As employees join the workforce in the near future, they may be asked to sign human resources forms, meet with their direct supervisor and then strap on a virtual reality headset.
VR is becoming an increasingly common training tool for a variety of businesses. Although the relatively new tactic is not widespread, its proponents say it is the wave of the future. The latest company to adopt VR training is UPS, which recently announced plans to roll out the technology to instruct student parcel delivery drivers.
Executives at companies that use VR for training say that the technology provides users with immersive experiences that simulate real-world examples and situations they are likely to face on the job. That makes them better prepared for when they swap the headsets for the road, warehouse or store floor.
UPS Tests VR Training for Drivers
This month, UPS will start training student delivery drivers to spot and identify road hazardsusing VR headsets at its nine UPS Integrad training facilities.
IT experts at UPS created the VR training modules that users see and hear inside VR headsets like the HTC Vive. Students must verbally identify potential road hazards such as pedestrians, parked cars and oncoming traffic while wearing the VR headsets, which recreate what it would be like to drive on a city street.
UPS CIO Juan Perez says in a statement that VR “offers a big technological leap in the realm of driver safety training” and that the immersive, hyper-realistic graphics will impress young drivers.
“Through this technology, we’ll be able to immerse our UPS drivers and service providers in all kinds of situations that will get them to think about safety and reacting to safety hazards … in much more effective ways,” Perez tells The Wall Street Journal.
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Source: BizTech