With more and more people joining social media platforms, immersive technology has become one of the trends recently. In addition, the Metaverse has introduced a collaboration of social and professional communications. Such a blend of trends have gained extra attention towards Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) and have opened new opportunities for exponential growth.

In fact, immersive technology has become one of the top business tools for 2022. AR and VR are now expected to be used to create the maximum impact from employee onboarding to training, as well as conferencing activities.

So what is an Immersive Technology…?

Immersive technology is an umbrella term that integrates the real and the virtual worlds. This covers technologies for Virtual Reality (VR) which takes the user to a completely artificial digital environment or a 360-degree video. The second one is Augmented Reality (AR) which overlays the virtual objects into a real-world environment.

In most cases, the users access the platforms in such a way that VR and AR content is hosted with the help of a mobile phone, laptops, headsets, or tablets. This is significant because it enables the employees to see content from any place that they want and at any time.

How Immersive Technology can be used in Workplace..?

There are several ways in which small and medium businesses can make the best use of this immersive technology. Here are some of them.

Employee Onboarding   

Businesses need to be a ramp up their onboarding processes for the new recruits. Where most of the businesses are struggling to manage their employee intake process, some of them are using immersive technology to deliver the much-needed edge of completion. The technology helps businesses to conduct onboarding programs that align with the company mission, shares end to end understanding of the products or services, makes it easy to understand the client needs, and helps in learning the internal processes or systems.

All this can be achieved with the help of VR technology, where the onboarding staff uses a fully immersed environment. All the learning components are framed into modules and courses that can be easily shared with an unlimited number of remote or hybrid employees.

Upskilling and training

The second most exhaustive activity for the human resource department is training the new and existing staff and upskilling it to meet the new industry changes. This is usually done once you have onboarded the team.

Today, skill development is recognized as the make or break factor to excel in the market. Businesses must thus understand that to retain the best employees. They must provide them with the best growth opportunities in the directions of professional growth and talent development.

VR technology is now used for employee training in markets giants such as Walmart, Accenture, Bank of America. And it was found that the technology improved the learning outcomes by 76% and showed knowledge retention of up to 230%. The reason is that VR technology has been identified as an effective way to train with the help of data-backed feedback on their performance.

Support for Mental health and Wellbeing

Employees need to have a happy work-life balance which can be achieved when the company has excellent onboarding and training put into place. Another thing that is more important is employee wellbeing. Many employees state that their wellbeing is being negatively impacted at work. This makes it pretty clear that businesses now need a robust support system for their employers.

The technology can be put into place by giving them access to consulting, mindfulness programs, and resilience training.

Virtual Events

Small and medium businesses are now holding virtual events that captivate the guests in a highly exciting manner. The most powerful reason to host events on this platform is to generate interest among the people about the business services or offerings. On the other hand, these events are proving themselves ideal by eliminating the barriers of costs and distances. At the same time, these events are entirely COVIS secure, making them an added advantage.

Businesses can use the in-built data collection tools to track participant engagement and collect instant real-time feedback from the people who attended these events.

Way to the Future

The world of AR and VR is now going to expand to new businesses breaking their access boundaries from the entertainment industry. Businesses are making use of employee onboarding, training, and providing wellbeing. Many companies are already using immersive technology, and it is time for you to include it in your business to give it an extra edge.

Source – Startupnation