1. Virtual reality (VR) training provides experiential learning opportunities that simulate real-world experiences, allowing trainees to develop skills through hands-on practice and receive immediate feedback on their performance in a safe environment. 2. VR training leverages principles of embodied cognition and "muscle memory" to enhance long-term retention of skills by engaging trainees' bodies and senses during the learning process. 3. VR training systems are designed using principles of deliberate practice to break complex skills down into small, achievable steps and provide unlimited opportunities for repetition and improvement with feedback.

1. Anders Gronstedt, Ph.D., President,
Gronstedt Group
April 2022
Into the Metaverse:
9 Superpowers of VR Learning

2. An award-winning digital training company
innovating the future for leading Fortune
50-clients at the intersection of gaming,
virtual reality and corporate learning.
Colorado-based, in business for 25 years.

3. “The Miracle on the Hudson”
… was no miracle,
Captain Sully developed
mastery in a flight simulator

4. Passengers watched safety video
150 passengers:
33 brought their life vests,
only 4 put them on properly
People don’t learn what we’re
telling them to do,
they have to actually do it

5. Boeing 737 MAX Ethiopian &
Indonesian crashes killing 346 lives
The only Boeing
employee criminally
charged is the head of
pilot training
Pilots received a one-hour iPad course
instead of a flight simulator training
No muscle memory from simulation training to
make split-second decision to disable software
system responsible for the nosedive

6. Instead of crowding with a co-pilot and instructor
in a $12 million sawed-off cockpit on hydraulics…
… interact with students and
instructors from all over the
world from your couch with a
$299 VR headset

7. PC Internet
Mobile
Metaverse
Future:
AR performance
support
VR practice
simulations
Shared,
virtual spaces
eLearning
Micro-learning
Enterprise
with digital-twins

8. Secret Sauce of VR:
The power of “presence”
The brain treats the VR
experience like a real one.
Stepping through the frame
and going to another place.
The holodeck is here.

9. 1. Real-time game engines
Inflection-point of VR
Move fluidly
through the
computer model
and look in any
direction.
Transforming TV
and movie making,
games and
enterprise learning
2. High-quality headsets
$299 less than
an airline flight

10. Game engine
360-video
Complete presence,
move freely through 3D-scene,
manipulate objects with hands,
just like real life.
User stuck in camera
position,
eLearning on your face

11. Hands-on-practice,
Learning-by-doing
and failing safely
The superpowers of VR learning:
1. Experiential learning

12. Quickly train 100s of people on new lab process
Mistakes have life and death consequences
Limited physical training labs and SMEs
Challenge:

13. A VR simulator to teach best
practice lab procedures.
Still in use three years later
Solution:
Read case and watch video:
https://www.gronstedtgroup.com/novartis-1

14. “Our brains were
designed to solve
problems related to
survival in an unstable
outdoor environment,
in constant motion,
walking 12 miles a day.”
John Medina, Ph.D.
VR: Full-body, sensory experience
Getting up on our feet using our
body commit skills to memory
and aid in retention and application
The superpowers of VR learning:
2. Embodied cognition, “muscle memory”

15. Recruit workforce for the
finishing trades
industries: Painters,
drywallers and glazers.
Challenge:
Let recruits experience an
immersive, high-fidelity
work experience on a
construction site
Solution:
Read case and watch video:
https://www.gronstedtgroup.com/ifti

16. 10,000 hours to mastery:
Small, achievable
practice steps with
immediate feedback.
Prof. Anders Ericsson
Video tutorials Feedback after
mistakes and
unlimited re-do’s
The superpowers of VR learning:
3. Deliberate practice

17. Train security installation technician to
wire industrial access control systems
Challenge:
Solution:
VR installation sim with three different
learning levels, starting with video tutorials
and ending with a capstone free-playing
level with timed competition.

18. 1. Learning Level:
Step-by-step video
tutorial and highlights
on the circuit board
The superpowers of VR learning:
3. Deliberate practice
2. Professional Level:
Step-by-step
text instruction
3. Expert Level:
Free play, time pressure
Level progression
Read case and watch video:
https://www.gronstedtgroup.com/alarm

19. + managing team
Level progression
Dry Grocery
Lawn & Garden
Bakery & deli
Apparel
Cashier
+ management
+ customer
service
Entertainment
+ business
acumen
+ training team
+ security
Variations of a concept will teach
the underlying structure
The superpowers of VR learning:
3. Deliberate practice
Read case and watch video:
https://www.gronstedtgroup.com/walmart

20. Same state of mind when
learning and recalling
The superpowers of VR learning:
4. State-dependent retention

21. Same state of mind when
learning and recalling
The superpowers of VR learning:
4. State-dependent retention
Driving: Physical stress
Microaggression:
Psychological
stress

22. The superpowers of VR learning:
5. Visualization Beyond re-creating reality
– extending reality.
Scale and perspective:
Miniaturizing yourself into a
Fantastic Voyage/
Magic School-Bus ride inside
equipment or the body

23. Buyers must travel far to see
industrial chillers and can’t see
under the hood.
Challenge:
Solution:
The ultimate customer VR
experience with “X-ray vision” to
watch the flow of liquid and vapor
inside the equipment.
Read case and watch video:
https://www.gronstedtgroup.com/daikin

24. Survey:
“Please rate the value of
the VR Experience:”
Great Value: 80%
Some
Value: 20%
Little Value: 0%
Sales Launch event
with 1,500 reps and
customers
The superpowers of VR learning:
6. Engagement Ultimate captive audience

25. Step inside the story and
become the protagonist
The ultimate empathy machine
The superpowers of VR learning:
7. Storytelling & Empathy

26. Improving service and empathy by
teaching team members to see the
world through the customer’s eyes.
Challenge:
Solution:
“Walk around” a 3D virtual dialysis
clinic solving issues.
Read case and watch video:
https://www.gronstedtgroup.com/davita

27. The superpowers of VR learning:
8. Analytics and AI machine learning
Head and eye tracking
Length and frequency of
looking at the rear mirror
Hand/body tracking
Are the hands angled
correctly to not interrupt
airflow?
Heatmaps
Visualize analytics spatially
(walking, looking, hand
movements)
Physiological response
Heart rates, brain waves, and
“cognitive load”

28. Shared learning space for
students and instructors to
interact seamlessly and
learn with and from each
other in the performance
environment.
The superpowers of VR learning:
9. Social learning

29. Reduce training cost
 Speed: Doesn’t just collapse space;
it collapses time
 On-demand training
 Lower instructor, facility & travel cost
 Fewer operational disruptions
Improved job performance
 Better efficiency, quality and value
 Lower accident rate
Higher engagement
 Reduce turnover
 Improve talent acquisition

30. The metaverse:
The workplace is moving to the digital workspace
The buzz around metaverse has reached
a fever pitch and it’s elevating the VR
conversation from training to C-suite.
Impacts every function of the company.
Align to enterprise metaverse strategy:
• Marketing product placement
• Venue for sales meetings
• Digital twins for operations, etc.

31. Define Design Develop Deploy
Learning
design
Device & content
management
Student reporting
Design Develop Deploy
Prototyping,
user testing,
and iterating
3D art &
programming
Define
Define
Scoping for
max impact
within budget
Business
problem

32. Instead of crowding with a co-pilot and instructor
in a $12 million sawed-off cockpit on hydraulics…
… interact with students and
instructors from all over the
world from your couch with a
$299 VR headset