Virtual Reality has arrived with a bang in 2016. The launch of the HTC Vive, Oculus rift and smaller consumer geared headsets like the Samsung Gear VR have put the product in the spotlight, and companies are beginning to see the benefits of full immersion media for mixed learning purposes.

When we started RV Learning 18 months ago, we created a product called Simica, which was a virtual assessment aimed to mirror real life workplaces. There was a great deal of research put into the mechanics and science behind Simica, however with VR on the horizon we knew that the project was more for preparation for this new market than commercial purpose.

Simica was designed for Training, Recruitment and Education, and the key scientific element which covers all of these areas is fidelity. Fidelity is the notion of how ‘realistic’ an element of an assessment or experience is. Research tells us that the closer an environment or scenario is to real life, the more natural the response will be. We focused on creating vivid, realistic experiences,

As a PC software based program, we were however limited in how we could allow for response fidelity. Response fidelity determines how closely to real life does the candidate respond. Tests and experiences with a higher response fidelity have far higher test validity than tests and experiences which limit the candidates response (for example, multiple choice limited response). This is where VR is a game-changer.

With the arrival of the HTC Vive we have for the first time a reliable way to put a user’s hands into the virtual world. Being able to pick up, throw, drop, write and move around the virtual world creates new opportunities to record the user’s most natural response. For the first time we are able to explore how response fidelity can truly impact future behavior- and this has implications for trainers, recruiters and educators around the world.

RV Learning was created off the back of our parent company RV Studio, which is a digital agency. We are in a unique space where we work across many industries, so we understand the challenges that different industries face. We have worked with the likes of Curtin University to create learning experiences which mirror the lecture environment for students. We have explored Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as Moodle and Learning Record Stores (LRS) such as Learning Locker to track progress and unlock a student’s learning history. The future of training and education, we believe, is very near with the birth of consumer VR products.

As this industry grows I am sure we will see an expansion of products and platforms that span limitless markets and have limitless ideas. We created RV Learning looking forward to the Virtual Reality boom, and we are excited to see where this takes us, and the world of education and training.