research paper on use of vr and ar in the workplace

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How Companies Are Using VR to Develop Employees’ Soft Skills

• Jeanne C. Meister

Three case studies.

Soft skills such as conflict resolution, teamwork, and leadership are more important than ever — but they can be tricky for employees to develop, especially as remote work makes many traditional training programs untenable. Without access to in-person education, what can businesses do to help their people develop these vital skills? The author suggests that Virtual Reality can offer an effective solution. VR enables immersive, interactive experiences in which employees interact with an avatar to role play difficult conversations and develop communication skills. Based on a survey of over 300 learning and development leaders, the author discusses how companies large and small are already using these programs to support customer service training, presentation skills development, and employee evaluation. Ultimately, the author argues that VR will be critical in enabling the next generation of workers to cultivate the soft skills they’ll need to be successful in any organization.

Today’s companies are facing a growing  soft skills gap . Recent studies found that 59% of surveyed hiring managers and 89% of executives reported difficulty recruiting candidates with the requisite soft skills, such as communication, teamwork, and leadership. And these soft skills are only becoming more essential (and more difficult to develop) as the pandemic pushes people into temporary — or in many cases, permanent — remote work. Without access to in-person training and education, what can businesses do to help their employees develop these vital skills?

• JM Jeanne C. Meister is Managing Partner  of Future Workplace, an HR Advisory and Membership firm, co-author of  The 2020 Workplace , and founder of the  Future Workplace Academy .

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The rise of augmented reality in the modern workplace.

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One technology that holds tremendous promise for transforming the way we work is augmented reality (AR). By overlaying digital information on a user’s view of the real world, AR has the potential to enhance productivity, collaboration and efficiency in the workplace. AR blends the natural and digitally immersive worlds in one place, promising new pathways for connection and engagement.

AR works by overlaying computer-generated virtual elements onto the real world, enhancing our perception and interaction with the environment through devices equipped with cameras and display screens. Users can access AR with smartphones and tablets—unlike virtual and mixed reality (VR/MR), which require headsets. Many people are familiar with accessing AR experiences across apps, online games and televisions. This post will explore some of the possibilities AR brings to modern work.

Augmented training and onboarding

Employers in the U.S. alone spend $413 billion a year on informal on-the-job training. AR can revolutionize the way employees are trained and onboarded. By overlaying digital instructions, interactive simulations and real-time guidance, AR can provide immersive learning experiences at a much lower cost than human-driven training. In addition to reducing the need for human capital, AR training reduces travel costs associated with training employees.

From step-by-step instructions for complex tasks to virtual walk-throughs of machinery and equipment, AR empowers employees to learn faster and more effectively, reducing training time and improving knowledge retention. An interesting factor in this is gamification. Since people are most likely familiar with AR from a game—or perhaps a fun shopping experience—they are likelier to associate it with something pleasing. I imagine this equates to increased focus and willingness to participate, which should lead to better outcomes.

Improved collaboration

AR can bridge the gap between remote teams, enabling real-time virtual collaboration by bringing remote workers together through a shared virtual lens. Using AR-powered teleconferencing, employees can visualize and interact with 3-D models, share information and collaborate as if they were physically present. This fosters seamless teamwork, even across geographical boundaries, thereby increasing efficiency and innovation.

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According to the IBM Institute of Business Value , companies using AR have reported an average productivity improvement of 32%, as well as a 46% reduction in time to complete tasks. In many cases, companies can accomplish this sort of improvement without needing additional hardware such as glasses or headsets. There are also, however, easy options for those willing to go the headset route. For example, Moor Insights & Strategy vice president and principal analyst for spatial computing, Anshel Sag, recently highlighted Morpheus XR . In addition to its virtual training and meeting platform, Morpheus provides a headset rental service, which comes complete with setup and support and allows users to access a wide range of VR apps easily. This eliminates one of the main barriers to adopting VR headsets for remote collaboration, training or workshops.

