Talespin Expands Immersive Soft Skills Learning Content Library

Talespin

Training solution specialist Talespin has been building up its library of content aimed specifically at helping companies who are keen on improving their employees skills. Further improving its services, today Talespin has announced an expansion of its off-the-shelf learning content library whilst making its services easier to access.

Talespin

Today sees the addition of Recognizing Bias and Practicing Self-Awareness to its library, both powered by Talespin’s CoPilot virtual human training technology. Both feature real-time scoring and feedback to aid a user’s development.

  • Recognizing Bias Module: Learners take on the role of a producer at a fictional large tech company. They are tasked with filling a programmer position with an experienced candidate who can hit the ground running. The learner must interview three candidates and find the right one for the role, while navigating their own biases. They will learn how to identify and mitigate the common biases found in the workplace.
  • Practicing Self-Awareness Module: Learners take on the role of an account manager who recently had to let an important client know that the team will not be able to meet an agreed-upon deadline. After a stressful exchange with their boss about the missed deadline, the learner must effectively identify and manage their emotions in a follow-up meeting with the internal project manager to establish what went wrong. 

“The past year has proven the impact that better learning and deeper skills data can have on solving workforce development challenges,” said Kyle Jackson, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Talespin in a statement. “Our new desktop streaming capability and content will bring the benefits of immersive learning to our customers and learners at scale.” 

Talespin

“The workforce of the future needs prepared leaders with strong communication skills, who can learn and lead, creating a model for work that’s collaborative, inclusive, and productive. Talespin’s new immersive learning content and desktop streaming platform capabilities align with our mission to lower the barrier to entry for professional development, and to accelerate skill attainment and greater accessibility to advanced technology,” said Stephen Yadzinski, senior innovation officer, JFF. “We are excited to expand our partnership with Talespin to continue driving social impact in learning and education.” 

While Talespin has been focused on providing its content via VR headsets its now added desktop content streaming support so that users can access modules through a website link, improving accessibility in the process. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Talespin and soft skills training in VR, reporting back with further updates.

The VR Job Hub: Talespin, Future Visual, Luminous & The Wild

VR Job Hub

Every weekend VRFocus gathers together vacancies from across the virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) industry, in locations around the globe to help make finding that ideal job easier. Below is a selection of roles that are currently accepting applications across a number of disciplines, all within departments and companies that focus on immersive entertainment.

Location Company Role Link
Remote, UK Future Visual UI Artist Click Here to Apply
Remote, UK Future Visual Unity UI Programmer Click Here to Apply
Newcastle, UK Luminous VR/AR Quality Analyst Click Here to Apply
Remote Luminous Unity 3D Developer Click Here to Apply
Remote Luminous Full Stack Dot Net Developer Click Here to Apply
Remote Luminous 3D Environmental Artist Click Here to Apply
Utrecht, Netherlands Talespin Test Automation Engineer Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, CA Talespin Game System Designer Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, CA Talespin Learning Specialist (Freelance) Click Here to Apply
Portland, OR The Wild Saas Account Executive Click Here to Apply

Don’t forget, if there wasn’t anything that took your fancy this week there’s always last week’s listings on The VR Job Hub to check as well.

If you are an employer looking for someone to fill an immersive technology related role – regardless of the industry – don’t forget you can send us the lowdown on the position and we’ll be sure to feature it in that following week’s feature. Details should be sent to Peter Graham (pgraham@vrfocus.com).

We’ll see you next week on VRFocus at the usual time of 3PM (UK) for another selection of jobs from around the world.

The VR Job Hub: Talespin, Oncomfort & Drifter Entertainment

VR Job Hub

Every weekend VRFocus gathers together vacancies from across the virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) industry, in locations around the globe to help make finding that ideal job easier. Below is a selection of roles that are currently accepting applications across a number of disciplines, all within departments and companies that focus on immersive entertainment.

