How to Address Common Obstacles in Adopting AR/VR for Training

The adoption of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies in the workplace has become increasingly widespread, with forecasts suggesting that by 2030, a staggering 23 million jobs will incorporate these technologies for training, meetings, and product development.?

As a company with hands-on experience in developing over 20 educational programs, we'd like to shed light on the common challenges that come with implementing AR/VR in training environments and provide practical insights on how to overcome them.

Challenge 1: Consistency of Information Delivery

Without thorough educational design, AR/VR training can become a series of low-interactivity videos, failing to utilize the unique benefits of these technologies. At HQSoftware, we focus on organizing learning materials to provide comprehensive information without overwhelming users, allowing for maximum practice within a limited timeframe.

For example, teaching a nurse how to enter a room correctly takes about 3 minutes in the physical world. In VR, this timeframe can increase by 3-4 times due to the need for users to learn how to interact with the virtual environment, go through theoretical information, practice, and assess results.?

Challenge 2: Confusing User Experience

Another significant challenge of AR/VR training is creating an intuitive user experience. With VR training, it's essential to pay special attention to placing interactive elements within the VR environment, ensuring that navigation is seamless and intuitive. To avoid mistakes in UX/UI design, it's crucial to:

• eliminate requiring users to perform multiple gestures or commands to access essential features;
• place main navigation elements in a way that is easy to access and use;
• provide visual cues to help users judge distances and spatial relationships between objects;
• ensure alternative interaction methods for users with mobility impairments.

Challenge 3: Physical Limitations

People who are new to VR may struggle with wearing a headset, experiencing motion sickness or headaches. This physical barrier can limit the length of VR training, making it essential to divide training material into smaller pieces and prioritize smooth frame rates and high-quality graphics. To overcome this, training should run at smooth frame rates, ideally 90 frames per second or higher, and utilize high-quality graphics.

Challenge 4: Steep Learning Curve?

First-time users of VR hardware typically face difficulties using controllers, even with detailed educational tutorials. This steep learning curve requires additional time for users to become acquainted with the technology. Including navigation tooltips during simulations can help users who are unable to perform a required action for some time. Combining this with the physical side effects challenge may prolong the learning curve, necessitating multi-segmented training programs.

Challenge 5: Hardware Restrictions

Achieving consistent performance and display quality across VR headsets, especially standalone devices, is a common issue. Companies may model their training expectations based on VR computer games, which are typically displayed on headsets connected to gaming PCs. Achieving such performance on standalone devices is challenging but gradually improving with advances in hardware.?

For example, the new Meta Quest 3 headset offers twice the capability of Meta Quest 2 while remaining reasonably priced. Optimizing the virtual experience itself, such as simplifying textures and environments, can also help achieve seamless performance.

Challenge 6: Initial Costs

While AR/VR training is cost-effective in the long run, it involves high upfront costs on hardware and a development team. For instance, a custom AR app with features like login and registration, an AR content catalog, third-party APIs, and back-end features can cost about $63,000 depending on complexity. Although AR training costs may be lower, VR’s immersive capabilities may be necessary for certain training objectives, presenting a dilemma for companies choosing between AR and VR.

Challenge 7: Emotional Resistance

Some people are hesitant to use AR/VR due to concerns about how they look to others while interacting with these technologies. This emotional resistance can limit users from exploring the full potential of AR/VR.?

At a conference where we demonstrated our internally developed project Bodyscope, a tool for visualizing MRI/CT scans in VR, we observed significant interest but also reluctance among some attendees to try the technology. Offering VR training remotely from the comfort of users' homes can help overcome this hesitancy. Group training where everyone wears headsets may also reduce emotional resistance.

In conclusion, while the challenges of AR/VR training may seem overwhelming, they can be effectively managed with the right approach and an experienced team. At HQSoftware, we address these issues by:

• Thoroughly crafting educational designs with subject-matter experts;
• Creating intuitive interactions and user-friendly UI/UX designs;
• Balancing the quality of the virtual experience with smooth display on VR headsets;
• Using proven project management practices to deliver projects according to the roadmap;
• Providing detailed tutorials and additional training if required.

Read the full article here: https://hqsoftwarelab.com/blog/vr-ar-challenges-training/