I think there will be a massive adoption curve based on individual preferences when using AR versus VR. Many of these experiences use avatars to interact in the virtual space. Younger generations and some other subsets of users may feel that being represented by an avatar frees them to be themselves and make meaningful connections. Conversely, the avatar approach can feel too gamified for some people, as if the experience is not real, leading to less meaningful interactions. Companies like Campfire 3D are really innovating in this space, enabling what they call holographic collaboration across all types of devices, including the company’s own high-resolution wide field-of-view AR headset that you tether to a PC.

“Spatial computing platforms have followed the same path towards mass adoption as many other computing platforms,” Sag said. “Many companies start out with the intention of serving a consumer mass market and eventually pivot to the enterprise. Most of the profitable opportunities in AR, VR, MR, XR etc. are in the enterprise space, and we’ve seen companies like Magic Leap and Microsoft move in that direction after initially pursuing consumers.”

He added, “Microsoft’s Hololens was always an enterprise-focused device, but the company got distracted and tried to pitch it for consumer applications as well. Anyone who wants to be successful in AR today is going to want to cater to the enterprise market and that’ll probably be the case for the next few years until some of the big technological challenges are overcome.”

Building a safer future

Imagine engineers wearing AR glasses that overlay schematics and instructions directly onto the equipment they are working on, or warehouse workers guided by AR-powered pick-and-pack instructions that show them exactly where to find an item for shipment. These applications of AR eliminate the need for constant reference to manuals or digital devices, saving time and reducing errors.

In dangerous environments such as construction sites or where heavy equipment is in use, AR is a safer and less-expensive alternative that also limits the potential for making real-life mistakes. In these more dangerous environments, it is important to have lightweight but rugged AR glasses that have ample battery life, which is why companies like DigiLens have produced products such as ARGO standalone AR glasses . Anshel Sag also recently wrote about the numerous enterprise partnerships that DigiLens announced at AWE 2023 —just ahead of Apple’s Vision Pro launch at WWDC 2023.

Remote support and maintenance

AR can enable remote support and maintenance services in real time. By leveraging AR, technicians can receive visual instructions and guidance from experts, who can virtually annotate the technician's live view. This capability improves troubleshooting, reduces downtime and minimizes the need for costly on-site visits.

There are some technologies I would choose before an AR option in this case. For example, I love the "see what I see" capability offered by RingCentral and other providers that allows you to troubleshoot with a specialist from a call center. However, in a complicated scenario—like a real-life one in which I recently had to redesign a stone fireplace from afar—AR can be surprisingly efficient and accurate.

Lenovo ThinkReality A3 virtual displays

Privacy and space

Even though work-from-anywhere continues to become entrenched as a norm, some industries cannot adapt to a hybrid or remote setup. Recreating an office layout, especially one that involves specialized equipment, in a work-from-home environment is expensive and often physically impossible due to limited space in workers’ homes. It also isn’t practical to bring along multiple large-screen displays as workers move from place to place within or outside the home.

Lenovo's ThinkReality A3 smart glasses for the enterprise solve these challenges with ultraportable and comfortable AR glasses. Again, I looked to our XR and spatial computing lead, Anshel Sag, and his detailed paper about How Lenovo’s ThinkReality A3 Accelerates Enterprise Augmented Reality Adoption to illustrate this trend. The glasses tether to a PC and can create a customized, expanded personal workspace anywhere, from a virtual monitor at home to guided schematics on the factory floor. The ThinkReality A3 also offers complete privacy for confidential work anywhere, with up to five 1080p virtual displays. Another company, Sightful, just announced the world’s first AR laptop called the Spacetop. Its sole purpose is to offer a private multi-monitor AR experience in a complete solution that pairs AR glasses with an Android-based PC.

The enterprise market for smart glasses is projected to reach $12.8 billion by 2025 , primarily for training and remote assistance in sectors like healthcare, logistics and manufacturing. With smart glasses, the ROI needs to be justified, because the expense is usually relatively more significant than many forms of AR on a smartphone or tablet. However, I see many use cases where the investment is worth it. Apple also seems convinced of this value, even though the initial AR product that it announced at WWDC 2023, the Vision Pro , is a mixed reality headset aimed at developers and prosumers. The Vision Pro is Apple’s clear foundation for an AR strategy where it will bring spatial applications developed on the Vision Pro to a future device that is much more affordable and geared towards the mass market.

