E-learning Elements That Require Localization
14/02/2023

E-learning Elements That Require Localization

While e-learning has been rising in popularity for years thanks to how accessible, engaging, and cost-effective it is, it’s not a surprise that in recent years interest in e-learning has skyrocketed. Especially as a resource for companies looking to train their global workforce. Speaking of a global workforce—having an online course that is suitable for learners that speak different languages requires the localization of several elements within the course so that the whole learning experience is a smooth one.

These are some of the elements worth keeping in mind.

Mouse cursor movement captures

Most e-learning programs contain an instructional nature that include cursor movements. These movements may point to actions that the narrator is explaining. They play an important role and need to be taken into account during the localization process. This may seem odd since these are cursor movements not text, but the cursor movements need to properly time up with the accompanying narration and the timing may be off once the narration is localized into a new language.

Content and narrative translation and formatting

E-learning content includes on-screen text that has to be localized when you want the content to appear in a new target language. When you localize text, it often changes drastically in length which can require formatting changes to make the design of the program flow as intended. Similar to the cursor movement captures we discussed earlier, you also need to make sure the timing of audio content is lining up with any written content in the e-learning materials—as well as any subtitles. The timing of slides can also be impacted by the length of audio and visual text.

Subtitles and voice-over recordings

How large a budget for a localization project is will determine whether or not you need to localize voice-over recording and subtitles or just subtitles—which is a more cost-effective option as you don’t have to hire a narrator and record new audio. That being said, this extra step does greatly enhance the quality of the end product and creates a better user experience for the person engaging with the e-learning product.

Graphics

On-screen graphics in e-learning courses and training materials can contain text. If the text is embedded into the graphic, that text will need to be translated in an external file and then the original graphic can be localized into the target language with the help of a graphic designer or DTP specialist.

Navigation and action buttons

Because e-learning content often incorporates navigational and action-related buttons that contain text (such as “next” or “submit”), these buttons require localization. If you fail to localize this important type of content, the user can end up confused and frustrated and not able to proceed with their learning opportunity. Authoring tools usually allow the creators to set up the UI language. By selecting the desired language, you can have localized buttons. However, it’s important to remember to do so. If the tool doesn’t allow it, then you can include this in the content that needs to be localized. There can be cases in which the instructional designer creates their own buttons. Depending on how these buttons are created, they may require separate localization as well.

The takeaway

It’s advisable to work with a localization partner who has experience with e-learning content and that has the capacity to work on each of these elements (since they require different professionals such as localization project managers, translators, DTP specialists, voice-over actors, and subtitlers). If they can provide a comprehensive solution, the end result has a high chance of being pretty seamless.

Why the Education Sector Should Embrace Digital Transformation
24/01/2023

Why the Education Sector Should Embrace Digital Transformation

The pandemic pushed many traditional educational organizations to enter the online world of digital education. They all dipped their toes into the water by moving classes to Zoom and Google Meet, but the truth is that it takes a lot more than that to meet the demands of a digital generation.

There’s no time like the present for education to catch up with technological advancements to better serve and engage their users—aka learners. There is also a high percentage of teachers leaving traditional education institutions to work in the eLearning industry as of late, which is another factor the education system needs to take into account as they look to the future. Let’s take a closer look at why the education sector should embrace digital transformation.

What Does a Digital Transformation Look Like?

A digital transformation greatly surpasses typical software or hardware upgrades. A true digital transformation is just as philosophical as it is physical. For education institutions, a digital transformation may look like creating a learning environment that connects in-person education resources to digital ones so that students can belong to a robust ecosystem that combines security, technology, and education services.

A digital transformation can help create a more personalized, collaborative, and interactive learning experience.

How to Digitally Transform Education

So, how exactly can the education sector undergo a digital transformation? Let’s look at a few paths education institutions can take to enhance their digital presence in a meaningful way.

