Virtual Training World Out-Of-The-Box

Now that I am back on homeground after a whirlwind trip to the 3D event in Washington, I have had a chance to reflect on some of the highlights. One of the biggest eye openers for me was discovering Qwaq. Whats Qwaq you say? Well, in my view one of the biggest breakthroughs in making Virtual Worlds accessible to a wider training audience. Let me explain. If you want to use a Virtual World for training there is normally a stepwise process to conceptualize, develop and programme the 3D models for your buildings and rooms, reformat and import the required media objects, train new users on customizing their avatars and of course train people on how to navigate the new environment and manipulate their avatars. These are just some of the steps. Some virtual worlds like Protosphere and Olive come with ready-made classrooms and structures for you to customize. However, with for example Second Life there is a lot of work to buy the island, and create the setting you want for your training. All well and good if you have the time, money and expertise. With Qwaq, its all there out-of-the-box and with a price tag that, compared to some of the bigger players, won't break the bank to get a taste of a virtual world environment. Thats why I am excited. I have been using Qwaq for only a short time but believe it offers so many built in features and functionality, I really question going elsewhere. With (VOIP) Voice Over IP, document drag and drop from your desktop, inworld multi-editing (even of PowerPoint, Word, etc.), pre-built avatars, a small application easy to download and setup, choice of over 7 ready-made rooms and environments with a large collection of furniture, posters, panels, etc. you simply pop and resize into your world, Qwaq is a great first-entry Virtual Training Centre. No additional progamming required.

We are only at the start of really understanding how Virtual Worlds can be used for training. No-ones knows where this is heading and how we can fully benefit from using these technologies to enhance the learning experience. At the same time, the virtual world industry as a whole is still in the early innovation phase so there is no gold standard yet available that you can simply follow. What we can do, however, is to pilot these tools with the new learners coming into our organizations who are expecting more of a gaming/simulation knowledge environment. We need to be prepared to take risks and fail occasionally if we are to begin to leverage this new technology. I think Qwaq allows us to test the waters of Virtual Worlds and open our eyes to new fresh training opportunties and collaboration scenarios. If we all agree, there is no Internet-ready virtual world built yet with the power, graphics and immersive capability of an advanced x-box, PS3 or wii game yet, we can at least learn from what platforms are out there today and fine-tune our training for the next generation of learners.