VR-based training is a hot topic but VR training sometimes feels like all lights and no action. The secret sauce in any virtual reality experience is simple: immersion. In this session, you will learn how to apply VR game design best practices to VR training to elevate VR training to a new level, creating an immersive event that engages learners and enables deep learning to take place. You will also learn simple details to focus on that will convince your learner that they are in the environment that you created for them, supporting complete immersion for your learners.

In this session, you will learn about VR gaming design best practices and we will outline trends in VR gaming design and how they can be applied to VR training development. We will explore parallels between VR gaming and VR training and discuss how these parallels can be exploited to improve VR training learner experiences. We will also look at differences between the two genres and how both industries can benefit from learning from each other. Finally, we will discuss how we can convince the learner to invest their most valuable commodity into VR training: time. New skills and ideas can be taught and applied in an immersive VR environment that engages the learner and inspires them to keep coming back to practice and perfect what they are learning in a believable environment.‬‬

In this session, you will learn:

• Outline VR gaming industry design best practices, from identifying the games pillars to pre-production to white-boxing the game to production and playtesting and finally to the game going live
• To compare instructional design best practices to VR design best practices, focusing on significant differences and similarities (i.e. game pillars vs learning objectives, gaming quality assurance process, etc.)
• To explain the importance of the game production and playtesting observation cycle to the VR gaming development process and what instructional designers can learn from this cycle and apply to our own design process
• To train the subconscious brain by creating a thoroughly immersive experience, from quality visuals to lighting and sound mixing
• How to pivot people's interest in the fun and immersiveness of VR gaming into convincing learniners to invest time in practicing and mastering new skills and ideas as part of an overall learning plan

Technology discussed:

Oculus Quest, scripting/storyboarding tools (i.e. Twine), Unity Game Engine