Businesses have roles with mandatory training requirements to ensure employees have the skills to do justice with their tasks. There are other jobs that people secure based on training, such as nursing and technician. Nevertheless, unskilled workers need training in mechanics, plumbing, electricians, and construction. Traditionally, this training happens physically, with people exposed to real objects and equipment. Also, first-time experience with equipment can sometimes be risky. This is where Augmented Reality training can be helpful.
Imagine Augmented Reality (AR) for training in the aviation industry to train pilots before they actually fly, soldiers training with AR before they fight on the battleground, or a surgeon training before actually practicing. It is a great deal that boosts people’s confidence before exposing themselves to the real situation and thus becomes way more efficient and effective.
Augmented Reality in Training
Augmented Reality in learning can make traditional training modules better. If you can recreate your training module in AR, it can amplify training outcomes in a way that cannot be imagined, greatly improving metrics that matter. Number one is knowledge retention. People retail things for longer when they see or experience them as opposed to hearing about them. There are many aspects of training that, when practiced traditionally, cannot make attendees see or feel them due to the risks involved. It will probably be true in cases of risky training in the defense, automotive, or manufacturing industry training that need exposure to equipment and real-life scenarios to understand them better. While recreating plenty of risks involving scenarios in the physical setting cannot be feasible for it involves cost and poses a risk, it can be easily done with AR. Look for Augmented Reality training software or an application where you can design or recreate training in AR on your own.
Augmented Reality and training
Let us look at some of the AR-based training solutions that people have embraced because they provide value for their unique initiative to bring AR to training and why you should too:
Employee and corporate training
It will probably be the most fun thing in the corporate setting. Imagine new employee onboarding beginning with an AR-based company campus tour even before they commute on their joining day. It will positively impact the candidate experience as they go through the onboarding process. Besides, it adds great value to the company culture, which has become a priority, considering employees appreciate and prefer working with companies that put effort into ensuring they have a good workplace culture to support a healthy environment. It puts the company ahead when counting or recognizing new-age or modern-day companies in terms of how much they understand and embrace technological advancement.
Augmented Reality in education and training
Classroom education and traditional training for long have been about boring charts and diagrams. Be it academic level training or training for job entrance. However, this is changing for the better now. Today’s classrooms are equipped with advanced technology to keep up with the growing trend for faster and more efficient training. The same is true for science, business, an engineering classroom, or, for that matter, any education that can become better with technology that enhances the visualization aspect. You can make it even better with an AR training platform. Imagine first training them for virtual scenarios instead of traditional classroom learning when engineers see phenomena happen in the AR view alongside just studying about them or referring to a paper-based diagram.
Augmented Reality for medical training
Some education domains have training mandates. One of them is medical training. For instance, nursing cannot be imagined without training. The medical world is built on extensive training. Surgeons need holistic training. Medicine practitioners need lab training. Imagine a soon-to-be surgeon training in AR while studying medical procedures in the classroom. It can be effective to a greater extent, improving the efficiency of education and training manifold.
Augmented Reality Manufacturing Training
The manufacturing industry is known to hire unskilled workers in the masses. Then, they train them over time, practicing their jobs and learning to do them efficiently. The training module, if any, is physical and generally involves oral instructions and assistance. However, AR in manufacturing training modules can make it complete and comprehensive so that the workers need minimal physical assistance. Imagine creating an end-to-end manufacturing process flow in AR such that the workers can get complete knowledge of what they are required to do, how they can operate different equipment, and how to fix them in case of fault. Workers will be on their own, yet faster and more efficient with their jobs.
Augmented Reality safety and maintenance training
Safety and maintenance are critical aspects for companies that deal in equipment and machinery. Often, these companies prioritize after-sale support and have a special team that oversees safety and maintenance aspects for their customers. Traditionally, safety and maintenance would mean on-field maintenance requiring technicians to visit the site and repair machines. A self-help guide for safety and maintenance meant a paper-based guide and brochure with written instructions. However, these barely help practically when something unusual happens with the device. People have no other choice but to contact the support team. It is where AR-powered safety and maintenance can be used. At the same time, it can be a great go-to choice for customers for self-help when they can visualize faults up and close and see and experience the instructions visually in AR. The maintenance staff can be trained for potential faults the machines can exhibit so they are ready to fix them quickly when they have actually to do it. Also, they can equip themselves with AR-based maintenance tools to help them while they go on-site fixing things.
Benefits worth noting before you make your decision
As discussed above, when you integrate Augmented Reality (AR) in training for schools, corporate, manufacturing, maintenance, and anywhere else applicable, you will leverage benefits. Here are some of the benefits to note before you can make a decision:
1. Enhanced learning:
Training starts with learning. Content is the foundation of learning. How you curate your learning module is important. When you recreate your original text, image, or video-based learning content in AR, it automatically enhances its effectiveness and amplifies its impact.
2. Engagement:
Engagement is one metric that you would like to pay attention to when you think of training. The less the attendees are distracted, the more engagement. AR helps learners pay attention to training with more visually interesting content. It adds to the appeal level, and you can make it interactive as well.
3. Reduced training time
Who would not want things to happen faster? We always tend to find ways that can make our jobs faster. Well, it leads to efficiency. AR contributes to significantly reducing the time taken for training when you let go of your traditional training methods. When you can design visually appealing training sessions, it is many times more impactful, and thus, it remains with the attendees, and they don’t have to come back for doubts.
4. Improved employee retention
Being an innovation-loving brand naturally makes you the dream company for many. Integrating AR into training in itself is a cutting-edge initiative. It adds to the overall experience of employees as they get along and start working. It fosters a modern-day company culture that the employees cannot afford to leave.
5. Ease of collaboration
As in the case of support and maintenance, AR training can be crucial. It equips maintenance staff with cutting-edge visualization. It is particularly helpful in enabling remote assistance, where you are able to guide customers for fixes wherever you are with AR-based knowledge sharing and visual instructions.
6. Reduced training costs
Training can be expensive when you have to create physical props to recreate scenarios. AR can reduce this by replacing the physical models required with virtual ones. Imagine overlaying expensive heavy machinery or an object in the form of a three-dimensional model to explain its working. It saves you the cost of having an extra machine for training purposes, and you can save a lot.
7. Increased safety
Safety is the most critical aspect you cannot compromise. AR in training for risk scenarios benefits you the most when you don’t have to expose people to risk. It enables people to learn in a risk-free environment. Be it training to operate a large machinery for the first time or flying an airplane to fight battles on the border.
8. Improved skills development
Knowledge retention is way higher when training in AR simulations than with traditional training practices. Here, you learn by seeing and practicing on your own rather than by following somebody’s oral instructions. Thus, skill development happens much better and faster.
9. Efficiency
Efficient training has always been a concern for firms across industries. Credit goes to obsolete training methods. It can improve when you replace outdated training with AR-powered training to train people for workflows and associated tasks in their jobs with step-by-step visual instructions.
Clearly, Augmented Reality can be used in training to improve its impact. The AR’s technique to overlay digital information in the real-world environment can be leveraged to enhance training for high-risk scenarios and thus be better prepared when dealing with the risk in real life. So, if you are planning to upgrade how you train people, take your first foot forward today. Sign up for the PlugXR platform to start redesigning your training sessions in AR. Book a demo now!