Virtual Reality (VR) is a computer generated simulation of 3-D environments that can be interacted with in a physical way. This computer software is accompanied with an electronic helmet with a screen inside. This technology is generally used as a gaming system, but towards the end of 2017, a new use for VR emerged.
Virtual Reality systems are now being used in the workforce to interact with customers and train employees. Lets take a look at the benefits of VR.
Benefits of Virtual Reality
There are many benefits of using VR in business, but we have listed some below.
- VR mimics real life situations. Scenarios can be used during the interview process or training to observe how potential candidates or new employees are going to handle a situation.
- Encourages training to be more enjoyable. Traditional training tends to be confusing and boring for the employees; leaving them without all of the information they need and uninspired about the job. With VR, engaging content that is also informative is offered.
- Suitable for different learning styles. Anyone using VR can react in their own way and VR will react to that. The adaptability of VR to each and every learning style is useful to offer one cohesive training to all employees.
- Allows for working remotely. With VR, you can witness what everyone else is from anywhere. Therefore, travel costs may be cut down as well as increased flexibility for some jobs.
Now that we understand the added benefits of VR, lets see how the use of VR is successfully improving processes in specific industries.
Medical
There are endless possibilities of what VR can improve in the healthcare industry. According to eLearning Industry, “technologists and Healthcare specialists came together to explore how VR can and is being used to train healthcare professionals to change lives and heal patients”.
VR is not only being used to train healthcare professionals, but is used to teach medical students in a revolutionary way. They have an in depth look at many medical lessons which allows them to have a better, more detailed understanding of what they are learning.
VR does not only have to be used for teaching medical information. VR can assist in teaching med students how to break bad news to families and patients; which can be one of the more difficult aspects of the job that is not taught.
VR in the medical industry can assist doctors in healing and saving lives, teach med students, and provide additional resources that improve doctors and students confidence and communication skills.
Retail
One of the big retail powerhouses taking advantage of VR to train their employees is Walmart. By the end of last year, they incorporated VR into all 200 of their “Walmart Academies”. After successfully training their employees of real life scenarios — like preparing for holiday shopping and angry customers — they decided to integrate VR permanently in their training.
Other customer service companies are also using VR, and many more should soon due to the increased level of training they can provide their employees.
Conclusion
Virtual Reality can be applied to almost any industry to provide one, cohesive training program across the board that will allow employees to be training better and faster. This technology will prove significant to businesses in the future by transforming how employees learn and grow within a company.