While YouTube and others make viewing online 360 video easy, creating these videos requires special cameras, equipment, setup, and forethought. But did you know that you can simulate this same look and feel using Blender, the open-source 3-D editing software, to create 360 video?

Virtual reality (VR) has been a hot topic in the L&D space. Its use in the field is growing, and now you can move past theory and explore real examples of VR as a learning solution. You can see the real-world experience that incorporates VR, and find out what exactly you need to create a meaningful learning experience.

It’s that herculean challenge, the digital makeover. Take a bi-weekly face-to-face simulation, costing the firm millions of dollars in travel expenses and staffing, and turn it into a rich digital experience. Prepare learners with tools, resources, and training to begin their careers. Also, make sure they feel welcomed, understand expectations, and are grounded in the company structure, priorities, and methodologies. Oh, you have four months to do it!

Cybersickness is a term for motion sickness that you feel in a virtual environment. The potential for experiencing cybersickness often prevents learners from engaging in VR experiences, and experiencing it can decrease learners’ motivation and possibly leave them with negative after-effects that hinder learning. Understanding how cybersickness can impact learners, and how to prevent it, is critical as VR gains broader use.

Moving your organization forward with new approaches to learning and development can be challenging—especially when the new approaches involve nontraditional ideas or technologies. Our Overcoming Barriers sessions bring together people who have already walked this path to share what they have learned. Join our panel of experts as they discuss how you can overcome the most common barriers to incorporating simulations into your training and development programs.

A key technology component of augmented reality that enables devices to “see” and make sense of the world around them is computer vision (CV). CV by itself is a powerful tool for creating useful performance support solutions for your audience. Understanding the tech’s pitfalls and then designing scalable, easy-to-use tools for your organization isn’t something widely shared or discussed in the learning industry at this point.

Strong interpersonal skills are essential now more than ever as impending disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning change the workplace. However, interpersonal skills can be hard to find and a challenge to develop quickly at scale. Most learning programs may do a good job teaching what to do, but rarely give opportunities for learners to practice doing it, especially in “true-to-life” situations.