How 3D Simulations in Training are helping organizations

All these developments give us a brief picture on how the world has been shaping and how the world has advanced significantly, and we all know how fast the technology disruptions took place in the last 100 years or so. Companies are always on the lookout for market transitions, and the disruptions can be a make or break for any company, even for a giant such as Nokia, which failed to track and implement the smartphone transition into their strategy which gave them a run for their money. It has now however successfully managed to gain traction and regain market share which it lost in the past, to some extent, and this is something to admire as well.

Market Transition – A Tech-enabled world

Speaking of market transitions, trainings in all kinds of organizations play a crucial role in empowering the workers and significantly improve the productivity and profitability of a company, while providing a healthy environment for workers to grow. Tech-enabled learning is something which is building a strong hold in the market when it comes to effective and immersive learning experience. Virtual Reality or 3D Simulation-based training is one such methodology which is becoming one of the top priority for ‘High Consequence’ industries. One research (Brandon Hall Group) showcases the gradual increase in companies using the Virtual Reality Training methodology using gamification models as a top learning priority, which was 18% in 2016 and increased to 30% in 2017. This is true for ‘high consequence’ industries, in which the organizations face a high level of regulatory and compliance requirements, e.g. Chemicals, Health Care, and other specific industries in manufacturing sector.

3D Simulation-based Training is here to stay

3D Simulation-based training provides immense value to the organizations, enabling them to train their workforce effectively. It offers a fun and exciting environment, where the learners can explore and feel free to commit mistakes without impacting real-life environment, by doing so in the virtual world, and in return get equipped with the Do’s and Don’ts, along with a great grasp of conceptual knowledge of the various processes and systems covered in the training modules, which would have been otherwise difficult to understand through traditional or the ‘text bookish’ training methodology.

The applications of 3D Simulations in training are plenty, and it covers almost all the industries, with the greatest impact in the ‘High Consequence’ industries, such as Automotive, Pharmaceutical, Oil & Gas, as the scope for profit & loss is the greatest in these industries.

“This is understandable considering the consequences are drastic, safety protocols are comprehensive, and regulations are immense, implying that these are rather hazardous environments with workers being exposed to risk-prone environment on a daily basis.”

It has been questioned frequently, that, whether the traditional training methodologies offer a more effective solution as against recent tech-enabled training solution, and what the impact of different training methodologies in the already complex industrial setup really is.

We believe that technology can complement the traditional methodologies quite effectively, and that it can be leveraged and used in accordance with the existing resources more prominently, so as to enhance the learning curve of the learners in significantly lesser time frames, at the same time reducing significant costs for the companies.

3D Simulation-based training offers one such practical advantage, where the learner gets immersed in the virtual environment while experiencing the real-life process. This is done using state-of-the-art technologies such as the HTC Vive, Microsoft HoloLens, Google Cardboard (cost efficient), and other plethora of tools and applications developed for the given purpose. It should be noted that every industry and every organization has different requirements, regulations, compliances, SOPs (standard operating procedures), and therefore the applications and development work are unique for each of them.

When we say that 3D simulation-based training is helping companies, the term ‘companies’ refer to micro, small, medium and larger corporations as well, i.e. of any size. As mentioned earlier, the companies requiring them the most are the ones in manufacturing sector such as Auto industry, Pharmaceutical industry or even Oil & Gas industry.

Benefits of 3D Simulation-based trainings

Here are how the companies are benefitting from the 3D Simulation-based trainings, and how it helps optimize the training times:

• Increased Confidence: 3D Simulations are proven to give a boost to confidence of the workers, and they have the opportunity to commit and explore all the wrong-doings in the simulated environment rather than worrying in the real life while doing their job, and succumbing to risks. It provides the right environment for them to learn and grow, and the overall morale of the workers are significantly improved after taking the 3D Simulation-based trainings, which in turn impacts the employee retention rates.
• Real-time feedback: It also provides an immediate feedback and assessment opportunity for the workers with the help of tech-enabled processes, and makes the overall training experience enriching wherein the worker is given regular feedback and he is made aware of his performance in the simulation environment. This way the learner’s engagement levels are sky-rocketed and he/she gets motivated to do better, and with a multiplayer platform such as the Simulanis Eagle VR, the workers get the chance to take part in team building exercises as well, which further provides them with the opportunity to assess the skills of each other and affinity levels so as to work effectively in a group.
• Better Retention Levels: 3D Simulation trainings improve the conceptual retention levels significantly, and provides with playful environments to explore, thereby requiring the workers to use all the senses effectively, and enhancing the perceptuomotor skills, encouraging the learn-by-doing methodology. Learners can visit the simulation environment again and again to practice, allowing them to determine the consequences of their actions without impacting real-life operations.
• Safety enhancement: Offers the opportunity to safely explore various operations and processes of the real unsafe or so called ‘risky’ environment, mimicked in a virtual environment. The user/worker gets the leverage of using technology and seeing the health & safety regulations for example in a more interactive way.
• Better ROI: 3D simulation training offers a better return on investment for the end-learners and the corporations implementing those training methodologies. It is a win-win situation. The learners get to immerse in a knowledge-intensive training module presented in a livelier and interactive way, and get trained in lesser time-frames thereby reducing their fatigue from training as well. They directly get the chance to apply their knowledge gained in a virtual environment and to test the waters effectively. For corporations, it offers a more cost-efficient way of implementing their learning & development initiatives, and the one which provides the maximum impact on training their workforce effectively. Now, they don’t have to worry about budget constraints in their L&D initiatives.
• Increased Engagement: There is a drastic increase in the level of engagement with the 3D Simulation trainings in place. The workers engage in the virtual environment more freely and explore the consequences of various actions which they might not know of in the real-world scenario, or which is commonly ignored, or not made note of in the real world. The attention to details, and the way 3D simulations trainings are conducted offer a more exciting and engaging environment, at the same time keeping it process-oriented, adhering to the guidelines and SOPs.
• Increase in worker knowledge and skill level: The worker knowledge and skill level is increased exponentially with the 3D Simulation training methodology, and there is a tremendous increase in their retention levels over different time-frames when compared to traditional training methodology, thanks to a more exhaustive and interactive training module in place. Their skill levels are constantly kept in check and tested, and constantly keeps evolving with the passage of every topic in the training module. The assessments conducted during the trainings along with the immersive content including interactive graphs, critical notes, pop-ups, and critical sound alerts, etc., also help in storing and recalling the important decisions and outcomes in the worker’s memory for longer time-frames.

We will delve more into how promising the 3D Simulation-based training environment really is, and we would explore virtual reality environments for various industries and how the companies can make the best use of the technologies to train their staff effectively, stay tuned!

If you have not yet implemented the new strategies in your training programmes and would like to give it a try, this is the time to go for it. Please let us know by dropping us a message, we would be happy to help!