Using AR/VR for Workplace Innovation

It is time for businesses to adjust to a new normal. Processes, work platforms, and employee enablement must all incorporate resilience and flexibility. They must remain adaptable to respond to a rapidly changing environment and shifting customer demands. As a result, they require the benefits of Extended Reality more than ever before (XR).

 

Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR), which includes other hybrids, and immersive experiences, are the technologies we refer to collectively as XR.

 

What is AR and VR Technology?

 

Augmented Reality (AR) enables your devices to be more useful throughout your day by allowing you to experience digital content in the same way you experience the real world. Augmented Reality (AR) is the perfect combination of the digital and physical worlds to create an artificial environment. 

 

It allows you to search for items visually by pointing your camera at them. It can answer your questions by superimposing visual, immersive content on top of your real world. The possibilities for augmented reality are nearly limitless. For years, phone-based augmented reality software has recognized surroundings and provided additional information about what it sees, such as live translation of text or pop-up reviews of restaurants as you look at them. 

 

Dedicated AR headsets, such as the HoloLens, can go even further, allowing you to virtually place various apps as floating windows around you. Augmented reality uses devices such as heads-up displays, smartphones, tablets, smart lenses, and AR glasses to augment the real world with images, text, and other virtual information. 

 

Augmented reality has applications beyond entertainment. IKEA developed an augmented reality app that allows customers to see how certain products will look in their homes before purchasing them.

 

The goal of virtual reality technology is to create a realistic three-dimensional image or environment that a human can perceive as real and interact with in realistic ways. Obviously, we aren't yet at holodeck levels of realism, but consumers can easily obtain VR headsets and controllers.

 

VR in devices such as headsets is entirely created by a combination of hardware and software. That distinguishes it from augmented reality, which, like the Microsoft HoloLens, uses an overlay of the real world and adds objects to it. Virtual reality is a more difficult prospect: In augmented reality, there are fixed points of reference that your eyes can use to track and navigate. In VR, the entire environment is simulated, making realism more difficult to achieve.

 

The use of computer technology to create simulated environments is known as virtual reality. Virtual reality immerses the user in a three-dimensional environment. Instead of looking at a screen, users are immersed in and interact with 3D worlds.

 

The simulation of human senses—all five of them—converts a computer into a vehicle for exploring new worlds. The only constraints to a fantastic VR experience are computing power and content availability.

 

Also Read | What is Virtual Reality (VR)?

 

AR/VR’s role in the Workplace: 

 

The integration of AI and VR is more widespread than it appears. Consider how many times you've seen people pose for their smartphone cameras and experiment with different filters on Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook. 

 

Although this is a very simple and innocent application of technology, it is a great example of how technology has permeated and become seamlessly integrated into every moment of our lives – even if it takes the form of doggy ears or cat whiskers.

 

However, the impact of AI and VR does not stop there; it has the potential to open up incredible opportunities on a larger scale. The AI, AR, and VR revolution has not gone unnoticed in the learning and workplace training industry.

 

Google Expeditions is a technology that allows students to explore the world using AR and VR from a single classroom. Expeditions, according to the Google website, include exploratory content on history, science, the arts, and the natural world. Whether the students are studying dinosaurs in their natural habitat or wandering around admiring Renaissance art, technology provides opportunities to learn about a variety of subjects.

 

The use of virtual reality in business is still in its early stages, but the possibilities of what this technology can bring forward are limitless. Let's look at a few applications of how it can help a business and be applicable.

 

1. Prototyping for business:

 

Companies can use virtual reality software and technology to visualize their prototype or work-in-process product in ways never before possible or seen. This enables your employees to gain significant insight into the products and provide important and valuable feedback. 

 

This, in turn, enables you to detect flaws and problems in the earliest stages of manufacturing, which was previously impossible. This allows for increased productivity in terms of reducing the number of faulty products produced by your company.

 

2. Employee onboarding:

 

The HR department is always looking for the best talent and retaining them for the long term. However, in some cases, employees leave the organization after only a few weeks or months. It is because they do not fit in with the work culture or because they have imagined their profession from a different perspective. VR can assist in overcoming onboarding issues and increasing employee retention. 

 

VR can be used to brief employees on the type of work they will be doing, giving them a better understanding of their roles before they join the organization. They can visit the company's locations, participate in various business activities, or even attend a meeting in a conference room that they would not have otherwise.

