John Brooks is the founder and CEO of Mass Digital, a visionary expertise chief with over 20 years of expertise driving product and answer innovation throughout Digital Actuality (VR), Blended Actuality (MR), and Augmented Actuality (AR) for each industrial and protection sectors.
Beneath John’s management, Mass Virtual has developed the MassXR platform, a sophisticated coaching ecosystem that integrates a Common Studying Content material Administration System (uLCMS) with cutting-edge simulations, gamification, and tutorial video assist. Designed to boost real-world expertise and pupil efficiency, the MassXR platform empowers organizations with a safe, sustainable, and cost-effective XR coaching answer, full with teacher administration instruments to create an immersive, results-driven studying expertise.
May you inform us about your transition from serving as an Air Drive aircrew member to founding Mass Digital? What impressed you to start out the corporate in 2009?
My journey from serving within the Air Drive to founding Mass Digital was deeply private. After years of touring the globe and dedicating myself to my army duties, I discovered myself longing to be extra current for my household. I needed to carve out a profession the place I might mix my love for expertise and the humanities with the insights gained from my army expertise. The world of digital innovation captivated me, however I observed that the tempo inside the army was slower than I envisioned. I spotted I had the chance to create one thing significant and impactful, so I made a decision to take the leap and begin Mass Digital. It was my likelihood to not simply sustain with the long run however to assist form it, and I couldn’t be extra enthusiastic about that path.
How has your army background influenced the course and mission of Mass Digital, significantly in designing options for protection and aviation industries?
My army background has performed a pivotal function in shaping each my strategy and the mission of Mass Digital. It instilled in me the significance of adaptability and strategic considering, particularly in high-pressure conditions. Within the army, we frequently confronted complicated and dynamic challenges that required us to assume on our ft and contemplate a variety of potentialities. This expertise has translated seamlessly into how we develop our coaching options. At Mass Digital, we embrace that very same spirit of flexibility and thoroughness, making certain our merchandise usually are not simply efficient but additionally conscious of the distinctive wants of the protection and aviation industries. It’s about crafting options that empower people to excel, and I’m extremely proud to hold these classes ahead in our work.
Because you based Mass Digital over 15 years in the past, how has VR/XR expertise advanced? What had been a few of the early challenges you confronted in constructing immersive coaching options, and the way have these been overcome as expertise matured?
The evolution of VR/XR expertise has been nothing wanting extraordinary over the previous 15 years. Once we first set out, the panorama was fairly totally different; there was skepticism in regards to the potential of those applied sciences, and we frequently confronted hurdles with restricted adoption. It was a problem to persuade stakeholders of the immense advantages VR and XR might deliver to coaching and schooling.
Nonetheless, as developments in {hardware} and software program emerged, together with vital price reductions, we witnessed a shift in notion. The door started to open, permitting us to showcase the true capabilities of immersive coaching. Our staff remained steadfast in our imaginative and prescient, believing from the outset that this expertise was destined to go mainstream. We devoted ourselves to refining our merchandise, pushing the boundaries of what was attainable, and in the present day, that dedication has really paid off for us and our clients.
Because the market matured, so did our understanding of tailor our options to satisfy the evolving wants of our customers. The journey has been crammed with studying and development. I’m proud to say that in the present day we’re serving to firms implement their very own XR methods and street maps to realize workforce proficiency.
Mass Digital’s expertise is deployed throughout 135+ places and helps over 31,000 USAF members yearly. How did you scale the platform to such a large attain, and what function did technological developments play in reaching that?
Scaling Mass Digital has been an exhilarating journey, pushed by our clients’ wants and their perception within the worth we deliver to their coaching applications. We acknowledged early on that our platform needed to be adaptable, so we designed it with particular use circumstances in thoughts, permitting us to reply rapidly to various necessities throughout totally different places.
The success of our growth can also be a testomony to our unimaginable staff, whose ardour and dedication to innovation have been instrumental in our development. They share a imaginative and prescient that goes past simply delivering a fantastic product; it’s about creating significant coaching experiences that genuinely improve outcomes for our customers.
Technological developments have performed a major function on this journey. As VR/XR expertise has matured, we have been capable of leverage new instruments and methodologies to refine our choices. This has allowed us to achieve a wider viewers and meet the wants of the various organizations we serve. It’s immensely rewarding to see our options making a distinction within the lives of 1000’s of service members, and it motivates us to maintain pushing ahead collectively.
You’ve seen firsthand how VR has remodeled coaching within the army. Are you able to stroll us by how immersive simulations can speed up mission readiness and tackle expertise gaps in industries like manufacturing and aviation?
Immersive simulations have really revolutionized coaching, and I’ve witnessed this transformation firsthand. The fantastic thing about VR lies in its means to create sensible situations that permit learners to have interaction deeply with the subject material. This accelerates studying and expertise acquisition, making coaching not simply efficient but additionally motivating.