Location Company Role Link
Utrecht, Netherlands Talespin 3D Animation Intern Click Here to Apply
Utrecht, Netherlands Talespin QA Engineer Click Here to Apply
Utrecht, Netherlands Talespin Unity Developer Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, CA Talespin Art Director Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, CA Talespin QA Engineer Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, CA Talespin QA Tester Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, CA Talespin Senior Site Reliability Engineer Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, CA Talespin Senior Software Engineer, Services Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, CA Talespin Senior Software Engineer, XR Applications Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, CA Talespin Learning Experience Designer (Freelance) Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, CA Talespin Narrative Writer (Freelance) Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, CA Talespin Producer Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, CA Talespin UI/UX Designer Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, CA Talespin System Administrator Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, CA Talespin Product Manager Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, CA Talespin Product Owner Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, CA Talespin Technical Project Manager Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, CA Talespin Account Executive Click Here to Apply
Wavre , Belgium Oncomfort Clinical Research Coordinator Click Here to Apply
Wavre , Belgium Oncomfort Account Manager FR Click Here to Apply
Wavre , Belgium Oncomfort Commercial Director Click Here to Apply
Seattle, WA Drifter Entertainment Lead Character TD/Rigger Click Here to Apply
Seattle, WA Drifter Entertainment QA – Game Tester Click Here to Apply
Seattle, WA Drifter Entertainment Mission Design Scripter Click Here to Apply
Seattle, WA Drifter Entertainment Senior Gameplay Engineer Click Here to Apply

Don’t forget, if there wasn’t anything that took your fancy this week there’s always last week’s listings on The VR Job Hub to check as well.

If you are an employer looking for someone to fill an immersive technology related role – regardless of the industry – don’t forget you can send us the lowdown on the position and we’ll be sure to feature it in that following week’s feature. Details should be sent to Peter Graham (pgraham@vrfocus.com).

We’ll see you next week on VRFocus at the usual time of 3PM (UK) for another selection of jobs from around the world.

Qualcomm’s XR Enterprise Program Doubles Membership, Includes Holoride, OssoVR & Talespin

holoride image

Qualcomm has been heavily invested in the XR industry since the early days, creating platforms like Snapdragon XR2 as well as its XR Enterprise Program (XEP) initiative last year. Today, the company has revealed that membership for the programme has doubled in the last twelve months, with over 30 new members joining.

Talespin
Image credit: Talespin

Qualcomm XEP is designed to help accelerate the adoption of virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) technology by bringing together various solution providers from industries including architecture, aerospace, automotive, entertainment, food & beverage, healthcare, pharmaceutical, transportation, travel and many more.

Inaugural members included collaboration platform Spatial, education specialist VictoryXR and VRtuoso which helps businesses create immersive presentations. Joining this roster is SpringboardVR a software distribution platform for location-based entertainment (LBE), holoride which is putting VR entertainment into cars, surgical training platform Osso VR and workplace training solution company Talespin.

“We are all in on our commitment to driving the XR industry forward on a global scale, while simultaneously advancing XR technology for the enterprise,” said Brian Vogelsang, senior director of product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. in a statement. “We are incredibly proud of
what our Qualcomm XEP members have accomplished in the first year and are confident this collection of innovators will be a key component in meeting the increased demands in enterprise for collaboration and remote work, skills training, education and learning, data visualization, and health and wellness solutions.”

Osso VR - headset
Image credit: Osso VR

“holoride is extremely proud to have entered the Qualcomm XEP, as Qualcomm Technologies is a critical player in understanding what is necessary to ensure holoride readiness for both headsets and vehicles,” said Marcus Kuehne, CXO and co-founder of holoride. “Most consumers feel as though their time in the car is currently wasted. Our mission is to
change that with XR technology that provides passengers a way to be entertained, to learn and to even be more productive while getting from A to B.

New members of Qualcomm XEP:

  • Accenture
  • AppliedVR
  • Atheer
  • CoLearn VR
  • DataMesh
  • DengXian VR
  • Dyadmed
  • Exxar
  • Flow Immersive
  • Healium
  • Holoride
  • HypnoVR
  • Imaginate Technologies
  • ImmersiveRehab
  • Incontext Solutions
  • Jingteng Tech
  • Joinpad
  • Masters Of Pie
  • Maxst
  • MotusXR
  • OssoVR
  • PTC
  • Rescape ME
  • SIM8
  • Springboard VR
  • Talespin
  • UltimateCare
  • Virti
  • Virtuleap
  • VR Education Holdings / Engage
  • Xpllore

Expect lots more Qualcomm announcements in the months to come as more devices using the Snapdragon XR2 5G platform are unveiled. When those occur, VRFocus will let you know.