  • Multimedia digital textbooks. Heavy textbooks will soon be a thing of the past, as students can now access source materials from their digital devices wherever they are whether that be at home, the library, or in the classroom.
  • Bring your own device (BYOD). Enabling students to use the digital device they work on best in the classroom to take notes and work on their assignments can help foster engagement and retainment.
  • Personalized curriculum. With artificial intelligence, it’s now possible to create customized learning experiences for students by using artificial intelligence.
  • Game-based learning. Not only does game-based learning help encourage students to study, but it can actually help them better retain the information they’re being taught. This is a concept known as gamification and it’s very commonly used in e-learning materials.

The Benefits of Digital Transformation on Education

Why would education systems invest ample time and money in a digital transformation? To start, doing so actually increases access to education from students because the education experience becomes less reliant on one specific geographical location. This accessibility just adds to the convenience associated with a digital transformation. From being able to access source materials from any device, to collaborating and sharing notes digitally, to more spaces for interaction between teachers, students, and peers with their instructors and fellow students, there are tons of valuable benefits of a digital transformation for students.

The Takeaway

Through a digital transformation, educators can help enhance students’ learning experiences by fostering better communication and connecting them to more educational resources and materials.

Digital transformation in education is bringing down geographical barriers, allowing learners worldwide to choose what they want to learn regardless of location. Localization can help expand the target audience of whatever educational program that is already online. In addition, students can benefit greatly from localization as learning in their native language can greatly boost their engagement with the education materials, how they understand it, and how they retain the information.

Transitioning Teachers in the US Look at New Career Paths in Instructional Design
06/12/2022

Transitioning Teachers in the US Look at New Career Paths in Instructional Design

Post-pandemic burnout is affecting many professionals, but teachers who had to face especially difficult workplace challenges over the past few years are particularly struggling with burnout. Many teachers that are choosing to veer away from their original career path are heading towards the instructional design industry, as it allows them to leverage their backgrounds in education while giving them the opportunity to work remotely instead of in a classroom. They can put their classroom-honed instructional design skills into the creation of eLearning content.

Instructional design involves creating learning experiences and materials resulting in the acquisition and application of knowledge and skills. Even though instructional design encompasses all learning materials, it’s most frequently associated with corporate training and eLearning for universities or other educational institutions.

Let’s look at some tips that teachers can use to find a job in instructional design and to thrive in that role.

Highlight Adaptable Skills

Transitioning teachers are facing the challenge of adapting the skills they gained in classrooms into ones they can utilize in a new career in the learning and development (L&D) space. How they frame their skills during their job search can help them illustrate to potential employers just how adaptable their teaching skills are.

For example, teachers have experience trying different teaching approaches in order to see what works for their students and what doesn’t. They know how to adapt their content to suit “their audience”. They have also seen firsthand the challenge of having students in their classrooms who don’t speak English as their native language. In 2019, 10.4% of K-12 students were English-language learners (ELL) students and by 2025, an estimated 25% percent of public school students will be ELL students.

Expand Their Network

As teachers look for new horizons, it’s key that they find networking spaces that can help them enter the L&D space successfully. There are multiple non-profit organizations, like GLDC (Global Learning & Development Community), that offer resources and create an environment where they can connect with other professionals in the industry and can get career advice.

Mariana Horrisberger, eLearning localization specialist and business development manager at Terra, is one of the organizers of GLDC. She co-leads meetups every Wednesday and Friday, where they get together to meet peers from the industry, discuss L&D topics, and share their knowledge and experience with those making their first steps into this field. They also currently have a Project Club led by Russell Sweep, where they discuss the eLearning Heroes Challenge of the week and provide feedback to each other’s projects. In 2022, this organization hosted a Summer Break Room during the month of July to get transitioning teachers together to network and share information and advice about the industry. Another networking group that could be of interest is Teaching: A path to L&D led by Sara Stevick—where members share important information for teachers looking to transition to the eLearning industry.

