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), Combined Actuality (MR), and Augmented Actuality (AR) for each business and protection sectors.
Beneath John’s management, Mass Digital 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 educational video help. 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.
Might 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 navy duties, I discovered myself longing to be extra current for my household. I wished to carve out a profession the place I may mix my love for expertise and the humanities with the insights gained from my navy expertise. The world of digital innovation captivated me, however I seen that the tempo inside the navy was slower than I envisioned. I noticed 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 probability 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 navy background influenced the route and mission of Mass Digital, notably in designing options for protection and aviation industries?
My navy background has performed a pivotal function in shaping each my method and the mission of Mass Digital. It instilled in me the significance of adaptability and strategic pondering, particularly in high-pressure conditions. Within the navy, we frequently confronted advanced and dynamic challenges that required us to suppose on our toes and think about a variety of prospects. 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, guaranteeing our merchandise are usually not simply efficient but additionally aware 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 developed? What have been among 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 completely different; there was skepticism concerning 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 may carry to coaching and schooling.
Nonetheless, as developments in {hardware} and software program emerged, together with vital value reductions, we witnessed a shift in notion. The door started to open, permitting us to showcase the true capabilities of immersive coaching. Our crew 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 potential, and immediately, that dedication has actually paid off for us and our prospects.
Because the market matured, so did our understanding of the best way to tailor our options to fulfill the evolving wants of our customers. The journey has been stuffed with studying and progress. I’m proud to say that immediately we’re serving to corporations implement their very own XR methods and highway maps to attain 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 exciting journey, pushed by our prospects’ wants and their perception within the worth we carry 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 shortly to various necessities throughout completely different places.
The success of our growth can be a testomony to our unimaginable crew, whose ardour and dedication to innovation have been instrumental in our progress. 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 reworked coaching within the navy. Are you able to stroll us by way of how immersive simulations can speed up mission readiness and deal with expertise gaps in industries like manufacturing and aviation?
Immersive simulations have actually revolutionized coaching, and I’ve witnessed this transformation firsthand. The great thing about VR lies in its capacity to create reasonable 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 apply advanced 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 deal with mastering their craft. The end result? Higher ready maintainers who can reply swiftly and successfully to real-world challenges.
Furthermore, this method isn’t restricted to aviation. Industries like manufacturing are additionally reaping the advantages. VR can simulate intricate equipment operations, enabling employees to achieve hands-on expertise with out the chance of pricey errors. By addressing expertise gaps and enhancing data retention, immersive simulations pave the best way 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 varied industries.
The MassXR platform includes 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 advanced coaching infrastructures. Consider it as a central hub that brings collectively varied XR content material, making it extremely straightforward for organizations to curate and entry an enormous catalog of simulations and coaching supplies.
What excites me concerning the uLCMS is the way it empowers customers. It permits for real-time monitoring of progress and efficiency, guaranteeing that learners have the suitable supplies at their fingertips. That is essential for fostering collaboration and data sharing amongst crew 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 could wish to make the most of as a result of our uLCMS manages any XR content material they personal inside a turnkey system. It gives corporations with insights in addition to accessible ROI to raised perceive developments — whether or not in weeks, months or years, giving them higher visibility in decision-making for subsequent steps in terms of 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 fascinating. I’m proud to say that our uLCMS performs a significant function in reaching that.
With the rise of distant work and distributed groups, how has Mass Digital tailored to offer versatile studying options which are accessible anytime, wherever?
In immediately’s quickly altering panorama, we acknowledged that flexibility is important for efficient studying. Our system was deliberately designed to help team-based studying experiences, facilitating collaboration in dynamic environments, no matter the place crew members are situated.
One of many options I’m notably pleased with is how our platform permits customers to have interaction in simulation collectively, intently emulating real-world situations. This digital setting permits customers to study and apply duties collaboratively, as they’d in actual world settings – whether or not they’re in numerous buildings, states and even continents.
By studying to work ‘collectively’ – performing completely different, simultaneous duties as a cohesive crew – 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 crew, particularly when main cross-functional and globally distributed groups?
Fostering innovation begins with assembling a crew of passionate people who carry distinctive views and experiences to the desk. I consider that hiring for ardour, relatively than simply {qualifications}, units the stage for creativity and collaboration. Making a tradition the place everybody feels valued and heard is essential.
I attempt to domesticate an setting the place crew members really feel empowered to share their concepts and take dangers. Drawing inspiration from trailblazing corporations, I encourage my crew 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 shifting in the identical route.
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 are able to tailor our options to fulfill 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 method helps us construct lasting partnerships whereas constantly pushing the boundaries of what’s potential.
Wanting 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 best pleasure lies within the unimaginable folks I get to work with daily. We’ve constructed a compassionate and inclusive setting that fosters collaboration and creativity. There’s nothing fairly like seeing our crew members develop and flourish and understanding 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 are able to proceed to innovate and make a optimistic affect throughout varied 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 folks study and work together with expertise. The journey forward is stuffed with potential, and I can’t wait to see what we’ll obtain collectively!
Thanks for the good interview, readers who want to study extra ought to go to Mass Digital.
