Thom: You and I have the same approach for getting people acquainted with the technology – which is that we start them with games and entertainment rather than throwing them right into commercial applications. Navigating an AR or VR environment is a complete departure from the familiar tools of a 2D environment – the mouse and keyboard. They need to use their whole body and very specifically their hands to navigate. Talk about that – about how you get people introduced to the user interface.
Rodhan: So there’s the Oculus First-Steps app which is brilliant in that it guides you through to the point where you completely understand the controllers and then are able to fly virtual paper airplanes and throw balls or lots of other things. You get to this point where, and I’ve heard multiple people say this who wouldn’t have been at all comfortable with the technology; “Wow! That’s actually like my own hand in there!”. They don’t understand how it is that they are picking up a ball in the virtual world – but they’re actually pressing buttons and they start to feel like it’s second nature – an extension of themselves. That’s something that not a lot of people have experienced unless they are into gaming or perhaps people might understand it as being similar to the mindless familiarity they have to driving a car. I think that helps people see the capabilities of it. So, now if somebody was to think about using this for something within their enterprise – like training. Instead of it being a flat, “watched” experience – it becomes more dynamic and participative. We can get people to start thinking about how they would want users to engage with the environment, how to pick up tools. Not just pressing or pointing towards a spanner they want to pick up, for example, but instead use a gesture to pick it up and manipulate it. We’ve got this ability to start getting people to build the muscle memory for the tasks that they will be doing in the normal course of their work.
We’ve got this example of a Virtual Reality flight simulator which has pilots using their arms and hands in a way that they would in an actual flight deck. Virtual reality has the capability of teaching people that now and practicing those moves in a way that is very much like the real world.
Thom: Rohan you’ve given us some good points to consider today which I’d like to recap as we get close to wrapping up.
The first of them is that the important element that people often miss in their effort to introduce new technology – specifically immersive technology – is the supporting role of the advocate. In this case that would be yourself as a technologist in residence. For organizations who don’t have a role like yours, it is my recommendation that they research the potential value the technology might bring to their organization. From training, to technical support, to supporting remote teams – there are a variety of ways that immersive technology can generate a healthy ROI. After establishing the business case, assign a role – either part time, full time, or a multi-person team, to support the initiative.
Second, I really liked your example the XR passport as one example of encouraging engagement and learning. The failure to address change management is the single biggest point of failure for the commercial deployment of immersive technology – period. Is a passport going to be the solution for everyone – I don’t know – but it is a fun, creative way to facilitate a range of diverse experiences for people who mightn’t otherwise choose to invest time in familiarizing themselves with the capabilities of the tech.
Finally, you’ve mentioned the same point that I’ve heard more and more from HR professionals these days which is – games are a great way to learn. If the first experiences that your team have with this technology is fun – it’s going to be easier to transition into a commercial application later. That said, your commercial applications need to be well thought out and as easy to navigate and use as the games.
Before we go, do you have anything else that you’d like to throw out to our listeners that may help them on their path toward a successful XR engagement?
Rodhan: Sure, the most important thing is to give XR a space in your organization – somewhere where people can feel safe to try it out and experience all it has to offer.
Thom: Thank you Rodhan. If you’d like to know more about how you can introduce immersive technology into your organization – feel free to stop by voxelrevolution.com. Until next time, I’m Thom Strimbu.