Keep Localization In Mind

It’s essential that as teachers transition to this new space—and given the global aspect of the eLearning industry—they keep localization in mind. Meaning that while they work on creating courses, they remain aware of aspects of their work that could potentially present challenges during localization. Accessibility is a top priority nowadays, with students from all corners of the world trying to learn the abilities necessary to work and succeed in the modern world and being knowledgeable of internationalization is a skill that can help them land their first job in the industry.

VR & localization the key to an immersive experience for users worldwide
23/11/2022

VR & Localization: The Key to an Immersive Experience for Users Worldwide

Virtual reality (VR) refers to a simulated experience that can either be totally different or very similar to the real world. It is achieved by creating a sensory environment using primarily sight and sound to create an interactive and immersive experience. VR is rising in popularity day by day and by 2025, the VR industry is expected to be worth more than $22 billion. One reason for this industry’s continued growth in popularity is due to VR’s endless potential to create experiences and immersive environments, as these headsets can make it easier to integrate games into education, entertainment, and many other endeavors.

Standard VR systems tend to rely on VR headsets in order to generate the realistic sensations that create the immersive environment that VR is known for. VR headsets generally include what is known as a head-mounted display (HMD). This HMD is a wraparound headset that blocks light and real-world images so the user can focus on the virtual world they are entering. During 2022, it’s anticipated that consumer AR/VR headset shipments will reach 13.24 million units.

It’s also expected that over time as improvements to VR hardware are made (such as designing smaller and more stylish headsets) and as they become more affordable, that interest in this industry will continue to grow. For example, a less cumbersome device may increase popularity in healthcare training such as training simulations for surgeons.

Let’s take a closer look at the applications and industries that VR can apply to, as well as why localization for VR is becoming a growing need.

Applications and Industries

These are some of the industries that are embracing VR:

  • Entertainment. VR is especially common in the gaming sector as VR can create an exceptional game experience for players who want to immerse themselves in the world the game takes place in.
  • Training. The learning and development possibilities of VR are nearly endless—especially for providing a more hands-on corporate training experience.
  • Tourism. Imagine being able to make someone feel like they are visiting your city and encourage them to visit by introducing them to your most exciting sites virtually.
  • Well-being. A more immersive wellness experience can be found when you combine VR with apps that help guide meditation, workouts, mindfulness, and relaxation.
  • E-learning. Many students engage with their learning materials and retain them better when using VR during the e-learning experience.

VR Localization

The fact that more industries are adopting VR and with headsets becoming more affordable, it is natural for this technology to reach new markets and people that speak different languages. This is where localization comes in.

When someone is engaging with an immersive experience, you don’t want them to become confused by language or prompts they don’t understand. Localization makes it possible to translate elements like prompts, buttons, in-app menus and messages, narration or voice-over cues in the app the consumer uses. Anything that requires interaction on the part of the user needs to be easily understood by them or else you risk your message not coming across clearly, or the user not being able to properly navigate the experience—all of which can lead to the user leaving a bad review of the app. Content in the app store also needs to be localized, as the app store description helps them select and decide to purchase the app. Making sure this text is in a language the user understands can make a difference in the total number of downloads.

As VR adoption continues to expand and more industries realize the potential it has, it’s only a matter of time before the localization needs in the industry also increase. This is key to ensure access to this technology and its applications are not restricted to English speakers only, making these virtual worlds into more inclusive and diverse spaces.

25/10/2022

4 Reasons To Localize Your Global Training Program

Running a business that employs workers from around the world is no easy feat, but it makes it possible to expand into new markets and to tap into a diverse talent pool. Companies that make localization a key part of their global training pipeline can benefit greatly. How? Let’s look at four different ways that localization can improve your global training strategy.

Employees Learn Better Even if your workforce all speaks the language of business—aka English—, providing employees with access to training materials in their native language can help them learn better. Doing so can also make them feel like they belong to a more inclusive workplace environment. You can help avoid unnecessary misunderstandings and can make it easier for them to retain information by allowing them to learn in their native language. If you can provide your employees with resources that make thriving in their job easier, why wouldn’t you?

