VR Training Platform Overview Guide

Written by:

Talespin Team

Since 2015 we’ve been building a VR training platform designed to deliver better training experiences for employees, and better learning outcomes for organizations.

However, we know VR training and the associated technologies can be confusing at times, and come with their fair share of buzzwords and hype.

To help cut through that noise, we’ve put together this guide to Talespin’s VR training platform—outlining its three main components, and explaining how they work together to create an end-to-end VR training platform that covers everything from custom VR training content creation to deployment and training analytics.

Sections of this Overview Guide:

About the Talespin VR Training Platform
VR Training Platform Component 1: Off-the-Shelf VR Training Content Library
VR Training Platform Component 2: No-Code Custom VR Training Content Creation Tool
VR Training Platform Component 3: Skills Analytics Dashboard
Frequently Asked Questions

About the Talespin VR Training Platform

The Talespin VR training platform is designed to offer an end-to-end, one stop shop for immersive learning.

You can use this platform to adopt premade VR training modules, create your own custom VR training modules without coding, and measure VR training performance using its skills analytics dashboard.

The three key components of this VR training platform are:

An off-the-shelf VR training content library that presents itself as a fast and simple adoption method for getting started in VR learning
A no-code content creation tool for creating custom VR training modules
An analytics dashboard for tracking VR training performance and employee skills development over time

In addition to these three main components, the Talespin VR training platform also includes underlying technologies that make adopting VR training easy, like:

LMS and LXP integration options
Content distribution to VR headsets or browser streaming on desktop and laptop computers
A single application for content publishing instead of needing multiple VR applications, simplifying information security

With the basics covered, let’s take a look at each of the key components of the platform in more detail.

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VR Training Platform Component 1: Off-the-Shelf VR Training Content Library

The Talespin VR training platform comes with an off-the-shelf content library containing more than 40 immersive learning modules. These modules cover skills development needs that are common across job roles and industries, such as leadership and communication skills training.

*VR training modules in Talespin’s premade content library enable learners to practice soft skills in VR using role play with virtual human characters.*

This content library can be used for use cases like employee onboarding, manager upskilling and reskilling, and leadership development.

This Conflict Resolution VR training module is an example of one of the premade soft skills training modules that comes with the Talespin platform.

Knowing that creating custom VR content still takes time even with how easy no-code content creation tools have made it (see more below), off-the-shelf VR training content solves several challenges for companies looking to adopt VR training.

Quick and Easy Implementation - Our VR training content library is being used by dozens of organizations and hundreds of thousands of employees thanks to proven deployment methods
Better Learning Outcomes - VR training from Talespin is proven to accelerate learning, improve employee engagement, increase focus, and increase knowledge retention
High-Quality Content Standards - Content in our platform’s library is made by learning designers and subject matter experts
Versatility - Pre-made VR training modules can be used in several ways, like being implemented for use cases like employee onboarding and communication skills training, or paired with custom VR training modules to make tailored VR training programs for your organization

These benefits culminate in a VR training content offering that gives you the ease of use you’re accustomed to with e-learning content, but in a more engaging and effective training modality.

Examples of VR Training Modules

To exemplify the types of content you can find in the library, we’ve listed a few examples of the off-the-shelf content that comes with the platform below:

The Effective Behavioral Feedback VR training module is another example of one of the 40+ VR training modules that come with the Talespin platform.

Effective Behavioral Feedback - Learners practice giving performance feedback to a direct report who made offensive comments in a company wide-meeting
Virtual Leadership - Learners will develop skills to build interconnected teams while navigating a hybrid work environment
Psychological Safety - Learners will develop key skills like practicing humility, actively listening, and advocating for team members in order to create a psychologically safe team

Check out more examples of the VR training modules in the Talespin platform’s content library: Virtual Reality Training Examples to Inspire Your Training Programs

Distribution Options

As mentioned above, both off-the-shelf VR training content from the Talespin platform’s premade library and custom VR training modules made with the platform can be distributed in multiple ways.

Virtual Reality HMDs
The most prominent distribution method for VR training content is with virtual reality head mounted displays (HMDs). Both our content library and custom VR training modules created with our platform can be deployed to VR HMDs like the Meta Quest.

Training modules publish to the Talespin App, where learners can access all content in a single location.

2D Desktop Browser Streaming

Another great deployment option is streaming immersive learning content on desktop and laptop computer browsers.

With this option, immersive learning content is consumed on 2D devices. Learners use their computer’s audio hardware or keyboard and mouse input to navigate the experience, maintaining a higher level of immersion in comparison to e-learning. This modality also offers simple distribution, as you can distribute content to devices that employees already have on hand.

Learn more about deployment options for VR training: Distributing Immersive Learning Content: An Overview Of XR Devices, 2D Devices And LMS Integration

Our off-the-shelf VR training content library is a critical part of our platform. It offers a starting point for many of our customers to adopt VR for the first time, demonstrates the types of custom VR training content that you can make, and addresses critical training needs across job roles and industries.

