In a highly technical or complex classroom, trainers struggle to pass knowledge to learners in a manner that is both impactful and engaging. Technical classrooms include elaborate and costly pieces of equipment that are not easily shared among all learners in the classroom at the same time. Technical classes may also include diverse learners of varying technical ability and comprehension. How can AR help in this environment?

3-D content is phenomenally cool—from basic polygonal models to full human-like characters, buildings, vehicles, and even complete environments. Because 3-D content has historically taken vast resources (i.e., time and money) to create, 3-D resources are often relegated to video games, simulations, and/or VR only. However, creating, editing, or obtaining 3-D models for everyday use in eLearning doesn’t have to be cost-prohibitive or take a lot of time.

Getting started with augmented reality can be hard and can require complex code. What if you are not a coder and still want to build some level of augmented reality for your learners? Luckily, Wikitude Studio makes it easy to build augmented reality experiences.

VR and AR are here. Apple ARKit and Google ARCore are turning two billion phones into a magic lens that can arm your workforce with superpowers. Full-body VR offers a digital rehearsal space of such convincing verisimilitude that learners feel they are actually there. How are Fortune 500 companies driving business results by leaving the glowing rectangular screens behind to step into the virtual and augmented reality of the future?

Choosing between AR and VR for better learning experiences and efficacy is very important for digital learning. Once the concept or content is finalized, deciding the correct approach for developing AR or VR is vital. Selecting the best developmental tool and workflow can be tricky considering the diverse options available in tools, devices, platforms, and standards in the digital space.

Augmented reality (AR) is a widely used technology in games, marketing, and everyday apps, but what about learning and development? Where do you get started? Where do you use it? How should you use it? Finding answers to these questions can cause developers to overlook the potential this technology holds and just how easy, effective, and affordable it can be to get started.

As technology delivers content directly into the hectic world of target audiences, user experience designers are faced with the challenge of presenting information that is disruptive and helpful all at once. With AR and VR, the UX is unique in that the designer builds the context on a screenless platform with nonlinear content. Attendees of this session will see proven methods and innovative examples of smart UX design for AR/VR.

Learning to program using a new software development kit (SDK) requires a time commitment large enough to discourage new AR developers. This is compounded by the fact that there are multiple AR SDKs to choose from. Understanding the features, pros, and cons of Vuforia will help you determine whether it’s the right platform for you and will serve as a frame of reference for comparison if you explore other SDKs.

Augmented reality is “new,” but it’s already stuck in a rut. Games and entertainment abound, simple marker-based AR experiences are getting attention, but where are the truly groundbreaking applications? Join this session to explore some of the more advanced things that are possible when you add computer vision and machine learning to AR in order to bridge performance and learning.

There’s fast-growing interest in the usage of AR and VR for education and training. According to SuperData Research, investments in AR and VR technologies will grow from $1.6 billion in 2017 to over $3.1 billion in 2020. Much of that investment is being funneled towards projects built with education and training in mind. AR and VR are emerging quickly, but what does it mean for today’s learning organizations?

Producing immersive augmented reality (iAR) learning experiences requires a skill set that many instructional designers have not yet acquired. Determining that training efficacy can benefit from iAR is one thing, but producing an effective experience can be daunting when you haven’t made one before. How does a designer get started? What tools are available to learn how? Can designers learn it on their own?

Both augmented reality and virtual reality technologies address a world that is 3-D, while most traditional digital learning technology addressed a flat landscape. The movement to 3-D landscapes is going to require new skill sets, including new coding skills. With many possible solutions out there for producing 3-D graphics, digital learning needs a way of producing 3-D that is congruent with tools and presentation methods in current use.

Training professionals in many organizations face similar challenges: how to ensure training is engaging, meaningful, and applied on the job. VR and AR can help ensure learner engagement, but how can they be leveraged to create meaningful experiences that are transferred to the job? We will consider these challenges in this session and view examples of VR and AR that create meaningful engagements that have immediate application to the job.

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.

You’ve seen some amazing augmented reality experiences, and you want to get started right now on a project of your own. But designing, developing, and delivering an AR experience often takes months and cost thousands of dollars. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could do it for free? And do it today? What if you could make and test your own AR experiences to share with your stakeholders right now?

Augmented reality allows you to create an immersive experience for learners. AR can combine images, sound, movies, games, search engines, databases, social media, and the web and explode them across the physical world, revealing invisible stories around products, processes, and operations. But what makes a compelling AR experience that makes learning stick, and how can you get started creating AR content?

What if we could infuse the power of social learning into virtual reality or augmented reality? While they offer deeply immersive experiences for individuals, both can be primarily a solo experience. Learn how Visa is using connected mobile devices in concert with VR hardware and AR triggers to create collaborative experiences for teams of learners both inside and outside the classroom.

If you got the chance to walk around experiencing the world as a retired person, would that change your financial planning in the present? If you got to have firsthand experience of being a patient, could that change how you treat patients? If you were able to experience the results of a major safety catastrophe, would that make you safer in your daily work life?

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 augmented reality into your training and development programs.