Learning and Development in the Metaverse

This article assumes you already know the basics about the metaverse. If you need a quick summary, read our explanatory article here.

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Estimated reading time: 6 minutes.

TL;DR:

• Fictive Reality is already positioned to provide AI corporate dialogue training all across the metaverse.
• The metaverse is expanding contexts of virtual learning experiences. This improves long-term retention and learning.

• The learning applications will be interoperable and stretch all over the metaverse. The learning user interfaces will follow you around and coach you, whenever and wherever.

• The focal point of the learning experience is the individual (the “player”) and softwares will tailor the experience to the individual.

• Metaverse teachers will be more like content creators and will be using different tools to create learning experiences.

The digital learnolution

Fictive Reality is creating a dialogue training and development application for VR (& desktop) and it is interesting to think about how it will meld into the metaverse. It is rather safe to assume that training and education will take a more interactive and immersive form. The precursors of metaverse learning, such as:

- Duolingo and other gamified learning apps

- Peer-graded courses (such as Coursera)

- Simulators

- Video tutorials (created by individual actors on platforms such as Youtube)

All these could be a trend indicator of what the learning experience would be like in the metaverse.

Outside, inside and in between the simulation

Rather than to study in the conventional sense, the metaversal studying would be experienced and practised. The experiential learning of simulations is effective in retaining learning. The trainee would be informed about the scenario, almost like doing the scenario in real life and without the consequential risk of failing. VR simulations are especially effective as the spatiality (both sound and visuals) makes it easier to form an associate link to and create a context out of. Contextual memory is a crucial part of long-term retention. 

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What the metaverse offers is a link between different applications, which today is through operating systems, app stores, web browsers or any other type of two-dimensional user interface. The contexts and rituals one would have about, for example working at an office and the routines, travelling, spaces, people and their facial expressions, smells would be lost in two dimensional user interface. The metaverse expands the context (out of the training application) and will most likely be used in highly creative ways to optimise learning through ceremonies and mind-bending links as the virtual world is not constrained by physical laws and relationships. The training application would be able to track you whenever and wherever and could cue you to remember or act in a certain way. All this on top of plugging in all your owned digital items (fashion) or services. The metaverse will be flexible.

Machines adapting to your personality

The individual will most likely be the focal point of metaverse learning, balancing the dynamic of teaching software and the student. Teaching in the past has been students adapting to the teachers. The intersection of AI is of importance as it is an automated way for the 'code' to configure to the practising person. The AI would be implementable outside and inside of services so you would get feedback whenever or whatever you are learning. If you have seen the movie Her (2013) you can get an idea of how the AI can assist you in your daily life and the metaverse (and even fall in love with Her).

Games, learning and being the hero

The idea of interactive VR is that the experiencer is given a central part of the learning process and would be able to explore the subject from varied angles. Rather than having an instructor who provides the same formula to the entire class, trainees would arrive at conclusions using a wider range of abilities in a curated exploration. Try to imagine how many different solutions to a problem a video game has and what decides you to make certain actions. This type of approach is lucrative due to enabling the trainee to learn at a chosen pace and reach conclusions by interacting with a high degree of freedom. As well with a narrative, the learning experience could make you believe you are saving the world while learning something useful. The metaversal learning experience would enable multiple approaches to a problem and thus stimulate creative and critical thinking. This is true for the success behind Duolingo. Duolingo is structured around quizzes which you do all the way to the most advanced stages of comprehending any of their language courses. You, as a “player”, are given the essential role whether the course can progress or not and there is a degree of choice on how you want to progress. 

Communities and education

The provided education solutions will most likely be customisable, as the required learning scenarios would differ a lot. Rather than giving an already-made course, developers will provide building tools and let communities create their own sharable learning content. The way content creators create video tutorials as means to market their expertise would be given a whole different meaning in the metaverse. Teaching in the future would naturally be more of a content creator role. The learning material would have a social and spatial dimension which would give it more context. You would be able to connect with pupils from all around the world and learn from them, in an immersive way. Contemporary video conferences cause the social interactions to be centrally focused, unlike physical space where it is more distributed and social learning would flourish spontaneously. The metaverse is all about more choice.

Interoperability means a more specialised world 

With the utility of digital ownership companies would be able to focus on their primary objective and let others focus on visual content. The visitor would be able to customise their avatars using external services. Put it like this: the current software paradigm that has to build all the graphic material on top of their main objective, wherever that will be, would be like a restaurant designing customers’ clothes they have to wear visiting the restaurant. Not entirely practical. The interoperability allows for a specialisation when graphical solutions (and many other solutions) are outsourced. Great for teachers and tool builders to leave them to focus on what they are best at, without sacrificing beauty nor utility. 

We are ready for the metaverse

Fictive Reality has already positioned itself accordingly to all of these predictions. We are an AI-company providing dialogue training and recruitment assessment for VR (and desktop, until the metaverse is here). Although the metaverse is not here yet, we are already ready to face it - and will be part of the first applications (as we are already part of Meta’s developer program). We have had long discussions about connecting our app to social virtual platforms and eventually you will be able to carry our AI into any virtual world you want.

We created the tool and the simulations are created by you (and your corporation’s needs). Whether you want to train leadership or sales or even recruit on the metaverse. We are building a community around creating good learning content, which we cannot wait to see in the metaverse. We believe that the best training experience comes from practising and exploring at your own pace, and picking up speed as you get more fluent. Our application adapts and learns from the user and gives appropriate feedback which further stimulates learning. By immersing yourself in the simulation you will retain the learning and learn from failing over and over again, without repercussions.