To train for the future of manufacturing, companies can’t rely on the teaching methods of the past. Applications of virtual reality (VR) and the metaverse are opening new frontiers for immersive learning experiences, and industries such as manufacturing are reaping the rewards.Since travel is expensive and time-consuming, and classrooms can be limited in scope, virtual reality (VR) offers a promising alternative to facilitate rich, personal interactions using digital tools.“The goal is not to replicate real life, but to extend it,” explains Gemba CEO, Nathan Robinson.
Come to the metaverse
One of the company’s most popular classes is Leading the Factory of the Future, co-led by Dr. Frank Piller. In the masterclass, Piller leads C-suite executives across industries through establishing and running manufacturing facilities in the era of Industry 4.0.Piller is a leading expert in innovation management and the Chair of the Institute for Technology & Innovation Management at RWTH Aachen University. To date, he has taught the future factories masterclass more than 20 times, both in-person and in the metaverse. “Now, we will never go back to traditional teaching,” said Piller, describing the course’s transition to VR.Prior to being transferred over to the Gemba platform, Piller’s class was delivered in-person, and saw participation from C-suite executives across the globe. With this small upfront investment, Piller sees a high degree of engagement with participants who can focus on the content as opposed to the technology.
The Best of Both Worlds
Piller says the goal is not to simply move their in-person class to a virtual platform, but to truly teach in a way that is not possible in traditional courses. With the Gemba platform, these types of classes can combine digital tools with live interactions to better instruct on leading large-scale companies of the future.One interesting aspect of the Gemba platform is their approach to avatars in the metaverse. For the first phase of their masterclasses, the focus was on the course design and delivery, with significantly less emphasis put on the avatar design. As the VR system is wireless, the course relies on graphics limited by a smartphone, as opposed to a wired, computer system. Or participants can “walk” along a line to illustrate the degree to which they agree or disagree with a statement. All of these interactions can be paired with 3D video and instruction that lends to an immersive training experience. When transitioning the in-person class to the VR platform, the goal was to ask, “what is meaningful in VR?” So, instead of the class being about VR or the metaverse, it focuses on using the unique platform to deliver a one-of-a-kind teaching environment.
Training to Meet Industry 4.0
Now, global clients such as Coca-Cola, Johnson and Johnson, and Caterpillar are using the Gemba platform and masterclasses to deliver safety training, leadership programs, and advanced manufacturing instruction for employees at all levels. One benefit is the ability to rapidly deliver new training programs at scale, with no travel required. For Piller’s course, the metaverse makes it possible for participants to receive guest instruction from multiple leaders in next-generation manufacturing, including Porsche, Bosch, and Siemens. Porsche, for example, leads a session on data-driven decision-making in Industry 4.0.One final benefit of teaching in the metaverse is the reduced environmental impact. With recent successes, it will be interesting to see where the next phase of the platform takes the company and how the metaverse will continue to shape training at all levels of manufacturing.
A Start to the 2020s
In many ways, the COVID-19 pandemic irreversibly altered our day-to-day lives. Robinson noted that the pandemic accelerated the adoption of certain technologies that previously received a great deal of pushback. Prior to the pandemic, many companies were insistent that employees were not capable of working from home. However, once it became a necessity for safety, a massive shift was rapidly adopted to transform the everyday working experience.One excellent example of this is the adoption of the metaverse. Gemba’s platform existed before the pandemic, and many investors were skeptical in the early days that C-suite executives and large corporations would ever adopt such a training system. With VR, you can travel anywhere in the world, bring in a any global leader in a given field, and enforce an immersive environment.”