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VR Training Platform Component 2: No-Code Custom VR Training Content Creation Tool

While an argument can be made that there is something for everyone in the Talespin VR training platform’s pre-made content library, there are situations in which content customization is needed in order to achieve learning objectives—that is where custom VR training content comes into play.

The second key component of our platform is its custom VR training content creation tool called CoPilot Designer. CoPilot Designer is a no-code VR training content creation platform that makes it possible for anyone to create VR content without the need for coding, animation, or 3D asset creation skills or software.

Just a few years ago you needed to have a large budget and access to skilled talent in areas like VR application development (engineers), 3D artists to produce virtual environments and assets, and animators to design the user interactions within VR training experiences.

This created a significant barrier to entry for adopting VR training, blocking many organizations, and preventing learning designers, instructional designers, and learning and development professionals across industries from being able to create VR training content.

Enter: no-code custom VR training content creation tools like CoPilot Designer. We built CoPilot Designer to bring the same ease of use to VR training content creation that the other no code tools have brought to things like web development and graphic design.

Its drag and drop tools for learning experience design, animation, publishing tools, and free 3D asset libraries eliminate the need for coding, animation, and asset production in order to create a VR training module.

Let’s take a look at CoPilot Designer’s key components and explain the role they play in helping you create immersive learning experiences.

Narrative Design

CoPilot Designer’s “Flow Editor” is a narrative design tool that lets you use a drag and drop editing interface to write dialogue sequences, designing conversations that are aligned to the learning objectives and skills that a module is intended to teach or assess.

This includes writing the dialogue options employees can speak during simulated role play, as well as writing the dialogue that virtual human characters will speak in return. These dialogue sequences will lead to a design for a branching narrative that employees will be tasked with navigating in a learning module.

Using a node-based authoring system, you can write dialogue nodes for the learner or virtual character, as well as create other node types, like scoring nodes that track key learning points and the application of specific skills.

Virtual Environment and Virtual Human Character Assets Libraries

CoPilot Designer comes with a free asset library of virtual environments that can be used to create custom VR training experiences, eliminating the need for spending time or money on creating assets.

Another key component of CoPilot Designer is its asset library of virtual environments and virtual human characters. These assets can be thought of as templates, allowing you to pull from pre-made assets when designing VR training modules.

‍Virtual Environments

Virtual environments are where VR training “takes place,” and are the VR equivalent of a training classroom or the setting in which an e-learning video takes place. The environment is the setting for a VR simulation, and can be thought of as where employees “go” when they put on a VR headset. This free asset library includes virtual training environments ranging from office spaces to classrooms to industry specific facilities like medical facilities, warehouses, and storefronts.

This is an example of a virtual environment from the asset library. This office environment could be used to create simulations for use cases like difficult workplace conversations, sales training, and collaboration.

3D virtual environments are where VR training modules take place, and represent the virtual location learners can explore during learning modules.

CoPilot Designer, for example, features a library of pre-made virtual environments that can be used to create custom VR training modules. For example, you could use a virtual office environment to create a module teaching sales skills. Or you could use a home office environment to create a VR training module designed to teach Virtual Leadership skills related to hybrid work.

Virtual Human Characters

Virtual human characters play a critical role in VR soft skills training modules. These characters serve as virtual role play partners for difficult workplace conversations, for example, or mentors that coach employees through training simulations.

Previously these characters would have needed to be created as custom 3D assets, requiring a 3D design resource or an outsourcing budget for a 3D artist or vendor.

A key feature of a no-code VR training content creation platform like CoPilot Designer is a free asset library of virtual human characters—this negates the need to create custom characters yourself.

The virtual human asset library features a range of characters and attire, making it possible to design simulations ranging from workplace conversations featuring virtual characters in business casual clothing to healthcare training scenarios featuring virtual humans dressed as doctors or nurses.

With the ability to pair any character in the library with different clothing and voice templates (read more on voice during the animation section), you have the power of custom virtual human avatars without the time or cost required to create them.

Drag and Drop Animation System

Designing the mannerisms, speech, and body language or virtual characters is simplified by no-code tools that have a draft and drop animation system. This eliminates the need for animation skills or animation software when creating custom VR training content.

The next critical feature set in CoPilot Designer is its animation toolset. Called the “Performance Editor,” you can use this toolset’s drag and drop interface to assign animations and emotions to the virtual characters that match your narrative dialogue.

For example, if the dialogue node you wrote is a line that would typically be spoken with anger or a level of frustration in the real world, you can add an animation preset for those emotions in the Performance Editor.

*The Performance Editor in CoPilot Designer allows you to design the body language, mannerisms, and speech of virtual characters in custom VR training modules.*

By the time you are done with this step, each piece of dialogue from your VR training module’s narrative design will have a corresponding animation to go with it in the final VR training experience.

The Performance Editor features a preview tool where you can watch your animations and make adjustments in real-time.

The Performance Editor is also where you can assign voices to your virtual characters by selecting from the available voice library, or uploading your own custom voice over.

