Keywords: ASSESSMENT;AUGMENTED AND VIRTUAL REALITY (AR/VR);AUTHORING TOOLS;BLENDED TRAINING;COMPETENCY BASED TRAINING;IMMERSIVE;MIXED REALITY;TRAINING
Abstract:
Training is frequently delivered in a classroom or remotely in a uniform format, offering limited opportunities to practice cognitive and hands-on skills in real-world contexts. To optimize training, it is crucial to practice skills contextually and receive feedback to build muscle memory, embody actions, and develop critical thinking. By integrating augmented, virtual, and mixed reality technologies, eXtended Reality (XR) can create a contextualized virtual environment with augmented overlays on real-world objects, offering a fully immersive and highly engaging training experience that ensures operational dominance. When XR training applications are coupled with automated technical documentation ingestion, generative AI knowledge elicitation and no-code authoring, content can be generated in a cost-effective, strategic, and seamless manner, formulating an end-to-end solution with significant proficiency gains and a high Return on Investment (ROI).
Content generated for XR consumption includes curriculum constructs, lesson format, formative and summative assessments, 3D objects and animations, virtual environments, auditory and visual cues, and technical documentation. However, generating this content for XR applications is often the bottleneck to deploy impactful and feasible solutions for end users. Moreover, it is crucial when developing XR training solutions to create content that fully leverages the unique, context-aware design elements and embodied interactions afforded by XR. Unlike traditional interfaces, XR lacks a widely accepted mental model for user interactions especially when spatial movement is required. To maximize usability, it is critical to build systems with interaction capabilities that can be used seamlessly for content generation by instructors and subject matter experts.
This Emerging and Innovative Concepts tutorial will dive into the key elements for developing an end-to-end XR training application following the upload, capture, add, spatialize, preview, publish, complete, report and refresh no code user flow. This user flow consists of a web portal and a mobile application, working together to deliver the full value of XR training by empowering end users to create and consume immersive lessons and scenarios. The tutorial will discuss a user-centered approach, incorporating past research, rapid prototyping, best-in-class analysis, ROI, and end user feedback for each element in the user flow. By the end of this tutorial, attendees will be able to implement effective techniques for developing and implementing an end to end XR training application based on experience and lessons learned from military ground operations, maintenance, and medical domains.