The future is real(ly augmented)

Tech companies are preparing for this new wave of connected experiences. Last week T-Mobile and Google announced that they are joining forces to bring T-Mobile's 5G Advanced Network Solutions and Google Distributed Cloud Edge together to provide the low latency, high speeds and reliability needed for data-intensive computing processes such as AR or computer vision. Construction sites and other frontline environments are good examples of where these solutions are needed.

Augmented reality is set to play a significant role in transforming how we work, collaborate and interact with technology. The applications of AR are vast and promising, ranging from more effective training to productivity enhancements to better customer experiences. Embracing AR in the workplace opens up new avenues for innovation, efficiency and growth, ensuring that businesses remain at the forefront of the evolving work landscape. The future of work is augmented, and the possibilities are fascinating.

Anshel Sag, principal analyst for XR and spatial computing, contributed heavily to this analysis.

Moor Insights & Strategy provides or has provided paid services to technology companies like all research and tech industry analyst firms. These services include research, analysis, advising, consulting, benchmarking, acquisition matchmaking, and video and speaking sponsorships. The company has had or currently has paid business relationships with 8×8, Accenture, A10 Networks, Advanced Micro Devices, Amazon, Amazon Web Services, Ambient Scientific, Ampere Computing, Anuta Networks, Applied Brain Research, Applied Micro, Apstra, Arm, Aruba Networks (now HPE), Atom Computing, AT&T, Aura, Automation Anywhere, AWS, A-10 Strategies, Bitfusion, Blaize, Box, Broadcom, C3.AI, Calix, Cadence Systems, Campfire, Cisco Systems, Clear Software, Cloudera, Clumio, Cohesity, Cognitive Systems, CompuCom, Cradlepoint, CyberArk, Dell, Dell EMC, Dell Technologies, Diablo Technologies, Dialogue Group, Digital Optics, Dreamium Labs, D-Wave, Echelon, Ericsson, Extreme Networks, Five9, Flex, Foundries.io, Foxconn, Frame (now VMware), Fujitsu, Gen Z Consortium, Glue Networks, GlobalFoundries, Revolve (now Google), Google Cloud, Graphcore, Groq, Hiregenics, Hotwire Global, HP Inc., Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Honeywell, Huawei Technologies, HYCU, IBM, Infinidat, Infoblox, Infosys, Inseego, IonQ,  IonVR, Inseego, Infosys, Infiot, Intel, Interdigital, Jabil Circuit, Juniper Networks, Keysight, Konica Minolta, Lattice Semiconductor, Lenovo, Linux Foundation, Lightbits Labs, LogicMonitor, LoRa Alliance, Luminar, MapBox, Marvell Technology, Mavenir, Marseille Inc, Mayfair Equity, Meraki (Cisco), Merck KGaA, Mesophere, Micron Technology, Microsoft, MiTEL, Mojo Networks, MongoDB, Multefire Alliance, National Instruments, Neat, NetApp, Nightwatch, NOKIA, Nortek, Novumind, NVIDIA, Nutanix, Nuvia (now Qualcomm), NXP, onsemi, ONUG, OpenStack Foundation, Oracle, Palo Alto Networks, Panasas, Peraso, Pexip, Pixelworks, Plume Design, PlusAI, Poly (formerly Plantronics), Portworx, Pure Storage, Qualcomm, Quantinuum, Rackspace, Rambus, Rayvolt E-Bikes, Red Hat, Renesas, Residio, Samsung Electronics, Samsung Semi, SAP, SAS, Scale Computing, Schneider Electric, SiFive, Silver Peak (now Aruba-HPE), SkyWorks, SONY Optical Storage, Splunk, Springpath (now Cisco), Spirent, Splunk, Sprint (now T-Mobile), Stratus Technologies, Symantec, Synaptics, Syniverse, Synopsys, Tanium, Telesign,TE Connectivity, TensTorrent, Tobii Technology, Teradata,T-Mobile, Treasure Data, Twitter, Unity Technologies, UiPath, Verizon Communications, VAST Data, Ventana Micro Systems, Vidyo, VMware, Wave Computing, Wellsmith, Xilinx, Zayo, Zebra, Zededa, Zendesk, Zoho, Zoom, and Zscaler. Moor Insights & Strategy founder, CEO, and Chief Analyst Patrick Moorhead is an investor in dMY Technology Group Inc. VI, Fivestone Partners, Frore Systems, Groq, MemryX, Movandi, and Ventana Micro.  

