Feature
My work focuses on the intersection between psychology, technology and work. Many technology solutions I see increase efficiency of HR methods, but do not necessarily increase effectiveness. But every so often I see a new use of technology that truly does enable companies to radically improve how they attract, hire, develop and manage people. Virtual reality (VR) is proving to be one such technology through its ability to create immersive learning programs.
Early training applications of VR often generated relatively poor return on investment. VR was effective for things like flight simulators, but these systems were extremely expensive. Many initial applications of VR based training provided little incremental value over more traditional and less expensive training methods. However, two things have changed since these early applications that have made VR a far more valuable training method. First, VR technologies have become much more affordable and effective. Second, and equally important, companies have figured out when, where and how to maximize the value of VR.
VR Provides The Most Value In Situations Where Immersive Learning Matters
Immersive learning is a development method where people learn by having the experience of being physically present in unique environments. For example, part of scuba training involves being taken underwater, removing your mask and putting it back on (as a colleague pointed out, this is a literally immersive example of an immersive learning experience). This teaches divers what the experience of losing a mask underwater feels like so they know how to act should it ever occur.
Immersive learning is valuable for learning things that require being aware of physical surroundings, managing emotions under stress or being aware of subtle social cues. A problem with immersive learning is it tends to be very expensive given the costs required to create actual physical environments. VR training provides the ability to create immersive learning experiences in an efficient and affordable manner. Consider the following examples illustrating how VR can enhance learning for different types of job tasks:
Physical Awareness: Loading trucks is far more complex than many people realize. It requires determining how to organize parcels in a way that maximizes the use of space while considering issues related to weight, load balancing, safety and the order in which parcels will be unloaded. Workers also need to do this as fast as possible while paying attention to subtle cues that indicate potentially dangerous situations. VR training allows companies to train employees on hundreds of different loading scenarios and create the time pressure and intensity of a loading dock in an efficient and safe manner.
Emotional Control: It is one thing to know how you are supposed to act in highly dangerous situations. It is quite another to actually control your emotions and take calm and appropriate steps when faced with a potentially life-ending threat. VR training can be highly effective for creating the emotional intensity associated with scenarios such as facing an armed robber or entering a damaged building in danger of collapse. These simulations help people learn how to stay calm in situations they may never face in real life. But if they do, how they respond may be the difference between life or death.
Social Awareness: Emotional intelligence reflects the ability to perceive and influence emotions. It is a critical skill for jobs that require making a positive impression or calming people down in potentially tense situations. It’s important for most managerial roles and customer service and sales jobs. Emotional intelligence cannot be effectively measured or trained using written tests or static training materials. This is because it involves interpreting physical cues to identify emotions as they are forming, and then responding appropriately in the moment. Emotional intelligence is a bit like the ability to draw in the sense that the only way to accurately assess someone’s skill level is to have them actually do it. VR is able to create the kind of interpersonal experiences needed to assess and develop emotional intelligence skills.
Related Article: Virtual Reality Goes Mainstream for Learning
VR Does Not Have To Be Totally Realistic To Be Effective
One might assume that more realistic VR simulations will be more effective. This is not always true. Overly realistic simulations can actually decrease the effectiveness of VR. For example, some of the most effective VR training programs intentionally limit a person from moving. These simulations are akin to sitting in a chair where you can look around but cannot walk anywhere. This provides several advantages. First, it is much cheaper to build simulations when the person remains in the same spot. Second, VR simulations that limit movement are less likely to make people feel nauseous or induce vertigo. Third, by limiting movement the simulation can focus people’s time and attention on those aspects of the VR environment that provide the most developmental value.
What is important is that the VR simulation accurately recreates specific mental states or physical images that are central to the person’s development. This is referred to as the “ecological validity” of the experience. For example, a VR experience designed to teach someone how to calm down an irate customer in a store needs a high level of ecological validity related to the customer’s facial expressions and tone of voice. It should also provide the same lighting and background one would find in the store. However, the experience does not need a high level of ecological validity when it comes to recreating the ability to walk around the store or go into the parking lot.
Conference
Sep
16
HR Tech Conference Las Vegas 2025
Register
Conference
Oct
27
Gartner HR Symposium/Xpo Orlando 2025
Register
Related Article: Meta Doubles Down on Mixed Reality and AI at Connect
VR Is Often More Engaging Than Traditional Training
The novelty of VR can make training more memorable and enjoyable. This particular benefit of VR may decrease over time as VR methods become more commonplace. But as one person using VR shared, “it was the only time I’ve ever seen people stay after work so they could voluntarily take a safety training course for a second time.”
I do not believe VR should be used for every type of training, but it is a highly engaging and effective training method for certain types of training content. It is also relatively affordable, particularly when compared to other forms of immersive learning. If part of learning something requires people to “truly feel what it is like,” “experience the actual situation,” or “detect things going on around them,” then VR training may be an ideal solution.