If we zoom out a level, the combination of the narrative design feature (Flow Editor) and the animation tools (Performance Editor) enable you to write custom VR training scripts, and to bring those scripts to life through custom animation and voice over. The result? Emotionally realistic immersive learning experiences that engage learners.

Publishing Tools

Content created with CoPilot Designer can be published using the same deployment methods described above for off-the-shelf content.

Once you’ve finished creating a VR training module, you’ll be taken to a publishing screen where you can decide whether to publish content to VR devices, desktop and laptop browser streaming, or both.

Publishing is the final step in creating custom content with Talespin’s VR training platform, meaning you are ready for deployment to employees and to start measuring the results of your VR training program.

Learn more about CoPilot Designer: How Does a Custom VR Training Content Creation Tool Work? - Overview of Key Features

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VR Training Platform Component 3: Skills Analytics Dashboard

With VR training content creation (or procurement of off-the-shelf content) and deployment covered, the next piece of the platform needed to deliver a comprehensive VR training program is the skills analytics dashboard.

Skills Analytics From VR Training

*This skills performance chart tracks performance in VR training modules overtime, exemplifying the types of data that can be tracked using the our VR training platform's analytics Dashboard.*

The Talespin platform’s Dashboard tracks employee training performance within VR training modules. You can track things like:

Individual learner performance within a specific learning module, including data on the application of specific skills taught within the module
Historic learner performance for a specific learning module. Ex. Measuring improvement over time for a particular learning module
Historic learner performance for specific skills. Ex. Assessing the application of empathy across multiple learning modules
Learning module performance for a group of learners at a team, department, or organizational level. Ex. Analyzing a sales team’s performance on a specific VR sales training module
Historic performance for specific skills for a group of learners at a team, department, or organizational level. Ex. Assessing a sales team’s development of specific sales skills over time

This data can be used to guide talent development for individuals, as well as at the team, business unit, and organizational level.

VR Training Content Management

The platform Dashboard also features CMS features for managing your VR training content—both custom content you’ve created yourself with the no-code content creation tool, as well as modules from the off-the-shelf library.
You can do things like:

Assign training modules to employees
Search training modules by the specific skills covered in each module

Administration

The Talespin VR training platform’s Dashboard also features all of the administration tools you’d expect from enterprise grade software. This includes things like:

User administration
User license management
Single sign-on (SSO)
Integration management with LMSs and LXPs

Overall, Dashboard is a critical component of Talespin’s VR training platform. It underpins the other key components of the platform like the content library and design tool, ensuring a seamless end-to-end experience from content creation all the way through to content deployment to employees and analytics.

These feature sets combine to offer you a central location for managing your VR training programs.

Key Benefits of the Talespin VR Training Platform

End-to-end VR training program creation and management from content publishing to deployment and training performance analytics
Integrations with leading LMSs and LXPs
Content distribution to VR headsets and desktop and laptop computers to reach employees anywhere regardless of device
Proven VR training efficacy - our platform was used in PwC’s VR training study to prove the ROI of immersive learning
Better employee engagement — from Fortune 500 employees to high school aged learners, the Talespin platform receives positive feedback from its users

Frequently Asked Questions About the Talespin VR Training Platform

What is Talespin VR?

Talespin VR is a virtual reality platform that enables organizations to create VR training programs in industries such as healthcare, retail, insurance and hospitality. The platform uses VR technology to simulate real-world scenarios and train employees on various skills and processes. The platform offers three primary components for creating VR training programs:

A VR training content library
A No-code custom VR training content creation tool
A skills analytics dashboard for measuring VR training performance

Can VR be used for training?

Yes, VR can be used for training purposes. VR technology provides an immersive and interactive environment that can simulate real-life situations and allow learners to practice and make mistakes without any real-world consequences. VR training can be used for a wide range of applications, such as leadership and communication skills training, medical training simulations, safety training, and more.

What are the tools for immersive learning?

For VR training, two key components are needed: the VR head mounted display, or headset, that the training will be consumed on, and the VR training software application that will provide the VR training content that the user will consume.

With the maturation of the VR training industry in recent years, these two key components of what is needed for VR training are straightforward to procure, as there are several VR HMD options available on the market, and most VR training platforms are compatible with them.

For the training content itself, there are also several options available on the market. These include off-the-shelf VR training content libraries, and no-code content creation tools that enable the creation of custom VR training content modules.

Final Thoughts About Our VR Training Platform

We’ve built the Talespin VR training platform to make adopting VR easy. This includes offering an off-the-shelf VR training content library that you can quickly adopt for numerous use cases, an easy-to-use VR training content creation tool that makes it possible for anyone to create VR content, and an analytics dashboard that measures your training programs.

We felt these components of our platform were needed to help people adopt VR training more easily, and to experience its benefits firsthand. We hope this guide offers a helpful overview of our platform, and is beneficial in your research and consideration of VR training for your own organization.

VR Training Platform Overview Guide - Talespin