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• Core HR administration technology

An HR system is one of the most important purchases an organization makes. Nowadays, the stakes couldn't be higher. The market for HR tools has exploded, and people management has become an urgent priority amid the disruption wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. This overview gets you off to a strong start. It explains all the key steps in setting up an effective buying process and identifies the HR software features that ultimately determine whether a product will meet your needs. The links in the guide take you to articles that provide more detail on important topics.

Vr in hr: how human resources can use vr and ar technology, the use of augmented and virtual reality in hr processes is just beginning, but it has great potential in recruiting, onboarding, training and virtual workspaces..

• George Lawton

Virtual reality in HR can improve a variety of processes in recruitment, hiring, onboarding and employee training. Yet virtual reality has also been one of those cool technologies that are just around the corner -- for a couple of decades.

Things might be different this time, though, due to the widespread availability of low-cost VR hardware, improved content development workflows and the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is now practical to buy dozens or even thousands of VR headsets and give them to employees. Accenture just bought 60,000 VR headsets for training, and Bank of America is rolling out a VR training program across nearly 4,300 locations. Millions of potential employees have already bought VR headsets for gaming and entertainment, opening an attractive new channel for more immersive recruitment ads. And big companies like Nvidia, Microsoft and Meta (Facebook) are creating the technical infrastructure that could make broader adoption of simulated environments more of a reality.

The push to use VR in HR also involves its newer cousin, augmented reality (AR) . The two often complement each other but aren't the same. VR provides a 3D experience using special goggles or headsets, while AR overlays 3D data onto a direct view of the real world rather than replacing it. Both are the technological drivers behind the metaverse, a trendy catchall for an emerging class of immersive, interactive digital environments that are sweeping through fields like gaming, entertainment, e-commerce and education.

This article is part of

How to choose an HR software system in 2024: A complete guide

• Which also includes:
• 12 top HR software and tool options to consider in 2024
• How to build an HR software business case
• 13 HR software buying mistakes to avoid

"While few HR teams are using AR/VR today, as the metaverse becomes part of our lexicon and the cost of VR/AR tech and software come down, we'll be seeing many more use cases in the learning and development space," said Aaron Sorensen, partner and head of business transformation and behavioral science at Axiom Consulting Partners.

How VR and AR can impact HR

Computer-based training has been around since the '90s. VR brings a deeper sense of immersion that can improve training and employee engagement .

"What's different about AR/VR is the ability to interact with others in a dynamic way where teaming can be applied," Sorensen said.

Imagine, for example, a new cohort of high-potential leaders strapping on VR goggles and being put through complex business scenarios with key customers or a virtual board of directors or analysts. VR provides a way to expose people to situations they will likely encounter as they move through the corporate hierarchy but does it in a safe and controlled manner that aids learning and development .

"A key benefit of VR training is learners are immersed in the experience and not distracted," said Dan Eckert, managing director of PwC's applied research lab for AI and emerging technology. They cannot text, catch up on email, or play games on their phones. This leads to a much higher level of emotional engagement and content retention compared to other learning modalities, according to Eckert. VR is also valuable for high-stakes training where safety or other concerns make the realism required for effective learning too difficult or costly to create.

Here are six areas where VR in HR could pay off.

1. Hiring and recruiting

In some respects, VR is simply the evolution of flashy recruitment videos designed to build buzz by using the latest tech. General Mills demonstrated a 3D video recruiting experience back in 2015 that helped attract attention at busy job fairs. The biggest challenge back then was content creation. The video required a special rig built from multiple GoPro cameras.

