BLOG

How to Thrive in an Extended Reality (XR) World

Adopting XR into your organization? Learn the four easy steps to help you thrive in an XR world and benefit from these innovations.

How close are industries to an XR world?

Every day we move closer to realizing the evolution of immersive experiences provided by Extended Reality (XR).

XR’s core elements of VR (virtual reality), AR (augmented reality), and MR (mixed reality) play a pivotal role in its adoption. 87% of businesses surveyed have shown interest in exploring, piloting, or deploying MR technology.

Organizations are continuing to explore the true potential of XR. With our four step guide, we will prepare you to thrive in an XR world.

Step 1: Develop your Organization’s XR Strategy

Who is responsible for guiding your teams’ XR journey in the right direction? Your organizational leaders! The involvement of your leaders will prepare your team for the new reality of XR once your strategy is implemented to support your team’s learning capabilities.

Consider the following during XR strategy development:

Benefits: Determine which processes, areas, and employees in your organization will benefit from XR technology.
Concerns: Think from your workforce’s perspective—understand how you will address any concerns on job roles, data privacy, and work distribution.
Training: Identify those employees already with XR skills and those in need of further knowledge.
Budget: Adding XR technology will require researchers, software engineers, and project managers.
- Do you currently have these roles on your team or will you need to outsource?
- Are you able to afford the new technology for all areas or just one?

Step 2: Identify Business Cases for XR Technology

Industries across the globe are being disrupted by XR technology. Surveys by Perkins Cole LLP uncovered the top five industries disrupted:

Let’s explore a few examples of areas which businesses have considered for XR technology immersion.

Top five business uses identified (Microsoft and Harvard Business Review):

Training and educating employees (54%)
Visualizing and analyzing data (49%)
Assisting customers and employees remotely (38%)
Selling products or services (32%)
Collaborating in group settings (27%)

You understand your organization better than anyone else. This includes how XR’s disruption will create possibilities for you and your team. Once you have a strategy in mind of how XR can make an impact, you can identify business cases in your organization.

Step 3: Put Your XR Strategy into Practice

With your business case for XR in place, you are ready to put a strategy into practice. This starts with the following considerations:

Platform mobility and integration: Understand how you will use the technology and devices needed such as computer, headset, tablet, and more.
Procedural changes: Modify any organization policies on privacy, data, system uses, and device locations
Human-first approach: Advise your teams how XR will evolve their daily work, and any safety/learning changes.

Step 4: Measure Results and Adapt

Measurement and adaptation of processes is essential for implementing change. Great organizations understand this as they strive for their team’s success.

When assessing XR’s impact, it’s important to review your processes which affect your team’s productivity and learning. This can involve:

Technology usage: Consider all tools and resources used to implement XR in your organization.
- Did the content in the 3D object library engage your employees?
Data collection: Collect data on your XR processes through employee satisfaction surveys or XR analytics tools.
Potential barriers: Once implemented, evaluate your XR processes for bottlenecks. Some of these issues could include:
- Lack of availability on multiple devices.
- Risk of stolen devices and data security.
- Potential health concerns based on user experience.

This final step is an ongoing process for your organization. Being proactive allows your organization to be one step ahead of the latest XR technology trends. Keep iterating and adapt to maintain your edge.

What’s Next?

Adopting XR into your organization has potential to elevate the way you run your business across many areas. Understanding these steps will give you the knowledge to thrive in an XR world.

Looking for support on XR implementation? Connect with our experts today to learn more.

Or read our Benefits of XR White Paper!

TRUSTED BY GREAT BRANDS