How must a VR training vendor be selected?
VR training is getting popular day by day due to its impact on changing the entire education scenario in the corporate world.
This technology is nowadays used to provide the most advanced training to the employees, including taking them to VR-based simulations where they learn the crucial skills from their offices. The initial VR training video should be short, which can then be followed by longer videos. Retention is better when the 1st video is short, leading to better involvement with the second video, which is more complex.
But there should be certain precautions exercised by a company before hiring a VR training vendor because it costs so much money.
The companies should also check the portfolio of the vendors to see that they have the right graphic designers with them because they can create realistic images. The clients can also ask for a sample before proceeding. It can be a VR video of 2-3 minutes only.
Moreover, any VR training vendor must know the compliance laws. He cannot create training modules based on it without knowing about such stuff.
These are the categories in which a vendor should be tested before providing his services to a company:
- VR knowledge:
- Adherence to the deadline:
- Creativity:
The vendors should be checked for their knowledge of this domain. Virtual reality vendors must have a portfolio through which the interested clients get a complete idea about what the former is capable of. Virtual reality technology is evolving, and the vendors need to ensure that it can produce such effects.
Virtual reality will soon amalgamate artificial intelligence so that the user will be taken to a world he has seen before.
Also, the headset will be more powerful with an 8K processor, allowing it to show better images to the user. These processors will produce better images for the user because they will recreate the current 4K content and then use upscaling algorithms to produce pictures with less burring. This artificial intelligence will be used to assess images stored in the database of the VR hardware.
For example, motion sickness can be caused by people wearing a virtual reality headset because they get introduced to a unique environment. There is also a problem with such technology known as clipping. Some solid objects are also shown properly in the virtual world, and the user thinks he can pass through them. There are also other developments in this field about which a vendor must have thorough information. The VR training vendor must ensure that his output does not have such problems.
Virtual reality is a crucial part of any company’s training calendar, but it needs to be delivered on time by the vendor. So, he must be informed in advance about the deadline. When he is not, problems can arise because the company can’t launch the necessary training in time. It can cause losses for the company because the employees will not be informed about the new compliance rules. The VR training vendors must ensure that if any changes happen in preparing such content, which can set the clock behind schedule, they inform the client.
Virtual reality vendors must also have creativity in their team because they can work wonders through it. They must be able to create fictional scenarios and avatars based on real-world situations. Apart from having a flair for storytelling, their storyboards must also serve the purpose of training the users.
The company can also help the VR training vendor in preparing a storyboard. They can give a specific job duty to the vendor and provide him with something specific to concentrate on. Asking the VR training vendor to create a storyboard for a particular job situation is easier than asking them to cover the complete job description in a single VR training video.
For example, we might be required to cover multiple job tasks as part of our role but focusing on one task in one video provides detailed coverage for the learner. Such videos encourage the learner and get better retention because you cannot expect them to learn everything at once.
The managers and employees from your company will narrate their experiences to ensure that the vendors produce relatable storyboards. Sometimes the vendor might not know your niche, but still, he can create something of your domain. So, his portfolio is only an indicator of his technical skills, not his acumen. Hence taking a sample is necessary to evaluate the combined intellect of his team.
Hence, it is important to assess the skills of VR training vendors to ensure whether they can create an entertaining virtual reality experience for your employees.
When a company is outsourcing its work, the vendor is given a huge responsibility. The company’s managers risk a lot because they must be answerable about the budget. Hence, they should look for someone who can implement their ideas within a budget and has ample experience.
The vendor can also answer other crucial questions as to whether a company needs an XRS because it can be integrated with the headset to record the training activities of the user. An XRS (extended reality software) is software that has separate costs from the headset.
It helps the organization track the key indicators of a user’s performance on a virtual reality system, and all the data is delivered to the dashboard. Since it captures individual user data, new XRS software is needed for each user.
Such software is installed in the headset of each user and can send all the data to the PC of the VR training administrator.
The VR training vendor team can help you procure the headsets and the XRS software. He knows which headset is more compatible with your developed courseware. For example, courseware with better resolution graphics needs a headset with wires (tethered headset) and not a non-tethered headset.
Hence keeping these considerations in mind a company should select a VR training vendor.