Now it is getting more practical and less costly to create similar experiences using off-the-shelf equipment and dedicated 3D content-development tools. For example, in 2017, Toyota began working with InstaVR to create office tours that run on more modern VR equipment. InstaVR develops tools for capturing, editing, publishing and analyzing 3D experiences.

Holger Mueller, vice president and principal analyst at Constellation Research, said VR has not been widely adopted for recruitment but is coming. Recruitment videos have become common practice over the last several years, and VR has the potential to make these kinds of experiences even better.

"You can present your company in much better ways through AR and VR than you can through the traditional YouTube video," Mueller said.

Improvements in VR and AR will undoubtedly help. But HR teams will have to experiment to figure out how to make VR content stand out.

2. Vetting candidates

Others are not convinced that HR teams will invest a lot of money in flashy VR promos. But VR could make it easier to vet potential candidates by simulating and testing the skills required for a job.

John Sumser, founder of HRExaminer, said turning workplace simulations into VR experiences could help with high-volume hiring.

"Imagine you're hunting for people to do what Lucy and Ethel did on the assembly line; you could probably model that behavior and assess those skills with a virtual reality tool, and it might be better than the tools they currently use," he said.

It will probably be several years before these kinds of simulations are good enough to perform meaningful tests, but this might be a good time to get started, according to Sumser. Current supply chain challenges and political issues may motivate many companies to bring manufacturing jobs back onshore. VR simulations could help their HR teams identify candidates with the right talents rather than ones who may have the right credentials but lack the necessary talent, he said.

3. Onboarding

It is widely believed that a better onboarding experience can lead to happier and more efficient employees. "VR for meetings, workshops, training and virtual classrooms offer a fantastic way to onboard new employees," Eckert said.

This is particularly important in the wake of the social isolation caused by the pandemic and working from home. The pandemic interfered with the social aspects of the onboarding process , such as connecting to people and team building.

"VR offers something you cannot get from a 2D video call: presence, the feeling of being connected to others," Eckert said.

The technology enables people to onboard together even though they may be thousands of miles apart, an invaluable benefit because it quickly allows new employees to build trust and develop professional relationships with their colleagues, according to Eckert.

VR can also help employees learn the physical skills required to start a new job much faster. For example, Walmart worked with Strivr, which makes a VR training platform, to reduce the time needed to teach new hires goods-pickup skills from eight hours down to 15 minutes.

4. Employee training for soft skills

VR shows tremendous promise for simulation training for soft skills , such as leadership diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) and interpersonal skills. PwC worked with Talespin, a VR content development platform, on a soft skills study that found people could train four times faster than in a classroom, were 2.75 times more confident in applying the new skills and 3.75 times more emotionally connected to content than classroom learners.

In the past, this type of training was customarily reserved for the executive team and an organization's highest performers. VR democratizes it and enables it to scale to everyone.

Academics are even exploring how VR might improve training to meet DEI goals. For example, Courtney Cogburn, an associate professor at the Columbia University School of Social Work, developed an application that allows users to experience being black firsthand.

5. Career development and learning

VR and AR also show strong potential for technical training. They are already widely used in high-stakes jobs where mistakes can be hazardous, such as the aviation, defense, oil and gas, and chemical industries.

"Industries such as manufacturing, aerospace and government agencies are ahead of the curve in using VR and AR to develop technical or complex skills," said Kelly Rider, chief learning and talent officer at PTC, which is building software for digital twins . "For example, industrial companies are using VR and AR to learn how these systems work, improve workforce efficiency, improve quality and yield, and reduce waste caused by human error."

Eckert predicts these early tools will be improved by the use of new headsets capable of cognitive load measurement, a technique for matching training materials with an individual's ability to process and retain the information. This data will continuously feed into an AI-based human resources management system and learning management system to determine what training is needed for a specific individual to complete a task or a role and customize training on the fly.

"Cognitive load measurement will [enable] growing your human resources more effectively and account for a variety of learning styles and truly enable neurodiversity," Eckert said. But the systems will require new ethical and privacy safeguards because the data has the potential to be misused.

6. Workplace of the future

Some HR professionals believe that VR and AR could help bring back the sense of camaraderie that suffered a blow as teams stopped physically working in offices. All the major video conferencing applications are starting to support shared spaces for virtual offices.

