XR technology is increasingly used to offer training simulations and skill development, but most … [+] importantly it offers solutions to barriers many workers face.
From virtual eyeglasses testing to immersive car customization, extended reality—which includes virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technology—is finding its way into many aspects of our lives. In my house, my 11-year-old daughter is frequently on her VR headset playing games with her friends. But the true superpower of extended reality (XR) in the workforce is just beginning to take hold: its potential for broad, efficient, and equitable career navigation and job training.
In industries including health care, manufacturing, and skilled trades, XR technology is increasingly used as an anytime, anywhere tool that offers training simulations and skill development. Most importantly, it offers solutions to barriers that many workers face like location challenges, physical space needs, instructor time and individualized attention, and the availability of practice materials (especially those that are expensive).
Here are three ways XR training is changing the future of work today.
Training anywhere, on-demand
The skilled trades are facing a major labor shortage. A recent report from McKinsey points to the urgent challenge of addressing the skilled trades gap. At the same time, hiring demand is skyrocketing from new investments in infrastructure and green energy. XR-based training can play a significant role in helping to address the need to rapidly upskill the workforce and workers of all ages and demographics. It offers remote and self-paced training options, which are a draw for younger workers who prioritize flexibility. It can accommodate the scale needed for these new industries by training many people at once, versus only the number of people who can fit in a classroom. And simulation models are easily adapted to growing fields like clean energy.
One example is Interplay Learning, a company that uses VR simulations to provide hands-on training in HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and solar energy. The company’s model reduces physical barriers to training, making it easier for workers in rural areas to get nationally accredited certifications in in-demand fields. Companies who use the platform report better results in recruitment, retention, and personalized training for workers.
A focus on durable skills in the age of automation
It’s clear that as automation advances, uniquely human skills will become even more valuable, and health care is one of the key industries where communication and empathy will be critical. New XR solutions in health care education and training not only help train workers on procedural tasks but also offer a virtual environment to practice and improve caregiving interactions. Mass General Brigham, a training hospital system in Greater Boston, has been using XR in its nursing education programs for several years, and has reported both improved knowledge retention by students and cost reduction for educators, who can reduce equipment purchases and medical waste by offering trainees skill-building scenarios via XR. Their virtual “code cart,” an online prototype of a portable storage cart that’s used to provide life-saving supplies in emergency care situations, is available to the public online as part of their NextUp: XR initiative.
Solutions providers are also using XR to address health care training challenges. JFFVentures portfolio company Embodied Labs, for example, offers VR simulations so that health care workers can experience what it’s like to navigate a doctor’s appointment as a person with vision loss, or move into a residential community as a person with symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease. The company has even created end-of-life simulations to help hospice caregivers build a sense of empathy for the experience of patients with terminal diagnoses. “I was skeptical at first,” one hospice professional told NPR. “But once I went through it, I realized what a viable method it could be, for not only teaching but also helping people understand [the] end of life better.”
Customizable learning within reach
It’s no secret that conventional, in-person education and training systems aren’t always accessible to learners and workers facing barriers to economic advancement—whether those include a lack of transportation options to work and school, or a learning style that benefits from more flexibility or self-pacing. While the investment in XR technology can be an upfront financial barrier, the returns can be significant when providing opportunities for a broader range of learners and workers.
Three colleges in the Colorado Community College system took an innovative approach to solving this issue; in a partnership with Meta and my organization, Jobs for the Future, they pooled resources to establish AR training programs for their learners. The AR platform and curriculum, Meta Spark, allowed each student to go on a personalized learning journey, culminating in individual capstone projects at the end where they applied AR to an industry of their choice. Each campus was able to recruit a specialized learner cohort, including noncredit learners and English language learners, and offer relevant training to its student population.
Like other innovative technologies such as AI, XR has huge potential to help learners, workers, educators, and employers—and there is a risk of leaving some people and institutions out of the conversation. That’s why policy-driven investments, like the Immersive Technology for the American Workforce Act which was introduced by Reps. Lisa Blunt Rochester and Tim Walberg in 2023, are critical. No matter how big or small the business, there is value and growing urgency in exploring and implementing XR technology sooner rather than later for the benefit of both workers and companies. By partnering with the workforce, employers can be at the forefront of moving XR beyond its gaming reputation and into the workforce of the future.