Vive X Doubles Value of Investments, Adds 7 new Startups to Portfolio

VIVE Pro Eye

The HTC Vive X investment program has helped numerous XR companies around the world develop and bring their projects to market over the past few years. This week Vive X announced that the value of its investments has nearly double as well as revealing seven new investments.

Mindesk ViveX

Since its launch in 2016 Vive X facilitated more than 100 deals across its six locations around the world. 17 of those companies in its portfolio have received additional outside funding in the last year, amounting to over $60 million of investment.

Real-time VR CAD collaboration platform Mindesk is one of those companies, recently acquired by Vection Technologies Ltd; an Australian multinational software company.

One area that Vive X has focused on is enterprise software to improve training, collaboration in the workplace and other use cases. “We work closely with our portfolio companies to help them operationally, and we see them not only weathering the economic storm but thriving,” said Marc Metis, Vice President, HTC Vive in a statement. “We will continue to invest aggressively, especially in the area of enterprise XR, where we are able to add considerable value as a leading player with deep market experience.”

BODYSWAPS

As for the seven most recent companies Vive X has invested in, they are:

  • 3Data – “3Data is 3D platform for IT & Cybersecurity Operations. Through the power of WebXR, Artificial Intelligence, and IoT, 3Data fuses multiple real-time data streams and intelligently cross-correlates alerts, logs, and raw sensor data into a Virtual Operations Center allowing remote IT teams to more efficiently detect and respond to threats, reduce downtime and mitigate risk all in a single, collaborative 3D space.”
  • BodySwaps – “BodySwaps is a complete soft skills training solution for corporate and education organizations that combines behavioural science, data and immersive VR simulations to create deep and lasting behavioural change.”
  • Imaged Reality – “Imaged Reality developed 3DGAIA, the first Enterprise VR platform for the Oil Industry that helps to reduce risk and uncertainty by bringing the field to the office. It enables immersive learning and remote collaboration connecting expertise across the globe.”
  • Maze Theory – “Creating narrative experiences centred on active participation, Maze Theory is the developer behind immersive VR experiences like Doctor Who: The Edge of Time and Peaky Blinders, The King’s Ransom.”
  • ORamaVR – “ORamaVR has built the world’s most intelligent VR training simulations for healthcare education and assessment. By applying principles of neuroscience, spatial computing and machine learning, ORamaVR is focused on the rapid acceleration of human learning in medicine.  An award-winning, evidence-based, deep tech start-up, ORamaVR has developed a proprietary software development kit for high-speed, scalable prototyping.”
  • Talespin – “Talespin is building the spatial computing platform to power talent development and skills alignment for the future of work. Founded in 2015, the company leverages its proprietary XR technology platform Runway to deliver XR-based learning and training applications, mixed reality field tools to support employee job performance, and to advance the collection and alignment of skills data.”
  • VantagePoint – “Vantage Point was founded under the belief that while technology can cause apathy, immersive technology can drive empathy and fundamentally make the world more human. Today Vantage Point is actively developing the platform and the products to train people on EQ-driven Soft Skills that matter, with the ultimate goal of enabling humans to unlock their full potential. Vantage Point tackles enterprise training around important topics such as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Workplace Anti-Sexual Harassment training.”

As Vive X continues to support early-stage VR/AR startups, VRFocus will keep you updated.

Talespin’s Latest Training Series ‘Leading Through Uncertainty’ Helps Leaders Navigate Times of Crisis

Talespin - Leading Through Uncertainty

Last month VRFocus reported on training solution specialist Talespin securing new investment, helping expand deployment. Today, the company has announced its latest training modules under the banner of ‘Leading Through Uncertainty,’ designed to help companies navigate difficult scenarios in times of crisis.