Lisa Rowan, a research vice president at IDC, predicts many companies will continue to have a geographically dispersed workforce. "Some of these things might be put together to provide a feeling of togetherness when you're working alone in your house," she said.

Drawbacks and challenges of VR and AR in HR

Enterprises will need to navigate a few challenges on the way to widespread adoption of VR in HR.

First off, the VR industry is still sorting out the ergonomics of long-term use of VR headsets. While younger workers may revel in spending hours in virtual environments, older folks may experience motion sickness, dizziness and other issues that preclude extended use.

Next, more work needs to be done to improve content development and management to provide more immersive experiences. Most of the work today focuses on building 3D game-like experiences. Soft skills training will also require simulating human behavior and measuring progress in meaningful ways.

In the long run, VR has immense potential to improve training. The need will only increase as the pace of technological, societal and business change accelerates.

"HR needs to provide a robust, efficient, effective and enjoyable way for their employees to train and learn new skills," Eckert said. "VR training is something an organization can start with now."

Additional reporting by Tony Kontzer .

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The Impact of VR, AI And AR In The Workplace

PaleBlue Newsroom December 13, 2021 Blog

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), together with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning, are the up-and-coming technologies that will alter how people live their lives and how organizations function. From a simple brick-and-mortar building to a virtual workplace, businesses have come a long way. Today, companies are using various software solutions to streamline their business processes and make them cost-effective. They continuously upgrade their technology stack to respond quickly to evolving business trends and customers’ high demand. AI, VR, and AR are the next-generation technology that has a significant impact on businesses, and organizations are using them in various ways to optimize their efficiency. It has helped them to target their customers without aggressive marketing campaigns and boost their overall sales. There are many other ways AI, VR, and AR are changing the workplace, and it would be interesting to see their contribution to accelerating growth.

Applications of VR, AI And AR In The Workplace

Onboarding Employees: The HR department always attempts to put the best talent in place and retain them for a longer haul. However, in some cases, employees leave the organization within a couple of weeks or months after joining. It is because they don’t find themselves fit in the work culture or they have envisaged their profession from a different perspective. VR can help to overcome the onboarding issues and increase the employee retention rate. VR can be used to brief employees about the type of work they would involve, which gives them more clarity on their roles before they join the organization. They can explore the company’s locations, various business activities, or even a meeting in a conference room that they may not experience otherwise. It facilitates a smooth onboarding process and reduces the attrition rate. Along with AR and VR, the HR department can use recruitment software with AI capabilities that automatically filter the most suitable candidates and fine-tune the hiring process. There are enormous AI applications in the recruitment process, like using virtual HR bots to assist candidates with the hiring process, on-demand text interviewing, automated interview scheduling, etc.

Training Employees: Training employees takes an enormous amount of time and costs, and if the training sessions are not comprehensive enough, it could further add costs to the company. VR and AR technology can make this task more interactive and efficient. As per one of the surveys , employees feel more confident after VR training and exhibit 40% improvement compared to classroom training. It helps employees to grasp more information in a much shorter period of time. It can help them to give a virtual tour of business premises or manufacturing units and show them how the entire business functions and their role in the business. Without proper training, some workplaces can expose employees to physical injury; VR and AR can significantly reduce these risks by training employees in the virtual environment.

Facilitate Remote Work: Holographic images fused in AR and VR environments have allowed organizations to virtually transport employees to meeting rooms from different locations. As the trend of remote work is becoming more prominent, AR and VR can further enhance this experience. Workers can use this technology to showcase the product to clients sitting offshore and explain every segment with visuals. Imagine replacing webcams and headphones with VR goggles for a video conference. Many renowned companies have already taken steps for this new trend. Recently, Facebook announced to adopt remote work permanently, and their plans to use VR and AR technology in achieving this. They released a VR remote work app , which allows users to hold meetings as avatar versions through Oculus 2 headset.