Employees Get Maximum ROI on Learning Initiatives

When employees understand and retain educational materials better, that clearly benefits their personal and professional development, but their employers also benefit. If you’re going to invest a lot of time and money into creating learning initiatives and then are going to have your employees commit more time and resources to consuming that content, you want to get the most ROI possible. When you provide localized training materials, you can help increase productivity and can enhance retention of the learning materials — all of which end up benefiting you as their employer.

Companies Create a More Equal Workplace

Employers should take whatever steps possible to create a more fair and equitable workplace. One way to do this is to give all employees, no matter what their native language is, the same level of opportunity when it comes to improving their skills and reaching their full potential at your company. If a company doesn’t localize its training materials, they risk putting non-native English-speaking employees at a disadvantage. While they may not mean to do this, they may make it more difficult for their employees to grasp critical concepts by not localizing their training materials. If you want a global workforce, you need to support them properly and localization can help you do that.

Companies Enjoy Optimal Resource Utilization

When you expand your workforce globally, you must also enhance your training efforts to make them work on a more diverse scale. While localization is an investment, that investment will pay off and save you time and money in the end by helping you make the most of the resources you already have. When you localize your global training program, you create a better company culture, help employees learn better, and make a fairer working environment, and as a result, your employees will thrive. You want all of your employees to have the best chance of understanding and retaining learning materials and localization can help you reach that goal.

Discover How Localization can Boost Growth in the Learning and Development Industry
09/08/2022

How localization can boost the Learning & Development Industry Growth

The learning & development industry saw a big uptick in a need for their products during the pandemic, when suddenly countless workplaces sent all of their employees home to work remotely. Learning & development specialists devote a lot of time and resources into creating their educational materials, which are then used by companies to help train their employees. When these training are available in more than one language, companies can extend these training materials to more of their employees. Being able to offer their courses in more than one language can help L&D companies in this industry expand rapidly.

Keep reading to learn more about how localization can benefit the learning & development industry.

Popular Learning & Development Trainings

Digital training materials have become increasingly important for corporations as they make it easier to conduct training for their employees. Typical trainings include courses on how to be safe on the job, how to perform their duties, etc. While these general trainings still occur, training focused on diversity and inclusion, soft skills, and how to improve employee wellbeing have become more relevant. To better understand what types of learning & development materials can benefit from localization, let’s look at a few different popular types of learning & development training.

It’s worth noting that the following topics are strongly culture related. This is why localization is a better fit than translation in this case, as a localization specialist can adapt the content in a course to be suitable for the specific target audience that will be taking the course.

  • Diversity and inclusion training. These days, companies are revisiting their values, training programs, and hiring practices to create a more inclusive workplace. Localized diversity and inclusion training can help them reach their goals in this space more effectively.
  • Employee wellbeing efforts. In light of the Great Resignation, companies have a lot of motivation to try to retain their employees. Companies can incorporate employee well-being into their learning & development materials. These trainings focus on the skills and habits employees need to feel content at work and in other areas of their lives. Localization can help make these learning materials more thoughtful.
  • Soft skill development. There are a lot of soft skills we don’t learn in school that we need in the workplace to thrive. Companies who invest in teaching their employees soft skills through learning & development can build a stronger workforce.

How Localization Can Maximize Learning & Development Trainings

Localization goes a step past translation by taking the target audience’s unique language and cultural habits and preferences into account. This more custom approach can be a game changer in the learning & development industry and can maximize the usability of their educational content. Large companies get more bang for their buck when they invest in multilingual courses, as they can accommodate their global workforce when they offer training. Everyone benefits when more thought and care is put into creating learning & development resources.

As an added bonus, by having access to localized learning & development materials, companies can create a more unified and stronger company culture even if their workforce is spread across the world. This is especially relevant considering that remote working remains popular even after pandemic related workplace closures have come to an end.