Take aviation upkeep coaching, for instance. With VR, maintainers can observe complicated duties in a managed setting with out the necessity for an actual plane. This not solely enhances their expertise but additionally builds confidence, permitting them to concentrate on mastering their craft. The consequence? Higher ready maintainers who can reply swiftly and successfully to real-world challenges.
Furthermore, this strategy isn’t restricted to aviation. Industries like manufacturing are additionally reaping the advantages. VR can simulate intricate equipment operations, enabling staff to achieve hands-on expertise with out the danger of expensive errors. By addressing expertise gaps and bettering information retention, immersive simulations pave the way in which for a extra competent workforce.
Total, VR coaching not solely enhances mission readiness but additionally cultivates a tradition of steady studying and enchancment. It’s an thrilling time to be a part of this evolution, and I can’t wait to see the way it continues to form numerous industries.
The MassXR platform encompasses a Common Studying Content material Administration System (uLCMS). Are you able to clarify how this method enhances coaching experiences, and the way it integrates with third-party content material and gadgets to create a seamless coaching setting?
The uLCMS is actually the spine of our MassXR platform, designed to simplify the administration of complicated coaching infrastructures. Consider it as a central hub that brings collectively numerous XR content material, making it extremely straightforward for organizations to curate and entry an enormous catalog of simulations and coaching supplies.
What excites me in regards to the uLCMS is the way it empowers customers. It permits for real-time monitoring of progress and efficiency, making certain that learners have the suitable supplies at their fingertips. That is essential for fostering collaboration and information sharing amongst staff members, whether or not they’re in the identical room or throughout the globe.
Furthermore, our system seamlessly integrates with third-party content material and gadgets, which implies that organizations are limitless within the distributors they might need to make the most of as a result of our uLCMS manages any XR content material they personal inside a turnkey system. It offers firms with insights in addition to accessible ROI to higher perceive traits — whether or not in weeks, months or years, giving them higher visibility in decision-making for subsequent steps with regards to their XR technique.
This flexibility enhances the training expertise and encourages a tradition of steady enchancment and creates a coaching setting that’s each environment friendly and interesting. I’m proud to say that our uLCMS performs an important function in reaching that.
With the rise of distant work and distributed groups, how has Mass Digital tailored to offer versatile studying options which can be accessible anytime, anyplace?
In in the present day’s quickly altering panorama, we acknowledged that flexibility is crucial for efficient studying. Our system was deliberately designed to assist team-based studying experiences, facilitating collaboration in dynamic environments, no matter the place staff members are positioned.
One of many options I’m significantly pleased with is how our platform permits customers to have interaction in simulation collectively, intently emulating real-world situations. This digital setting allows customers to be taught and observe duties collaboratively, as they might in actual world settings – whether or not they’re in several buildings, states and even continents.
By studying to work ‘collectively’ – performing totally different, simultaneous duties as a cohesive staff – customers not solely improve their very own efficiency but additionally construct stronger relationships amongst colleagues, fostering a supportive and related tradition.
As a expertise chief with over 20 years of expertise, how do you foster innovation inside your staff, particularly when main cross-functional and globally distributed groups?
Fostering innovation begins with assembling a staff of passionate people who deliver distinctive views and experiences to the desk. I consider that hiring for ardour, quite than simply {qualifications}, units the stage for creativity and collaboration. Making a tradition the place everybody feels valued and heard is essential.
I try to domesticate an setting the place staff members really feel empowered to share their concepts and take dangers. Drawing inspiration from trailblazing firms, I encourage my staff to embrace the mindset of exploration and experimentation. It’s all about nurturing a shared imaginative and prescient and aligning our objectives in order that we’re all transferring in the identical course.
Finally, innovation is not nearly inside processes; it’s additionally about understanding and supporting the wants of our purchasers. By staying attuned to their challenges and aspirations, we will tailor our options to satisfy their evolving calls for. Once we prioritize our purchasers’ success, we create a collaborative environment that drives innovation and results in impactful outcomes. It’s extremely rewarding to witness how this strategy helps us construct lasting partnerships whereas repeatedly pushing the boundaries of what’s attainable.
Trying again in your journey with Mass Digital, what are you most pleased with, and what excites you about the way forward for immersive applied sciences?
Reflecting on my journey with Mass Digital, I discover that my biggest pleasure lies within the unimaginable individuals I get to work with day by day. We’ve constructed a compassionate and inclusive setting that fosters collaboration and creativity. There’s nothing fairly like seeing our staff members develop and flourish and figuring out that we’re all contributing to one thing significant makes each problem worthwhile.
I’m equally thrilled about the way forward for immersive applied sciences. The chances are infinite, and it’s thrilling to consider how we will proceed to innovate and make a constructive affect throughout numerous industries. We’re on the cusp of a technological revolution, and I genuinely consider that our work will play a major function in shaping how individuals be taught and work together with expertise. The journey forward is crammed with potential, and I can’t wait to see what we’ll obtain collectively!
Thanks for the good interview, readers who want to be taught extra ought to go to Mass Virtual.
