Here’s How Companies Are Harnessing VR and AR to Drive Performance in the Modern Workplace
In the wake of the pandemic, employee engagement has emerged as a top priority for employers navigating the complexities of the post-COVID landscape. Against this backdrop, the rise of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies signals a profound shift in how businesses operate and engage with their workforce.
No longer confined to the realm of gaming and entertainment, VR and AR are increasingly being leveraged across various industries, from manufacturing and training to e-commerce.
Virtual Reality at the Workplace
As companies strive for greater productivity and efficiency, Virtual Reality (VR) has emerged as a game-changing tool. With more than half of workers reporting decreased productivity, according to McKinsey, businesses are turning to VR to enhance employee performance and drive results.
Imagine being able to visualize and interact with products in a virtual environment before they're physically created. VR empowers designers and engineers to spot flaws and make improvements early in the design phase, eliminating the need for costly physical prototypes and reducing material wastage.
From revolutionizing task completion to facilitating efficient brainstorming sessions, VR has become a sophisticated tool with broad-reaching implications. Its ability to enable real-time data manipulation and interaction with virtual objects enhances accuracy and minimizes errors.
In an era of constant distractions and interruptions, VR offers a solution to refocus employees and drive productivity.
Boosting Morale and Strengthening Team Bonds
Today, employee dissatisfaction is on the rise, with studies indicating that workers are less content now than during the peak of the pandemic. This growing sense of disillusionment and detachment from work poses a significant concern for employers.
A primary contributing factor to such an attitude is the absence of personal interaction in fully remote work settings. Amidst a loneliness epidemic, traditional approaches to team bonding and morale-boosting activities often fall short, leading to low staff retention rates across industries.
Immersive Gamebox is a pioneering solution designed to address these challenges head-on. By harnessing the power of immersive technology, which seamlessly integrates augmented reality and motion tracking, the tool offers companies a unique opportunity to reinvigorate employee connection and combat low morale.
Unlike conventional team-building activities like happy hours or office trivia, which often fail to excite and engage employees, Immersive Gamebox provides an innovative alternative.
Cultivating Emotional Intelligence
Many workplaces struggle to retain their employees, leading to a surge in job-hopping. Recognizing this challenge, industry giants like UPS, Ford, and Walmart have embraced virtual reality (VR) to revolutionize various aspects of their operations, from product development to employee upskilling.
According to PWC's Metaverse report, VR-based training programs offer significant advantages over traditional classroom methods. Participants trained in VR environments demonstrated a staggering fourfold increase in learning speed and a remarkable 257 percent boost in confidence when applying newly acquired skills.
What's particularly promising is VR's impact on cultivating soft and interpersonal skills. The PWC study reveals that employees trained in VR exhibit heightened emotional connectivity compared to their classroom-trained counterparts.
Collaborating with specialized VR training providers can further enhance training effectiveness by offering tailored programs designed to meet industry-specific needs. These immersive experiences simulate real-world scenarios, allowing employees to hone their skills in a risk-free virtual setting.