Immersive Training: What Is It and Why Does It Work?

In today's fast-paced world, where technology is constantly evolving, traditional training methods may fall short in keeping up with modern learners' demands. This is where immersive training, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR), comes into play. By creating an engaging and interactive learning environment, immersive training offers a transformative learning experience that goes beyond traditional approaches.

In this blog post, we will explore what immersive training is, how it works, and why it is gaining popularity among organizations and learners alike.

‍

What is Immersive Training:

Immersive training refers to a learning methodology that aims to provide a realistic and experiential environment for learners. It leverages emerging technologies such as VR, AR, and MR to create a highly engaging and interactive learning experience. Immersive training allows learners to actively participate, explore, and make decisions within a simulated environment, facilitating better retention and application of knowledge.

‍

The Key Components of Immersive Training:

Virtual Reality (VR)

VR technology enables learners to immerse themselves in simulations of real-world scenarios. By wearing a VR headset, learners can interact with the virtual environment, enhancing their understanding and practical skills.

Augmented Reality (AR)

AR overlays digital information onto the real world, creating an augmented view. AR-based immersive training enhances the learning experience by providing contextual information, step-by-step guidance, and interactive elements, making it ideal for on-the-job training and skill development.

Mixed Reality (MR)

MR combines virtual and real-world elements, allowing learners to interact with and manipulate virtual objects in the real world. MR-based immersive training offers a seamless integration of digital content into the learner's physical environment, enabling realistic simulations and practical learning experiences.

Gamification

Gamified elements, such as leaderboards, badges, and rewards, are integrated into immersive training to motivate learners and make the learning process enjoyable. By introducing competition and challenge, gamification enhances engagement and knowledge retention.

‍

The Main Benefits of Immersive Training

‍Increasing safety and reducing costs

Immersive training can simulate dangerous or complex situations that are hard to reproduce in real life, without risking the health of the workers or damaging the equipment. For example, an experiment by Airbus Group Innovations showed that immersive mixed reality can be used to train workers on the manufacturing procedure of an aircraft maintenance door.

Improving retention and performance

Immersive training can engage learners more effectively and help them memorize professional motions and decision-making skills through kinesthetic work and feedback. According to Deloitte Insights, AR training yields a 75% learning retention rate, higher than almost any other form of training. Another study showed that AR results in greater knowledge transfer and more than doubles learning outcomes.

Enhancing collaboration and communication

Immersive training can enable trainers and trainees to interact with each other in a virtual environment, regardless of their physical location. This can foster teamwork, problem-solving, and social skills among the learners.

Personalized Learning

Immersive training can be customized to individual learners' needs, allowing them to learn at their own pace. Adaptive technology tracks learners' progress, identifies areas for improvement, and provides targeted feedback, optimizing the learning experience.

‍

Top Industries with Proven Track Record Using Immersive Training

Manufacturing and Industrial Training

Immersive training allows employees to learn about equipment operation, safety protocols, and complex processes in a virtual environment. It reduces the risk of accidents and facilitates skill development in areas such as assembly line operations, equipment maintenance, and hazardous material handling.

An immersive training approach coupled with IoT can help managers gain real-time insights into the equipment's state and experience maintenance processes live.

It can also speed up processes when AR is implemented for checklists and in-person trainings within facilities. Bosch used AR to guide workers on how to correctly attach a hydraulic hose to a tractor. The AR training reduced errors by 75% and increased productivity by 15%.

Defense and Military

Immersive training plays a crucial role in military simulations, battlefield scenarios, and tactical training. It enables soldiers to practice mission-critical tasks, decision-making, and team coordination in realistic environments, preparing them for real-life combat situations. The US Military announced having spent $22 billion on mixed reality goggles for its troops, operational by the end of 2023.

Retail and Customer Service

‍

Immersive training can be used to train retail employees in areas such as customer interactions, sales techniques, and store operations. It allows employees to practice handling customer inquiries, resolving issues, and understanding product knowledge in a realistic retail environment.

Education and e-Learning:

Immersive training is increasingly being adopted in educational institutions and e-learning platforms to provide interactive and engaging learning experiences. It enables students to explore historical sites, perform virtual experiments, and engage in immersive language learning.

‍

Leading solutions for Immersive Training:

Matterport

‍Matterport scanning technology allows you to create a virtual model of any physical space, therefore employees can explore different manufacturing facilities and learn about different processes without leaving their desks.

Unity

‍Unity can be used for immersive training in manufacturing. With Unity, developers can create a variety of virtual environments and scenarios that employees can interact with, making the training experience more engaging and effective.

Unreal Engine

‍Unreal Engine can also be used for immersive training in manufacturing. It offers advanced graphics and physics capabilities, allowing developers to create realistic virtual environments for employees to train in.

Treedis All-In-One Immersive Training Platform

‍Treedis provides an all-in-one immersive training platform that is easy to use and combines all of the above solutions. With one scanning process, your immersive training is available in 3D, AR, VR formats across all devices. As a result of Treedis Immersive Training Solutions, you can increase employee awareness of risks associated with facilities, plant, and equipment and create experiences that help employees become more aware of their environment, circumstances, and interactions. In addition to being easy to use and implement with no coding knowledge required, it provides essential analytics and integrations with Learning Management Systems (LMS), making it easy to track employee progress and ensure training is effective.

‍

‍

Immersive training, including VR training and AR training, is revolutionizing traditional approaches to learning. By incorporating virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), simulations, and gamification, immersive training offers a highly engaging and interactive learning experience. In industries like manufacturing, immersive training plays a crucial role in training employees on equipment operation, safety protocols, and complex processes.

With solutions like Matterport, Unity, Unreal Engine, and Treedis, organizations can create realistic and customizable immersive training experiences.

Treedis, in particular, stands out as an all-in-one immersive training platform that integrates with Matterport, providing AR, VR, and digital training formats across devices. This comprehensive solution enhances employee awareness, facilitates risk assessment, and ensures effective training outcomes.

Immersive onboarding and immersive learning are gaining popularity as organizations recognize the benefits of personalized, realistic, and transferable training experiences.

‍