Increased Productivity :  Just like AR and VR, artificial intelligence is making a huge impact in transforming businesses.  They are used in offices to automate the business process workflow and streamline the entire process.  It helps to eliminate human errors and reduces the workloads over the administrators. Most modern-day task management software solutions are interlaced with AI technology that enables them to track and prioritize the tasks for the employees.  It enhances workers’ productivity and makes them more accountable for their work.  The advanced software monitors workflows and makes intelligent suggestions to fine-tune the business processes further.

Data Analytics: In the digital era, data is everything, and if employees can interpret this data, they can significantly improve their daily activities. AI gives employees better insights on various activities and helps to track their performance around marketing campaigns, customer relationships, project costs, etc. It helps to reduce the risks associated with the wrong decision and improves the business’s bottom line.

Enhance Customer Support :  Many organizations are using AI-based chatbots to enhance customer service. These chatbots assist deeper human-computer interaction and reduce the load from the helpdesks. The AI-based chatbots are intelligent and respond well to the customer’s queries. Tech-geeks are putting more effort into designing chatbots that exhibit “human-like” behavior. AR can play a significant role in developing a chatbot that looks, talks, and reacts like a human.  By merging AR with AI-based chatbots, organizations can lift the customer experience; they can utilize facial recognition and speech pattern analysis to adjust the conversation and engage them accordingly.

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AR, VR, and AI are technologies adopted highly today to augment the digital workplace. These technologies provide enormous possibilities for employees to work with greater efficiency, accuracy, and productivity. It is mainly influencing the key areas of the workplace, such as workflow, training, and employee engagement; some organizations are already leveraging these benefits by incorporating the best AI, VR, and AR software in their business enterprises. These technologies are quite promising in the modern work environment, and business organizations can expect more from them as it advances to their higher versions.

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Comparative research of AR and VR technology based on user experience

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Are VR and AR Really Viable in Military Education?: A Position Paper

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• First Online: 03 March 2023
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• Mauro Ocaña   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1890-0800 6 , 7 ,
• Andrea Luna   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7481-2584 6 , 8 ,
• Valeria Yarad Jeada   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5040-4324 6 ,
• Henry Cruz Carrillo   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0489-3243 6 ,
• Fernando Alvear   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9593-1793 6 &
• Marco Rosales   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9840-3761 6  

Part of the book series: Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies ((SIST,volume 328))

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When people talk about virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR), they usually associate these novel technologies with leisure activities. In the case of the armed forces, more often than not, enthusiasts tend to relate videos games (e.g., Call of Duty) to military training and education. However, little is known about the true potential, these technologies may bring to modern-day armed forces specially in the Latin American context. This position paper thoroughly presents some real possibilities about VR and AR in the military education and training, how they are being used by defense forces and what is required in the short term to foresee the possibilities other armies are already harnessing to date. In addition, a brief comparative analysis between advantages and disadvantages in the adoption of both technologies was made to know a more accurate scenario of them. Issues that may arise from the acceptance of such technologies are also discussed as well as how research can support a sustainable pathway toward the utilization of VR and AR in the context of Latin American armed forces.

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Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas—ESPE, Sangolquí, Ecuador

Mauro Ocaña, Andrea Luna, Valeria Yarad Jeada, Henry Cruz Carrillo, Fernando Alvear & Marco Rosales

Departamento de Pedagogía, Facultad de Filosofía, Universidad Técnica de Manabí, Letras y Ciencias de la Educación, Portoviejo, Ecuador

Mauro Ocaña

Universidad de Jaén, Jaén, Andalucía, España

Andrea Luna

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Escuela Superior de Administración Publica—ESAP, Cali, Colombia

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Escuela Naval Almirante Padilla, Cartagena, Colombia

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Ocaña, M., Luna, A., Jeada, V.Y., Carrillo, H.C., Alvear, F., Rosales, M. (2023). Are VR and AR Really Viable in Military Education?: A Position Paper. In: Rocha, Á., Fajardo-Toro, C.H., Riola, J.M. (eds) Developments and Advances in Defense and Security. Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies, vol 328. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7689-6_15

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7689-6_15

Published : 03 March 2023

Publisher Name : Springer, Singapore

Print ISBN : 978-981-19-7688-9

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