Hosted by Jeff Walter, Founder and CEO of LatitudeLearning
In this episode of the Training Impact Podcast, Jeff Walter sits down with Matt Johnston, of Design Interactive, to explore how extended reality is reshaping skill development. Matt leads development, marketing, and sales for XRMentor, Design Interactive’s extended reality training platform. With a background in human factors and ergonomics, including experience at Ford Motor Company, Matt brings a practical and performance-oriented perspective to immersive learning.
The conversation begins with a challenge that has surfaced repeatedly across the learning and development industry. Over the past two decades, organizations have become increasingly effective at delivering knowledge at scale. Learning management systems, video libraries, digital content, and blended learning strategies have dramatically improved access to information. But skill development has remained harder to scale.
Jeff frames the issue clearly. Watching someone perform a skill is not the same as performing the skill yourself. Historically, the most scalable solution was to show a video or provide instructor-led demonstrations. While helpful, those approaches stop short of tactile experience. Without hands-on practice, learners struggle to move from awareness to proficiency.
This is where Design Interactive enters the conversation.
Matt describes how extended reality changes the dynamic. Instead of sitting at a laptop watching content passively, learners enter immersive environments where they actively engage with the task. In virtual reality, they can practice performing procedures in a simulated setting. In augmented reality, they stand at the real equipment and execute tasks with contextual digital guidance layered into their field of view.
He provides a practical example from the trucking industry. Drivers must perform pre-trip inspections before leaving a facility. One approach is to watch a video demonstrating the inspection. Another is to simulate the inspection in virtual reality before stepping into the real-world environment. With augmented reality, drivers can perform the inspection directly on the vehicle while receiving step-by-step guidance in real time.
The progression matters. It moves learners from passive exposure to interactive practice to live execution. Training becomes rehearsal for real work rather than abstract instruction.
One of the strengths of the discussion is its grounding in operational realities. Design Interactive does not advocate immersive technology as a novelty. Instead, Matt explains that implementations typically begin with performance data. In manufacturing, production, or service environments, downtime or error rates often reveal where skill gaps exist. By examining internal metrics, organizations identify where immersive training can make the greatest impact.
This approach reframes immersive learning as a targeted performance intervention rather than a technology experiment. It aligns with a broader theme of the podcast: training must connect to measurable outcomes.
A major benefit discussed in the episode is the compression of time required to reach practitioner-level proficiency. By enabling earlier and more frequent hands-on practice, extended reality allows employees to build competence faster.
Jeff reflects on the implications of this acceleration. If a learner can reach productive proficiency in half the time, the organization benefits earlier. That increased value creation opens the door to compensation growth sooner in a career. Rather than waiting years for incremental development, immersive practice shifts the curve forward.
Matt confirms that clients have observed this effect. Employees develop earlier, generate measurable value sooner, and in some cases, organizations have been able to adjust compensation structures accordingly because productivity increased more rapidly.
The conversation then expands into retention. Jeff describes retention as one of the most underappreciated metrics in organizational performance. Research consistently shows that lower turnover correlates with stronger outcomes. Yet retention is often viewed separately from training.
Matt notes that organizational silos can make these connections difficult. HR may track turnover. Operations may track productivity. Training may focus on content completion. When immersive skill development shortens time to value, it influences all three areas, but the conversations do not always happen in the same room.
When employees see clear developmental pathways and feel capable in their roles, their perceived worth increases. Organizations must weigh the cost of hiring and onboarding new employees against the cost of investing in skill acceleration. Extended reality changes that calculation by increasing productivity earlier and strengthening engagement.
Another compelling section of the episode focuses on institutional knowledge. Jeff highlights how much business insight exists informally. Quick conversations, personal shortcuts, and years of accumulated experience rarely make it into documentation. When experienced workers retire, organizations lose that embedded expertise.
Matt explains that XRMentor was originally conceived to address this problem. Experienced employees could capture their knowledge while performing tasks, using video or three-dimensional recording tools. That captured experience could then be shared with others at the point of need.
The motivation was clear. As large waves of retirements began affecting industries, companies faced the prospect of losing decades of hard-earned knowledge. Extended reality offered a way to convert implicit knowledge into shareable assets.
The conversation moves naturally into artificial intelligence. When multiple experts perform the same task in slightly different ways, AI can analyze those variations. It can identify patterns among top performers and highlight common behaviors associated with strong outcomes.
Matt acknowledges that while companies may aim for strict standardization, reality shows that skilled professionals often develop personalized techniques. In fields ranging from automotive repair to athletics, no two high performers execute tasks in exactly the same way. The value lies not only in identifying a single “correct” method, but in understanding which variations still produce high-quality outcomes.
Layering AI onto immersive capture creates the potential to analyze performance data at scale. Instead of relying solely on anecdotal best practices, organizations can observe patterns across dozens or hundreds of skilled practitioners.
Jeff draws an analogy to sports. Elite athletes do not move identically. Basketball players shoot free throws with distinct mechanics. Soccer players strike the ball differently. Yet all can achieve high performance.
The same is true in technical environments. Three technicians may repair the same component using slightly different approaches. Each may find an efficient method suited to their physical build, cognitive style, or experience level. Immersive capture combined with AI analysis allows organizations to study those differences rather than suppress them.
This perspective broadens the conversation beyond compliance and procedure. Skill development becomes a dynamic system shaped by human variability.
Matt shares an example of how quickly attitudes toward AI have shifted. An industrial partner that once prohibited any third-party AI tools from touching its knowledge base later pursued partnership. In a short period, internal policy changed dramatically.
This anecdote reflects the broader momentum across industries. Immersive technology and AI are no longer fringe concepts. They are increasingly viewed as competitive differentiators.
From Information to Practice
At its core, the episode reinforces a simple but powerful shift. Training must move beyond information transfer. Watching videos and reading manuals create awareness. Practicing in realistic environments builds capability.
Extended reality allows learners to bridge that gap. It creates structured opportunities to rehearse tasks safely and repeatedly. It captures the expertise of seasoned professionals. It generates data that can inform continuous improvement.
Design Interactive’s XRMentor platform represents one practical application of these principles. By integrating immersive practice, knowledge capture, and AI analysis, it supports the transition from passive learning to measurable performance.
For organizations seeking to improve time to proficiency, strengthen retention, and protect institutional knowledge, the conversation offers both strategic insight and operational clarity.
For more information on Design Interactive, visit their website: https://designinteractive.net/
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