Immersive learning is now an indispensable part of the corporate training landscape. Its adoption has been dazzling for the past few years, especially within large companies. The urgent need to digitalize the field has pushed them to accelerate this transformation.
In fact, according to a study by Forrester Consulting for Unity “The new way of working is immersive” (see our article on the subject), among companies that have used immersive technologies, the Covid-19 pandemic has triggered or accelerated the implementation of Virtual or Augmented Reality projects, and more than half of these projects concern immersive training. So what are the profound reasons for this success? How does immersive learning play a key role in the competitiveness of companies that implement it on a large scale?
1. THEORY IS NECESSARY, BUT REAL-LIFE SITUATIONS ARE ESSENTIAL
Immersive Learning specifically allows you to move from theory to practice, without any physical constraints. It is about applying concrete training cases thanks to Virtual Reality.
This technology, supported by VR headsets, is all about putting the learner in a situation where they are teleported into an environment as close to the reality as possible and at 360°. The learner must then make decisions and interact with their environment in order to progress through the training module, whether it is a module on safety, quality control, operating procedures or customer relations and soft skills.
These digitized environments allow the learner to feel physically in the field, i.e. their workplace. They can train virtually, repeat gestures, learn new procedures, or practice a pitch.
It is possible to adapt the scenario according to the learner’s choices, which gives an even more realistic and gamified dimension. The learner becomes an actor of their training because they are personally involved and immersed in this first person role.
According to a study by R. Eichinger and M. Lombardo conducted with 200 executives, the development of skills is built as follows: 70% comes from field experience, 20% from social interactions and 10% from theory (academic training).
Franck Gaillard, Academic Director at Alstom, details the modalities of VR that ensure this exceptionally high retention: “The context: […] It has been shown that the closer the learning context is to the real environment, the more likely it is that the person will reproduce what he or she has learned”; “Emotion: with Virtual Reality, we add something that we wouldn’t have in traditional training, which is emotion”; “Action: […]. There is a better anchoring of what is happening. And this possibility to act is not available with classic e-learning or video”.
2. Time saved for the company and its employees
Being able to reproduce a classroom training session virtually frees up time for trainers and managers to focus on higher value-added tasks.
For example, by allowing newcomers to project themselves into their future work environment, they are better prepared and can assimilate their future missions more quickly.
Virtual reality through total immersion, gamification and interactivity, demonstrates better memorization and retention over the long term (see Edgar Dale’s learning pyramid). This reduction is accompanied by a gain in productivity for people trained in good practices and who acquire new skills more quickly.
3. Tangible and measurable saving
Setting up a training system, whether face-to-face, e-learning or immersive learning, has a quantifiable cost (logistics, resources, etc.). By reducing the time spent on training, the travel involved in face-to-face training, and by avoiding machine downtime and the deployment of expensive training equipment, Immersive Learning allows for real savings, especially if it is deployed on a large scale.
VR headsets, as well as cameras to capture the 360° environment, are better quality and more affordable than ever before. Less travel, less equipment needed and more availability of human resources allow this VR modality to be a real competitive solution in the training market.
> Fnac Darty uses Uptale for the field training of its sales representatives and explains that it has divided its logistics costs by 4 compared to face-to-face training.
> The Stellantis production site in Vesoul saved €66,000 in one year by deploying two immersive training courses (quality & safety).
> Thanks to its onboarding module, Alstom explains that an on-site safety training that used to cost €500/person now costs only €16/person.
4. Experience risky situations but safely
Interact during training, yes. And stay safe during these interactions, of course! Since it is a virtual environment, the learner remains in total safety during the training module.
Learners are teleported into risky situations, which they are confronted with, but which often cannot be reproduced in a face-to-face training situation.
The objective is to play on the emotion and to remind the learner of the dangers of the field. Finally, in these scenarios, the learner has the right to make mistakes and is emotionally stimulated to understand the real dangers and their direct impacts.
Here the learner is virtually projected onto the rails (HSE module created with the Uptale tool).
5. Deploying field training has never been easier
Immersive Learning represents the possibility of deploying at scale within large structures or in different units. Classical training, in classrooms or in the field, are becoming more and more disadvantaged because they are logistically less compatible with the current situation (covid, remote working… etc).
Demographically, it has become complex to go to sites to deliver training (travel, machine downtime).
Once the environment is digitized in virtual reality and the interactions are adjusted in the module, the training can be deployed on a large scale on headsets, but also on PC, smartphones, and tablets. Uptale VR modules can be integrated into any LMS and blended learning course.
Example of an Uptale deployment in a company
6. More flexible, large-scale field training
Training managers are required to adapt their modules according to new regulations, processes, product developments, etc. They must be agile, because jobs and procedures are ever-changing. The advantage of a digitalized training course is that it can be modified in real time.
This is the case for a security standard that must be re-learned when it changes. In response, the training is modified and redeployed. There is also an improved ease with Uptale due to the option to translate the modules into several languages with the click of a button.
Discover the best features of the Uptale solution:
Immersive Learning delivers the agility that companies and trainers desperately need. This technology meets the expectations of new large-scale training devices in a shorter period of time and across all geographical areas, national and international.
7. Data-driven field training
A SaaS platform such as Uptale’s makes it possible to create and collect a large amount of data in real time during the visualization of training modules.
Where traditional on-site training is measured based on direct observations and feedback, immersive training allows for more accurate data to be collected and analyzed:
- overall training time;
- time spent per scene;
- answers to the quiz;
- time spent manipulating a 3D object;
- level of attention focused on the right place;
- time to identify security holes in words correctly used or not used with voice
The platform compiles this data directly, with or without a compatible LMS, and displays it in the form of graphs and learning curves. Stored and analyzed data that is secure and complies with current RGPD standards.
Data-driven training that has more impact in tracking learners, globally, grouped or individually (learner by learner). Training modules are analyzed to enable measured and quantified skills acquisition.
Do you have any questions? Schedule an appointment with one of our immersive learning specialists!