How to Utilize VR in Corporate Training
23/07/2021

How to Utilize VR in Corporate Training

Training new employees or keeping your current employees up to date on company happenings, industry advancements, and important safety information can be expensive and time-consuming. It’s easy to understand why some employers are looking for more efficient and effective ways to train their employees. This is where virtual reality (VR) comes in. E-learning advancements are making waves in the industry, especially VR related techniques. There are many benefits of using VR in e-learning that is utilized for corporate training, such as boosting employee engagement and retainment rates. VR can be incorporated into workplace training in a variety of ways, but three key areas are improving the onboarding process, building on the job skills, and mastering compliance and safety rules.  

For Onboarding Employees

For new employees, the onboarding process is extremely important. It can also be very overwhelming and quite frankly — boring. The onboarding process typically includes an introduction to the organization and its history and key figures within the company, tackles important HR issues, and helps the new employee adjust to the company culture. 

Through games and virtual interactions, VR can make the onboarding experience more engaging and lively, helping new employees weed through a lot of important information in a way that keeps them excited and ready to learn more. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, some companies are even using VR to offer office tours to their new hires safely at home. 

The employees at Ericsson’s USA 5G Smart Factory in Texas utilized VR during their onboarding processes and had almost no face-to-face interaction during their initial training. Instead, they learned directly from their peers in the company’s smart factory in Tallinn from 8,000 km away, thanks to VR-enabled virtual collaboration and knowledge sharing. No travel was required and Ericsson found the process to be more efficient and productive. 

For Practicing On The Job Skills 

One main component of corporate training is to help employees learn how to do their jobs. Employees can practice the skills needed to perform a job across a variety of industries and roles using VR techniques to make training easier and more effective. For example, to make miners’ jobs more safe, cost-effective, and productive, there is VR technology that simulates situations miners encounter at real blast walls. These VR trainings can help them perfect their craft in a safer and less expensive way than building these skills at actual blast walls. 

Airline pilots are another great example of how someone can build their job-required skills in a safe environment. Pilots can interact with virtual cockpits that offer an interactive image of the control panels. They can watch videos of flights from the cockpit jump seat that provide a realistic 360-degree POV. They can also undergo a virtual tour of the aircraft to learn more about their future work environment. 

Compliance and Safety

Employee safety should always be a top priority of employers and VR techniques applied to corporate training can help accomplish that goal. Not only can employees learn the safety and compliance rules they need during e-learning, but if you add in VR, they can also put what they’ve learned into practice to make sure they know how to do their job in a safe and compliant way. There are creators working on OSHA compliance courses that utilize VR techniques.

Jobs that require building muscle memory and to retain important safety information (such as someone who works with live wires) can benefit greatly from practicing their skills in a zero stakes virtual environment. The costs and risks that can come from making mistakes in a VR simulation are practically non-existent, whereas people can get severely injured or even die while training in the real world if they need to perform dangerous tasks. The construction, fire safety, manufacturing, medical, and transportation industries can all benefit from VR in compliance and safety training. 

Why VR Improves Corporate Training

VR offers immersive and engaging experiences that can result in employees learning better and faster during corporate training. That being said, VR is not enough to make up for serious e-learning barriers. For example, language is an important component that can’t be overlooked in corporate training, even when VR is involved. When creating training materials it is imperative that language does not become a distraction for the employee. Localizing e-learning courses into different languages and taking cultural variances into account can help ensure that all of your employees fully understand their training material, feel supported, and stay engaged.

Microlearning 101: What It Is and What the Benefits Are
28/04/2021

Microlearning 101: What It Is and What the Benefits Are

With countless schools and offices having to operate remotely in 2020, and people spending more time at home than ever before, e-learning can provide invaluable education opportunities. Whether a college student needs to finish their course requirements, a retiree wants to pass the time learning a new skill, or a business wants to train their employees, e-learning can come in handy. Even once social distancing comes to an end, our very digital world can greatly benefit from e-learning tools. To make the most out of these tools, there are techniques like gamification and microlearning that course creators can take advantage of. Microlearning for employee training in particular has some benefits worth examining. 