 

3. Meeting attendance: 

 

This is a problem that almost every company faces. Trying to get everyone to an important meeting on time. Excuses like "I'm stuck in traffic," "I'm sick at home," or even "I work from home and can't make it to the office for that meeting" are acceptable. 

 

Other examples include people going on business trips. The use of VR headsets could make the task of running meetings exponentially easier, as it virtually brings everyone together in the same room.

 

4. Training employees: 

 

Employee training takes a significant amount of time and money, and if the training sessions are not comprehensive enough, the company may incur additional costs. VR and AR technology have the potential to make this task more interactive and efficient. 

 

According to one survey, employees feel more confident after VR training and show a 40% improvement over classroom training. It enables employees to learn more in a shorter period of time. It can assist them in giving a virtual tour of business premises or manufacturing units and demonstrating how the entire business functions and their role in it.

 

5. Getting rid of geographical barriers:

 

The primary advantage of virtual reality is that geographical factors and barriers can be removed when viewing products and wares. Your customer could be anywhere in the world and still be able to view your products and services from the comfort of their own homes. Using smartphones and VR headsets in tandem to view and browse products is the way of the future. 

 

For example, your wife is unsure of what color to paint the interior walls of your home. Put on a VR headset and you'll be able to see exactly which colors she's having trouble deciding between and come to a decision together. It's that simple and straightforward.

 

Also Read | How is IoT impacting the Workplace?

 

Benefits of Using AR and VR at the Workplace:

 

Many studies on the use of immersive technologies for learning have found benefits in a variety of industries, including medicine, the military, and higher education.

 

Some of the benefits of using AR and VR in the workplace are discussed below:

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Benefits of AR/VR at the Workplace

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1. Providing Training: 

 

Some industries require employees to be trained in the processes and operations before they can assume full responsibility. Employees in power plants or manufacturing units, for example, must understand how to properly operate machines on the job site. They cannot be allowed to take over unless they gain a thorough understanding of the situation.

 

VR and AR can be used to create simulations in which training is safe and without consequences. Employers can use the equipment they use to create an exact simulation of their operations. The simulation allows new employees to gain expertise and experiment to their hearts' content. Even if they make mistakes, the ramifications will be felt only in the virtual world of simulation.

 

 

2. Time to Practice:

 

It has long been known that 'learning by doing improves knowledge retention (Aldrich, 2005), as evidenced by studies such as Ekstrand et al. (2018)'s experiments on the use of VR in neuroanatomy training. This study found that incorporating interactive reality may have significantly improved knowledge attainment and retention, as well as reduced time to mastery while increasing motivation.

 

3. Expansion of Soft Skills and Expertise:

 

VR and AR can assist businesses in developing their employees' soft skills and expertise. Walmart, for example, has been using virtual reality to train its employees to better handle customers. The retail giant even used virtual reality to familiarize employees with dealing with Black Friday customers. Such opportunities assist businesses in preparing their employees to provide greater customer satisfaction.

 

Employers can create VR simulations for specific situations that their employees may face. This makes employees more at ease in real-life situations and allows them to provide better service to customers. In this case, Walmart imparts training using the Oculus VR headset. These technologies are ideal for allowing employees to hone their soft skills.

 

4. Savings on expenses:

 

While there are costs associated with setting up and maintaining simulated workplace training environments, there are also significant cost savings in terms of hiring instructors, facilities, and physical equipment for hands-on training.

 

The most significant cost savings, however, come from reduced employee time spent training, practicing, and making mistakes. There is also the cost of secondary workers who are involved in training, such as peer supervision. 

 

These employees would no longer need to be removed from their roles to shadow the learner while they master a skill; instead, they would be able to continue working on their primary tasks while providing support as needed.

 

Conclusion:

 

This year, VR-based enterprise training is expected to generate $6 billion. VR and AR are now being used in schools, colleges, and workplaces to teach. Most industries have a high potential for VR learning, with benefits such as time and cost savings. Indeed, 30% of businesses have identified VR/AR learning as their top priority in the coming years, a 66% increase from 2016.

 

You, too, can benefit from the most recent eLearning trends and improve employee learning experiences with AR and VR. It will pave the way for more effective learning, better retention, cost savings, and lower risks. The decreasing cost of equipment such as VR headsets will also assist enterprises in achieving a good ROI. Your employees will also be ready to handle any situation after gaining experience through simulation-based learning.