Virtual Reality in Professional Training: An Example from the Field of Bank Counselling

Abstract

Virtual Reality has become a mature and widespread technology in many application fields, including design, industry, defense, health care, and gaming. Also, in education, the potential of immersive technologies is acknowledged more commonly. Evidence-based insights in the mechanisms and impacts of VR trainings are still sparse, however. This paper introduces a VR-based professional training solution for bank counsellors, where soft skills, communication skills, attention, and awareness are in the focus. In a study, we compared a VR-based training solution with a face-to-face presence training covering the same domain. The results show that the VR solutions excelled the expectations of participants and that learning motivation was higher as opposed to the conventional presence training. In the perceived effectiveness, the VR condition achieved equal results than the face-to-face training condition. The results provide some evidence that VR solutions are an appropriate and effective solution in professional training. Moreover, the study revealed distinct characteristics that make VR-based training more accepted and satisfying than conventional trainings