Due to the impact the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is having on businesses and the workforce, Talespin has tailored these new modules towards CEO’s, team leaders and other executives.

Utilizing role play with virtual human avatars the ‘Leading Through Uncertainty’ helps users practice key communication skills to deal with today’s challenging situation. These skills include active listening, understanding and empathizing with employees, de-escalation, succinct communication, and self-awareness. 

The five ‘Leading Through Uncertainty’ Learning modules are:

  • Part I: Creating Calmness Through Succinct Communication
  • Part II: Regulating Emotions During Uncertain Times
  • Part III: Communicating Productively with a Distraught Employee
  • Part IV: De-Escalating an Emotionally Charged Situation
  • Part V: Disagreeing Productively During Challenging Times
Talespin - Leading Through Uncertainty

“The COVID-19 pandemic has sent every organization into a period of self-reflection as we ask ourselves: what we can do right now to better take care of our people and customers,” said Talespin CEO and Co-Founder Kyle Jackson in a statement. “We saw ‘Leading Through Uncertainty’ as a way to help organizations take a people-first approach to their business operations, enabling them to leverage XR, one of the most impactful learning and empowerment technologies we’ve ever seen, to better prepare their leaders and teams. COVID-19 has forced us all to face workforce disruption on an accelerated timeline, with remote work, talent gaps, digital transformation, and other ‘future of work’ trends now present as mission-critical challenges, and we’ve designed our platform and our company from the beginning to answer these disruptions.”

The learning modules will be available across both virtual reality (VR) and desktop platforms via Talespin Runway and Cornerstone Ondemand. Runway has a range of other modules such as insurance-specific VR training for areas like water damage or physical car damage.

For further updates on Talespin’s training solutions, keep reading VRFocus.

Talespin Raises $15 Million For AR/VR Enterprise Training

Talespin became famous for a virtual reality demo designed to teach managers how to fire a hapless worker named Barry. Now the company has raised $15 million to further develop extended reality (XR) — using technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality — for enterprise training.

Cloud-based learning software provider Cornerstone OnDemand led the funding round and has announced an ongoing partnership with Talespin to deliver the latter’s XR training solutions to customers. HTC also joined the round as a new investor, with participation from existing investors, including Farmers Insurance Exchange.

Talespin has figured out that companies are willing to pay for VR and AR training because it’s often cheaper than sending poorly prepared workers into real-life situations with expensive enterprise or industrial equipment.

“More and more organizations are using XR solutions to train employees,” said Talespin CEO Kyle Jackson in an email. “With advancements in AI and NLP, we predict this technology will be utilized across the employee life cycle to practice and measure key skills. Soft skills like communication and leadership, in particular, are increasingly needed in workplaces, yet harder to test and train.”

Companies face massive reskilling challenges as they seek to transform their workforces to keep pace with rapidly changing technology, evolving workforce expectations, and growing talent gaps. Soft skills like leadership and communication are at a premium in an increasingly digital world, and process-oriented jobs are changing faster than people can train for them using traditional methods.

Talespin said it addresses these challenges by empowering companies to systematically prepare their workforce for a new, skills-based economy with spatial computing. Talespin’s Runway platform accelerates learning for soft and hard skills and offers advanced skills data to enable purpose-driven career decisions for employees and better talent decisions for organizations.

Talespin’s VR learning content will be made available to customers through Cornerstone’s product offerings. And Talespin’s Runway platform will be integrated with Cornerstone’s Learning Management System to power XR training deployment and skills matching analytics at scale.

One of Talespin’s early customers, Farmers Insurance, also invested in Talespin after seeing good results training its insurance claims adjusters.

Kyle Jackson, CEO of Talespin, at OC6.

Above: Kyle Jackson, CEO of Talespin, at OC6 in 2019.

Image Credit: Dean Takahashi

This new funding brings Talespin’s total raised to $20 million. The company will use the money for  Runway, as well as to expand research and development and continue growing its VR learning content library.

