their learning experience.

According to Gartner’s 2021 “Market Strategy for Corporate Learning,” many industries are focusing on this. Gartner is a research and analytics firm based in Stamford, Connecticut.

According to the Gartner research, “organizations keep looking for innovations to enhance the student experience.” “Over the last two years, about 80 percent of the total of all Gartner learning inquiries have mentioned or highlighted the relevance of learner experience.”

Even while it is rising, corporate use of VR for training and development is still modest, according to the Gartner analysis.

The most popular VR applications in L&D

Virtual reality platforms can be used to train new employees and upskill existing ones. Here are some of the most potential VR learning and development application cases.

1. Training at a high level of risk

There are a variety of simulations in which students put others in danger or put themselves in danger while learning new skills. Learning simulations reduce those dangers, which is where VR’s advantages shine. The most well-known case of this VR use case is pilots learning to fly through flight simulators, but there are many more.

According to Tuong H. Nguyen, senior analyst at Gartner, doctors who need to master sophisticated or unique surgeries can endanger others. Medical workers can train in virtual reality without risking real patients. Professional tradesmen can also train in a secure setting using virtual reality. Utility and electrical employees, for example, can utilize virtual reality to learn and practice skills without having to use live electrical cables.

2. Knowledge transfer between institutions

Many companies are fighting how to capture the experience of the baby boomers before they retire.

According to Cook, virtual reality training could help firms capture older workers’ institutional knowledge.

Vr, while not as common in the office in traditional L&D, could aid in another sort of knowledge transfer: educating customers on how to apply a company’s product.

Cook believes that virtual reality will be used to teach people how to remove a freezer component, install a new faucet, or assemble furnishings in a virtual setting rather than through printed instructions or movies.

3. Training in soft skills

Soft skills are becoming a more valuable aspect of a worker’s set of skills, and VR could help in their learning.

Virtual reality may help people to develop and practice soft skills like active listening, conflict resolution, and collaboration since it can mirror real-life settings including facial expressions and body language, according to Nguyen.

4. High-level instruction

Virtual reality also allows for learning for conditions that would be difficult to match in the actual world. Because more authentic training would be extremely costly, astronaut training is a suitable fit for VR training.

Immersive training is a suitable fit if doing the training in the real life is too difficult, too expensive, or too dangerous, according to Cook.

5. Lessons in empathy

By immersing employees in environments they would not otherwise be able to experience, VR has the potential to boost employee empathy. Employees can put themselves in their clients’ shoes, which can help them empathize with those who call with an issue.

One VR software, for example, simulates migraine pain for healthcare workers, including all the visual aura and audio hallucinations associated with the disease, according to Nguyen.

Benefits of VR in Learning and Development

Although virtual reality benefits some firms, several analysts contend that adoption difficulties are limiting wider deployment.

Virtual reality is hard for many people, according to Nguyen. When a person’s brain receives contradictory messages about how far away a virtual 3D item is and how their eyes must focus to perceive that thing, this is known as vergence-accommodation conflict or VAC. It’s a regular VR reaction that feels like motion sickness.

The paucity of data libraries that firms may utilize for training and development, according to Nguyen, is also limiting rapid adoption. If HR departments wish to use virtual reality for training and development, they must often invest in specific content production, as well as the VR technology and other technical challenges, such as functional testing. Many businesses are skipping VR for the time being due to the costs.

Some companies are also concerned about other features of virtual reality.

According to Cook, some businesses are worried about possible data security and privacy risks. Immersive systems collect sensitive information, such as a person’s biometric data.

If businesses want to use virtual reality for learning and development, technology should be just one aspect of a larger strategy.