In the first in the series - What is Virtual reality and how can I use it in my organisation? - we covered the fundamentals of VR and where it can be used. 

Today let’s look at how effective it can be.

There has been significant research into the benefits of VR over the years which shows VR learning experiences can create improvements in areas such as;

• Retention 

• Focus

• Enjoyment 

• Recall

The great thing about the research conducted recently is that, in the main, we’re seeing comparison studies, that’s when VR is compared to eLearning, video learning or classroom so we really can see the difference in approach. 

The team at PWC wanted to test whether VR would be as effective for training leadership, soft skills or other human-to-human interactions and did it hold advantages over traditional classroom or e-learning methods?

Over 3 months, employees undertook training in one of three formats

• classroom

• e-learn

• v-learn

Below are the results they discovered!

• 40% of the v-learners saw an improvement in confidence compared to classroom learners and 35% improvement over e-learners to act on what they learned after training in VR.

• V-learning is the most cost-effective way of learning when it’s done on a large scale. At 375 learners, VR training achieved cost parity with classroom learning. At 1,950 learners, VR training achieved cost parity with e-learn. At 3,000 learners, VR costs become 52% less than classroom.

• V-learners completed training 4 times faster than classroom training.

• V-learners felt 3.75 times more emotionally connected to the content than classroom learners and 2.3 times more connected than e-learners.

• Three-quarters of learners surveyed said that during the VR course they had a wake-up-call moment and realised that they were not as inclusive as they thought they were.

• V-learners were 4 times more focused during training than their e-learning peers and 1.5 times more focused than their classroom colleagues.

A second case I’d like to share is Walmart. Walmart employees across the US spend 8 hours, in specific training stores, being trained on how to handle online customer order collections. The training consisted of a mix of hands on and eLearning modules. Walmart converted this training into VR which gave learners immediate feedback on their actions and performance.

By leveraging VR it turns out that the training time was reduced to 15 minutes with no drop in efficacy. Walmart reported that it would return over a million full working days back into the business. To quote Heather Durtschi, senior director of content design and development at Walmart,

“You can do the math as to what the savings would be.”

There are many more case studies out there regarding the successful use of VR in training and the more you look into it, the more interesting the results get. 

Whether you’re looking for boosting the effectiveness of your learning, saving time and money, increasing confidence, creating an emotional connection or aha moments VR is a tool you should evaluate. It’s not a magic bullet but it can (when done well) produce staggering results. 

At Totem we understand it can seem scary or expensive, so if you’re considering a VR solution why not sign up for a free 30 minute chat with one of our designers or enquire about our brand new course for L&D teams ‘Giving The Game Away: Virtual Reality’ by dropping us a direct message to helen@totemlearning.com.