Jackson cofounded Talespin in 2015, and the company currently has 100 employees.

Farmers Insurance has been investing in virtual reality and other technologies to gain a competitive advantage and has opened a new training facility in Phoenix, Arizona, equipped with the latest in VR and AR hardware.

“We started working with Talespin in 2017 to help develop VR training modules specific to home damage assessments for claims employees,” said Tim Murray, head of claims shared services for Farmers Insurance, in an email. “More recently, Farmers worked with Talespin to develop a soft skills program with an AI-powered virtual human, with a focus on simulating collaboration with third parties to empower claims employees to provide a high level of customer service.”

He said this results in a stronger connection to customers and generates more empathy.

“This technology offers Farmers employees a safe place to practice their most critical workplace skills and improve as they go, while making the development of those skills measurable and repeatable,” Murray said. “Ultimately, the VR and AR training, especially the new virtual human training modules, are intended to help improve the overall customer experience by focusing on the moments that matter most.”

This post by Dean Takahashi originally appeared on VentureBeat.

The post Talespin Raises $15 Million For AR/VR Enterprise Training appeared first on UploadVR.

The VR Job Hub: Talespin, Cooperative Innovations & IrisVR

The virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) industries are wonderfully diverse when it comes to the job roles available, always looking to hire the best talent to work on exciting projects. Whether you’ve been an avid fan of the tech for a while or are already involved in some way, today’s VR Job Hub has plenty of new roles which can help you become more involved and shape VR/AR’s future.

Location Company Role Link
Los Angeles, CA Talespin Director, Learning & Research Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, CA Talespin Engineering Manager Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, CA Talespin Interactive Writer Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, CA Talespin Marketing & Communications Coordinator Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, CA Talespin Production Artist Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, CA Talespin Senior 3D Technical Artist Click Here to Apply
Utrecht, Netherlands Talespin 3D Animator Click Here to Apply
Utrecht, Netherlands Talespin QA Tester Click Here to Apply
Utrecht, Netherlands Talespin Unity Developer Click Here to Apply
Utrecht, Netherlands Talespin Unity Developer Intern Click Here to Apply
Leeds, UK Cooperative Innovations Senior UE4 Developer Click Here to Apply
Leeds, UK Cooperative Innovations Quality Assurance/Assistant Producer Click Here to Apply
New York, NY IrisVR Account Executive Click Here to Apply
New York, NY IrisVR B2B Content Marketer (Part-Time) Click Here to Apply
New York, NY IrisVR Full-Stack Engineer Click Here to Apply
New York, NY IrisVR Product Manager – 3D Integrations & Data Pipeline Click Here to Apply
New York, NY IrisVR Senior Immersive Software Engineer Click Here to Apply
New York, NY IrisVR Software Engineer (Test Focused) Click Here to Apply

Don’t forget, if there wasn’t anything that took your fancy this week there’s always last week’s listings on The VR Job Hub to check as well.

If you are an employer looking for someone to fill an immersive technology related role – regardless of the industry – don’t forget you can send us the lowdown on the position and we’ll be sure to feature it in that following week’s feature. Details should be sent to Peter Graham (pgraham@vrfocus.com).

We’ll see you next week on VRFocus at the usual time of 3PM (UK) for another selection of jobs from around the world.

The VR Job Hub: Tequila Works & Talespin

Both Talespin and Tequila Works have released new projects this month, with the former specialising in immersive training solutions for enterprise use cases. The latter is a videogame developer, its latest project being Groundhog Day: Like Father Like SonWhich sounds interesting they both have plenty of jobs on offer.

