Apple’s new Vision Pro augmented reality headset has paved the way for an entirely new kind of content, known as spatial computing. With Apple executives openly discussing education as a key development sector for the technology, education professionals have to wonder: how will spatial computing change our learners’ journeys? No matter whether you’re educating surgical residents or a primary school history class, augmented reality is the next step in delivering transformational outcomes. Let’s take a look at three key ways that the Apple Vision Pro will transform the training and education space.

1. Utilise the Learning Space

The key feature that pushed Apple to delve into augmented reality (AR) instead of virtual reality (VR) is the ability for users to interact with both physical and digital environments simultaneously. For education sectors, this means that an Apple Vision Pro can transform a wall into a whiteboard, a table into a workbench, a desk into a vehicle, and so much more. Immersive learning has long been a powerful method for delivering transformative learning – and soon, learners don’t even need to leave the classroom to find these experiences. 

Imagine a firefighting trainer being able to walk cadets through a burning building without harm. Imagine a factory’s health and safety officer being able to project defects onto intact machinery. Imagine being able to train mining engineers on controlled detonations in detailed scenarios without damaging anything. All these and more are possible from a simple, average classroom, through AR.

2. Interact with Content in New and Personalised Ways

While content that truly adapts to the needs of the user is still a ways off, the Apple Vision Pro’s VisionOS is already giving education designers new tools for structuring and developing content that can be flexible, non-linear, and personalised. Out of the box, VisionOS apps offer users controls to modify scale, level of interaction and degree of realism, as well as parental controls that allow these settings to be positioned where the supervisor needs. As more development happens, we can expect these tools to grow and adapt for specific training needs, and to see AR learning environments that take full advantage of the flexibility of interaction made possible by the headsets.

3. Transform Collaboration and Communication

Collaboration and communication are both key parts to any educational process. After all, almost every workplace will require teamwork, so instilling those skills during the education process is a simple way to create workplace-ready professionals. With the Apple Vision Pro, however, collaboration and communication can move beyond just social skills: AR can simulate personal knowledge and show learners how to act in a role with access to unique information. 

For example, imagine three learners being trained in workplace health and safety processes in a factory. All three have the same baseline knowledge of this facility and the equipment in use. One user has tooltips turned on to inform them on the purpose of each equipment piece. Another has the ability to see specific faults, such as cracks or leaks, that the others cannot. The last can only see the factory space as it is in reality, and must rely on what is told to them to avoid danger. This simple scenario simulates a health and safety officer, a worker who spots a defect, and a worker who doesn’t, and allows all three to realistically navigate an extremely common workplace situation without fear of danger, learn the processes around that situation, and develop their collaboration and communication skills all at once.

Here at Ardacious, we’re combining decades of education and training experience with years of hands-on development time building AR environments to create exactly the kinds of training scenarios described above. If you are a registered training organisation and you see the value in creating safe, controlled, and highly effective training programs utilising augmented reality and spatial computing, reach out today at https://ardacious.com/contact/. We’d love to discuss what we can build for you.