What is Microlearning?

Before looking at the benefits of utilizing microlearning in training, it’s important to understand what microlearning is. Microlearning is a short format for content that is intended to drive a specific learning outcome. Most often, microlearning is seen in e-learning platforms hosted on smartphones, computers, and tablets. One of the goals of microlearning is to make the content learner-centric, easily accessible, and quick to consume. 

Essentially, this is an educational approach that focuses on providing small learning units that only include the necessary amount of information required to help the user meet a certain learning goal. 

What are the Benefits of Microlearning?

Before adapting microlearning techniques for e-learning content creation, you may want to know what the benefits are. The three main benefits are better engagement, retention, and saving time and money. 

Regarding engagement benefits, the numbers don’t lie. From the get-go, employees are more likely to be engaged in microlearning. According to Software Advice survey, 58% of employees stated they would be more likely to utilize online learning tools provided by their company if the content was broken up into multiple smaller lessons. 

When it comes to engaging with the content, shorter e-learning modules can help take advantage of an employee’s focus limitations. The University of California Irvine found that on average, employees work for just 11 minutes before they typically become distracted by outside stimuli such as emails or phone calls. During those 11 minutes, employees tend to work on very short and quick tasks that last about three minutes. Microlearning can provide busy employees with the option of making e-learning work for their hectic schedules and environment. Not only can microlearning allow the user to engage fully in a lesson for a short period of time, but because the lessons are easier to complete, they can retain the content better. 

Saving time and money on e-learning content is a nice perk. According to the author of 3-Minute E-Learning, learning architect Ray Jimenez, PhD, microlearning can actually decrease development costs for training courses by 50% and can increase the speed of developing them by 300%. This is because this digital form of digestible content is much easier to reuse and refresh than more traditional in-person training. Another benefit of having shorter bits of content is that it can make it faster, easier, and more cost effective to localize your training to your employees’ native languages. Being able to adapt e-learning content to different languages and cultures through localization can create a better and more effective e-learning experience.

Why Mobile Learning Works Well for E-Learning Courses
03/03/2021

Why Mobile Learning Works Well for E-Learning Courses

It’s no secret that we live in a society that values convenience and flexibility. We are accustomed to moving quickly, learning to adapt, and making the most of the time we have. This is why mobile learning can provide invaluable opportunities for e-learning courses. This accessible and advantageous platform for e-learning has benefits for both the creators and users that are worth investigating further. 

What is Mobile Learning?

The term mobile learning, also known as m-learning or mLearning, refers to educational content that the user can access on a mobile device like their smartphone or tablet. This may be a blog post, podcast episode, or a full-blown e-learning course.

Mobile learning has so much potential, the convenience and ease of access being one of the main benefits for consumers. There are 3.5 billion smartphone users in the world, which means that mobile learning resonates on a global scale. 

Mobile learning works well in tandem with microlearning. This technique can offer both formal and informal educational training. Where does the micro in microlearning come into play? Microlearning presents smaller blocks of content, which allows the user to quickly and easily access information. This is an ideal format for those utilizing a mobile device. Microlearning can come in the form of a video, social post, email, or any type of content that is quick and digestible and easy to access on a mobile device. 

The Benefits of Mobile Learning

Before diving into the benefits of mobile learning, take a look at some interesting statistics. 72% of mobile users reported increased engagement, 45% of smartphone users completed their courses faster than those who used a computer, and 70% of people felt more motivated to learn when they were able to utilize mobile based learning. 

These numbers are pretty impressive, so let’s break down the benefits of mobile learning further:

  • Convenience: The user can access their e-learning materials anywhere at any time. 
  • Engaging: Creators can personalize content interactions in a way that is motivating and engaging for users. 
  • Collaborative: Users can utilize online communities to communicate with other learners.
  • Digestible: When using microlearning in tandem with mobile learning, the information presented can be digestible and easier to retain.

