Amy Peck

Though post-training self-assessment is an important component, it leaves room for inaccuracies. Biometric data offers greater insights into the emotional responses of each trainee. The handling of this biometric data must be carefully considered, managed securely and delivered privately. This data can unlock insights that trainees might not be aware of - were they calm, were they focused, what was the modulation of their voice. All of these can give them deeper insights into their own behavior. The broader benefit is in better self-awareness, lower stress, empathy and the ability to manage challenging scenarios quickly, calmly and with respect to others. This will be valuable in both their business and personal lives.

Soft skills training in general is challenging to measure. In a business context, collecting measurement data is a lengthy process and is often reliant on opinions and mixed data sets. With VR, we are able to assess how a trainee completed each training module, including their level of interest, attention and outcomes. Trainees are fully engaged in VR, bringing better retention and emotional response. For businesses, VR offers customizable, consistent, and repeatable training that can scale across business units, offering significant economy of scale. VR powered by AI brings another layer in training more complex scenarios and offering better real-time feedback.

VR is such a powerful learning tool that it could completely change how we interact with curriculum. Combined with AI, VR for training and education can enable true adaptive learning. Instead of 'teaching to the test', we can teach to each individual's needs and interests. As this scales, not only will we all become lifelong learners, but we have the opportunity to shape curriculum to complement and accelerate our chosen pathways in life, for both business and personal skills.

AR content should have both a practical element and a lyrical one. It should take the user on a journey, first with something needed or expected, like product information, virtual try on etc, but then also deliver the unexpected; an unlock into a new realm - tell a story, tug at emotions, and surprise and delight your customer.

Ensuring a frictionless user experience is paramount. Web-based vs. app-based AR each have pros and cons depending on the user, desired outcome and environment. AR is not yet intuitive for most consumers, so making it clear how to trigger experiences will help ensure success. Most consumers understand QR codes, but these aren't necessarily that thrilling from a design perspective. It's possible to create a single trigger (i.e. a 3D Cube) peppered throughout the environment that will cue consumers that there is an AR experience available in that area. And lastly, why are you even using AR? Does this make the customer experience significantly better? Simplicity is key. A short, compelling 3D experience combined with utility will win.

By gamifying this, we can educate, inspire and bring calls to action to ask for more historical media that might be held with local families. We can engage communities in a dialogue about how a location might evolve in the future. This can help communities bond over the creation of the game, and then guarantee an audience as the game is released and updated. Ultimately, this might also be an entertaining way for communities to align on a vision for the future.