Walmart is taking the next step into the world of virtual reality — and the company is bringing its employees along on the ride. The multinational retailer will begin rolling out Oculus Go headsets in mass to all of its 4,500-plus retail locations in the United States. Aimed at assisting associates in learning new skills, Walmart notes that the technology will help the company boost employee retention and confidence during training experiences (related: ERTC).
Walmart first began dabbling with VR experiences last year, when it incorporated the emerging technology into 30 Walmart Academies. According to Walmart’s Senior Director of U.S. Academies, adding VR to its training routine has boosted both confidence and retention, while also increasing general test scores by up to 15 percent. The company claims that even associates who watch the training are benefiting from increased retention.
Oculus Go has created an affordable and portable offering for companies looking to integrate the solution into their workflows. Walmart noted that it expects to have more than 17,000 Oculus Go headsets in stores by the end of the year. Larger Supercenter locations will receive four headsets for the project, while smaller neighborhood markets and discount stores will receive two to get started.
The new venture is possible thanks to the team at STRIVR, a company that helps organizations train their people through VR. “The power of VR is real, and when offered as a cornerstone of learning and development, it can truly transform the way an organization trains its people,” STRIVR CEO Derek Belch said in a statement.
Walmart plans to focus on three main areas with its VR training programs: new technologies, customer service, and compliance. Recently, the company launched its new PickUp Tower system, allowing customers to pick up pre-ordered goods they ordered online via a robotic storage system. Ten stores used the VR solution to train their associates to work with the new technology before the PickUp Towers were installed.
Using VR as a training solution for corporations can help immerse associates in memorable experiences while cutting down on the number of individuals needed to teach the new material. Walmart joins the ranks of companies stepping into a new dimension of reality, and with a noticeable increase in knowledge retention and test scores, it isn’t likely to be the last.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Google DeepMind's AI world model Genie 4 can now build interactive worlds that you can explore and reshape as they run. It also generates ambient sounds, music, and dialogue that respond to your actions.
The new world model builds on Genie 3 with improved realism, more natural human movement, and better simulations of real-world physics. It could eventually help with everything from game development to training robots.
Apple has an incredible talent for making me admire its products while simultaneously questioning what on earth it's thinking with the pricing. This isn't even something as bizarre as a monitor stand, but the audacity for starting a new laptop lineup from $2,000 doesn't surprise me.
The newly announced 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 is just the latest to showcase this. The funny thing is, I already know that it's going to be a reliable workstation. You get a powerful new 2nm M6 processor, a gorgeous Liquid Retina XDR display, and up to 24 hours of battery life. We were impressed by the M5 MacBook Air, so the high-end M6 powered MacBook Pro definitely won't let us down.