Insights EDU

Demystifying XR Education and Training for C-Suites

Christopher Gunby | Enterprise Account Manager | VirtualSpeech

19 Aug 2022 | 4 min read

The twelfth episode of our Insights Live series five featured moderator Chris Gunby (AIXR), Lina Srebrova (Digitalnauts), Sophie Thompson (VirtualSpeech) and Tom Houston (Sentireal). How do you demystify XR education and training for c-suites and ensure buy-in? XR education and training has several demonstrated benefits that traditional methods do not.

For many c-suites however, the technology can seem expensive and risky. How do we communicate the benefits that XR can bring to enterprise training in a way that they will understand? In this webinar our expert panel investigated how best to sell the benefits of XR education and training to c-suites to ensure buy-in.

The Key Highlights

Is XR a viable training method?

Lina introduces by talking about the concept of ‘learning by doing’, and the ways in which humans learn by practicing to become more competent. VR can deliver the ability to change behavioural changes alongside acquired skills or knowledge by providing an active learning platform. 

Sophie continues this idea, stating you get to learn through experience on demand. Using the example of public speaking, confidence in utilising skills in the real world can be increased as well. There is acknowledgement of a low financial cost with limited real world risk. Training in VR allows for psychological safety. 

Tom has a similar input, highlighting the advantage VR has of providing psychological and emotional responses to training stimuli. It elicits a cardiovascular response, while the brain adapts to any drawbacks in graphical realism very quickly.

How do you prove the value of XR training? 

Sophie begins by stating that the technology allows for the quantifiable measure of soft skills that are backed with data. This is typically a difficult process without XR. For VirtualSpeech, metrics like eye contact, hesitation, pace, volume and tone can all be measured in VR with an ascribed score. The value of XR training is therefore found in the acquisition of data. 

Tom agrees, with a lot of his experience in persuasion being anecdotal or supported by hard metrics. Tom highlights VR effect studies from Stanford University that point to a knowledge retention increase compared to typical methods of learning. Also, simply providing the experience can usually be enough to see the evident excitement and enthusiasm. 

Lina concurs, mentioning that if a business is interested in experiencing XR, they should visit a location based entertainment setting or use mainstream apps. Lina recommends starting with a game. She describes her own initiation with Ritchie’s Plank Experience as being very impactful. The issue for XR training is that it’s difficult to get corporate demonstrations ‘off the shelf’ – Lina highlights the work of Digitalnauts Holohub to address this. 

The cost of XR training? 

Sophie highlights that in the long term, XR training can be really cost effective. In the first year, hardware costs will be incurred. This can be offset against existing travel costs – for instance, Sophie shares an example of a client that would spend more money on a single flight than on the cost of a headset. Off the shelf training, where available, can also reduce costs that are associated with more pricey bespoke corporate environments. It doesn’t require a super high budget and is is still accessible.

Tom tries to be upfront with clients about the suitability of XR training in projects. Cost typically isn’t the primary driver. The hardware cost isn’t an issue, and while bespoke development costs can be high, it is still financially viable for most organisations.

Tom, like Sophie, discusses case studies from industry in which VR training can replace existing processes in a more financially and environmentally friendly manner. However, there is acknowledgment that the value of XR training could be found in supplementing existing traditional methods that organisations would typically have already invested in.

How to get started in XR training

For Lina, the process should begin with a period of review which builds an understanding of your organisational environment. Depending on this, It might be more applicable to get learning and development involved, or someone from training, or someone from IT. Everyone will have a vested interest, for example, the IT department will have a focus on hardware requirements and privacy. 

Sophie agrees. She states that she would look to deal with learning and development with a view to examining early on what the problem they are looking to solve is, and how XR can fit into that. With so many buzzwords and trends floating around the industry, it is imperative that the organisation is entering the space properly and with the correct expectations. 

Marketing should also be involved. If employees don’t actually enjoy or understand the training being offered, where is the value in offering such a service that could cause more harm than good? Ideally, these questions should be asked at as early a stage as possible to ensure organisations achieve the desired ROI from XR training.   

Our Insights Live Season 5 Highlights series has come to a close. Keep a close eye on our calendar as we approach the announcement of topics for the next season, and take a look at the highlights from all twelve episodes!

About the author:

Chris has spent the last three years working in the immersive industries, initially running membership for AIXR before moving to immersive learning provider VirtualSpeech leading partnerships and enterprise sales.

Prior to this he worked in customer success roles across SaaS and Investment Research. He has a passion for technology, learning and public speaking, and has spoken at several events across Europe on the power of Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence for empowering learning, storytelling, entertainment and sustainability.