Location Company Role Link
Madrid, Spain Tequila Works Art Director Click Here to Apply
Madrid, Spain Tequila Works Tool Programmer Click Here to Apply
Madrid, Spain Tequila Works Senior Programmer Click Here to Apply
Madrid, Spain Tequila Works Community Manager Click Here to Apply
Madrid, Spain Tequila Works Senior Monetisation Designer Click Here to Apply
Madrid, Spain Tequila Works IT Technician Click Here to Apply
Madrid, Spain Tequila Works Senior Game Designer Click Here to Apply
Madrid, Spain Tequila Works Senior Animator Click Here to Apply
Madrid, Spain Tequila Works Technical Artist Click Here to Apply
Utrecht, The Netherlands Talespin 3D Technical Artist Click Here to Apply
Utrecht, The Netherlands Talespin HR Manager Click Here to Apply
Utrecht, The Netherlands Talespin Senior Unity Developer Click Here to Apply
Utrecht, The Netherlands Talespin Unity Tools Developer Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, US Talespin Business Development Associate Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, US Talespin Content Marketing Specialist Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, US Talespin Project Manager Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, US Talespin Senior 3D Technical Artist Click Here to Apply

Don’t forget, if there wasn’t anything that took your fancy this week there’s always last week’s listings on The VR Job Hub to check as well.

If you are an employer looking for someone to fill an immersive technology related role – regardless of the industry – don’t forget you can send us the lowdown on the position and we’ll be sure to feature it in that following week’s feature. Details should be sent to Peter Graham (pgraham@vrfocus.com).

We’ll see you next week on VRFocus at the usual time of 3PM (UK) for another selection of jobs from around the world.

Talespin Runway Expands Training Library to Improve Enterprise Learning

Virtual reality (VR) training for enterprise use cases is becoming an important addition for many businesses looking to embrace the latest technology. Talespin, a developer of enterprise-focused XR solutions has just announced an expansion of its training platform Talespin Runway to improve the learning process for client employees.

New modules have been added to Talespin Runway targeting particular subject matter such as insurance-specific VR training. Also including is Talespin Propel, designed for object and process-based training across a multitude of use cases.

The first modules include:

  • Construction Materials Basics

    • In this learning module, the learner quickly learns the core construction materials, components, and concepts that go into building a residential home. The module’s experiential nature improves the retention of foundational knowledge, helping insurance employees gain critical subject matter familiarity to deliver the best possible customer experiences.

  • Scoping Basics: Water Damage

    • In this learning module, the learner is tasked with investigating and scoping a residential water damage claim in VR. Playing the role of a Claims Representative, the learner rapidly builds experience by breaking the physical boundaries of what is typically possible in training and virtually experiencing what it’s like to perform this task in the real world.

  • Auto Claim Shared Responsibility

    • In this learning module, the learner takes on the role of a Claims Representative and engages in virtual role-play with an AI character representing a 3rd party claimant. The learner must practice conversational techniques to discuss the claimant’s shared responsibility in an automobile accident, developing confidence and critical interpersonal skills to deliver a great customer experience in a moment that can greatly impact a customer relationship.

“There is no question that virtual reality is beneficial for accelerating learning and making training more efficient,” said Talespin CEO and co-founder Kyle Jackson in a statement. “The challenge is that VR software is typically expensive to implement. We’re lowering the barrier to entry with our expanded platform, which helps any company better train its workforce and share knowledge with its employees. Our off-the-shelf content library for the insurance industry is just the beginning of our mission to help all industries bring the benefits of XR to their transformation story.”

The two core products in Talespin Runway are:

  • Talespin Propel, for learning object- and process-based knowledge

    • Object-based learning modules accelerate familiarization and memorization for core concepts and objects, like recognizing residential construction materials, memorizing automotive parts, and identifying damage states within a home.

    • Object-based learning modules are designed to provide the knowledge base employees need to excel at more advanced process-based tasks and conversational learning modules.

    • Process-based learning modules simulate complex tasks and help employees rapidly build experience before their first day on the job.

  • Talespin CoPilot, for soft skills training with virtual role-play

    • The platform’s conversational learning modules are powered by CoPilot, and task employees with conducting role-play with virtual humans. These learning modules help employees develop critical leadership and communication skills, and provide a safe space to practice challenging conversations.

For details on implementing Talespin’s solutions head to its official website. It’s not the only company working in this field, yesterday Pixvana revealed a workplace training experience, FundamentalVR focuses on surgical training, while Pitchboy is all about VR sales training. For further updates on VR training, keep reading VRFocus.