Why Design Matters

When it comes to mobile learning, proper design is of the utmost importance. When creating e-learning content, it’s key to design the content using a mobile-first approach. It’s no longer enough to make it mobile friendly or mobile responsive. It has to feel like it was always meant to be consumed from a mobile device. A course with faulty buttons or media that doesn’t work properly could have a counterproductive effect. Mobile users who try to consume content that was not designed specifically for mobile devices can get frustrated and may drop the course altogether.

Developing designs that adapt to a variety of device sizes may take more effort upfront, but the rewards will be worth it if you can attract users on a desktop, smartphone, or tablet. Creating content that is compatible for mobile devices will allow the users to access the e-learning content whenever and wherever they please and will give the creator the opportunity to take advantage of gamification techniques and video-based content.Another step worth taking now rather than later is to create content with internationalization best practices in mind. If the course will be later localized into multiple languages, course developers should follow internationalization best practices from the get-go to prevent having to do extensive work later on. Internationalization falls under globalization and can help adapt a product to a new market with ease. Similar to keeping design in mind up front, internationalization should be prioritized early on as well.

A Look at VR and a World of Possibilities Amid a Pandemic
02/02/2021

A Look at VR and a World of Possibilities Amid a Pandemic

Slowly but surely, virtual reality (VR) is starting to become a more noticeable presence in our lives. Especially in the workplace. When many people think of VR, they think of fun recreational applications, but they don’t expect VR to transform their careers. Companies are finding the current reality of VR and potential future applications can play an important role in the workplace. 

When it comes to integrating VR into the workplace, the possibilities are endless. However, there are a few key benefits that companies are currently experimenting with that are worth considering. 

Improving Corporate Training

One main benefit of using VR in the workplace, is that employee training and onboarding can benefit greatly from these applications. There are many ways VR can play a role in corporate training, from making basic training materials more engaging to allowing them to practice vital on the job skills in a safe environment. VR applications to e-learning can help increase information retention, can create low stakes practice opportunities, and can allow employees to fully visualize what certain work assignments and environments will look like. 

Collaborating in Interactive Virtual Rooms 

Remote teams can greatly benefit from the connection potential that VR can offer. With more and more employees working remotely than ever before, they may be struggling to communicate in their new digital environment. For example, some employers are embracing collaborative and interactive virtual rooms that utilize 3D visualization features enabled by VR to provide a better replica of in-person meeting experiences for remote employees. These rooms use spatial computing technology to help foster staff collaboration in a more realistic office environment and can allow them to perform more typical in-person teamwork activities, such as writing on a virtual whiteboard like they would in a real life conference room. 

These 3D conference rooms can give employees the option of adding photos, videos, sticky notes, and text to a virtual white board in a way that feels collaborative and engaging. In these virtual rooms, employees may be able to see a 3D representation of an upcoming product design and they even have the potential to add notes directly to the 3D model in real time. These are just a few examples of how VR can make certain aspects of remote working feel less remote.

Creating Virtual Events

A Look at VR and a World of Possibilities Amid a Pandemic

With countless in-person events cancelled in 2020 and with so much uncertainty about the future of large gatherings, VR provides a unique opportunity to overcome social distancing barriers. Those who run professional conferences in particular are eager to resume operations and VR can allow them to convert an in-person conference into a fully interactive virtual event. 

Virtual avatars allow attendees to network digitally in a way that feels personal but also doesn’t require physical social interaction. Panelists can host sessions from simulated, 360° rooms where viewers watch and submit questions from the safety and comfort of their own homes. Conference hosts and guests can host in-depth technical tutorials, can present new products, and can initiate thought provoking conversations all with the help of VR.

Satisfying Social Needs

While working from home has its perks, there is no denying that it can get a bit lonely from time to time. VR provides a socially receptive environment for employees to interact with their colleagues by providing the possibility to feel like they’re in the same room together, even though they are in different locations. For most, the biggest struggle to adjusting to working remotely was missing the consistent social interaction a job can provide. Luckily, VR is ready to rise to the challenge of making working remotely feel more social.