HR Management & Compliance, Learning & Development

When to Use Virtual Reality for Demonstration Training

The virtual reality (VR) market is anticipated to be worth more than $40 billion by 2020, according to Statista. And VR headsets will have a lot of applications and uses as various organizations in different industries acquire them due to their continuous dwindling costs.
As they grow in popularity, VR headsets will be used for a multitude of training in the workplace, especially demonstration training that currently requires trainers to physically demonstrate how to do something for their learners. Keep reading to learn more about how you’ll know when to use VR for demonstration training.

When Safety Is Important

One of the most important benefits of VR is that it allows individuals to be immersed in unsafe environments while allowing them to remain physically safe themselves. Trainers in the construction industry, for instance, can demonstrate for trainees how to navigate scaffolding and use tools outside of a skyscraper without having their physical feet ever even leave the ground. Trainers in the healthcare industry can safely demonstrate how to conduct heart-transplant surgery without endangering their patients. And trainers in the retail industry are even using VR to coach seasonal employees how to deal with pushy and dangerous crowds during Black Friday and other chaotic shopping events without being trampled in the dangerous environment in real life.

When It’s Less Expensive

VR can sometimes be much less expensive than demonstrating how to do something in person. For instance, it’s usually more expensive to pay for a new hire to visit a wind turbine farm or plant that’s located off the coast than it is to have a trainer demonstrate how to operate various wind turbine machinery and operating systems via VR. VR can also be a much less expensive option in industries where materials are limited and would be too expensive to use for a simple demonstration training. Materials and supplies in the healthcare and manufacturing industries that have special formulas, equipment, fuels, and chemicals, for example, can often be very high.
When It’s Impossible to Offer Real-Life, Hands-On Training Experience
Sometimes you can’t really learn something without hands-on experience. But sometimes gaining real-life experience is almost impossible, as well as dangerous. For instance, VR can demonstrate best practices for soldiers who will engage in combat before they actually face their enemies in the battlefield for the first time. Drills without enemies present will not compare to what soldiers will encounter and learn from a simulated environment, where drill instructors can demonstrate to them how they should respond. Police officers can also test their reaction times to hostile gunfire and other simulated environments that will ensure they react to dangers promptly and accurately. And demonstrators in VR environments can show new astronauts how to navigate a shuttle and execute a launch code without launching an expensive spaceship or ever leaving Earth.
As highlighted above, when it’s safer, more economical, and more practical, VR can be a true asset to trainers who are conducting demonstration training.
 

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