Talespin has raised $20 million in funding for its endeavor to use virtual reality and augmented reality, or space technologies, to empower people to work.

The company became famous a few years ago for a virtual reality demo designed to teach managers how to fire an unlucky worker named Barry. While that sounds insensitive, it was actually more about how to emotionally handle difficult tasks at work, and it conveyed how to do it in a kind way.

Talespin previously raised $15 million in 2019 and has been further developing extended reality (XR), using technologies like virtual reality and augmented reality, for business training, Talespin CEO Kyle Jackson said in an interview. with GamesBeat.

“We had just raised money for the pandemic and we had the ability to navigate the uncertainty,” Jackson said. “We immediately started having conversations that [spring of 2020] where everything we had been talking about went from cutting-edge technology to more basic technology. I no longer had to sell and convince people of this, since the utility seemed so obvious.”

During the pandemic, Talespin found that companies are willing to pay for virtual reality and augmented reality training because it’s often cheaper than sending ill-prepared workers into real-life situations with expensive business or industrial equipment. And because they can’t train people as easily with remote working conditions.

Instead of creating content in-house, the company moved on to creating tools for companies to create their own apps more quickly.

“We moved to become a true platformer, and we released this no-code authoring tool that has now been on the market for a year and allows organizations to do all of this themselves,” said Jackson.

Now, the Los Angeles company hopes to be one of the leaders in the non-game version of the metaverse, where we can participate in space worlds and work in cyberspace using a no-code learning platform.

Seek Investments and Allomer Capital led the round, with additional investors participating including Pearson Ventures, Accenture Ventures, Go1 and Sony Innovation Fund.

The workforce and workplace have experienced historic disruption globally as ‘the Great Resignation’, digitization and remote work changed the way businesses operate and how people approach their careers. Simultaneously with the disruption of the workforce, the metaverse and web 3.0 are ushering in a host of new technologies designed to make the internet more immersive and decentralized, they are transforming industries ranging from finance to remote collaboration and education, according to Talespin.

With their growing experience, companies are turning to solutions like Talespin. Talespin harnesses immersive technology to rethink how people learn new skills and measure skill competencies, in turn laying a new foundation for professional development that helps people and organizations keep up with business transformation.

“Talespin differs from others who hypothesized the superior learning outcomes of immersive technology by creating a platform designed to empower people and scale adoption from the start,” said Damien Wodak, managing director of HR SaaS at SeeK Investments, in a statement. “We see great opportunity in the learning, productivity and skills development space for Talespin, as workforce and technology trends continue to validate its innovative no-code learning platform that enables organizations to create, adapt and consume content. immersive learning.

Since 2015, Talespin has developed a platform to empower the creation and distribution of immersive learning experiences in virtual reality and augmented reality. Includes CoPilot Designer, an authoring tool that enables businesses and content creators to create their own custom apps.

The technology uses humans and virtual 3D environments to help people practice speaking skills and simulate jobs with real-time feedback and skill analysis. Trusted by organizations such as Accenture, AIA Hong Kong and Macau, Farmers Insurance, JFF, and 10 of the largest Fortune 500 employers, the Talespin platform can accelerate learning, increase employee engagement, and skills upgrading and upgrading programs. more shocking, the company said. .

“Amid increased interest in immersive learning, augmented reality and the metaverse, Talespin is ideally positioned to capitalize on the convergence of learning and spatial computing, two sectors that are experiencing rapid growth,” said Tom Lounibos, managing director of Accenture Ventures, in a statement. “We look forward to supporting and working closely with Talespin through our Project Spotlight program and raising awareness of their solution offerings among our customers around the world.”

Talespin’s new funding comes on the heels of a rapid momentum for the company, as solutions to better train and retrain the workforce are in high demand, and the world’s leading organizations explore use cases for the metaverse. .

In recent months, the company has onboarded several new enterprise clients and members of its partner program, including Accenture and Go1, with more collaborations and business partnerships to be announced later in 2022.

“As organizations around the world grapple with unprecedented labor shortages, the need for innovative workforce training solutions has never been greater,” said Austin Noronha, US managing director. at Sony Innovation Fund, in a statement. “Talespin’s easy-to-use, no-code content creation platform makes it easy for companies to quickly extend their employee training with engaging content.”

Now the company has 110 people working for it.

I asked if the company had taken advantage of AI technology like the OpenAI Foundation’s GPT-3, but Jackson said that so far it was proving easier to design apps with more limited, programmed responses, rather than relying on open dialogue. with AI trainers.

“It’s going to go in that direction over time, but it’s too nascent right now,” he said.

Jackson said companies like PwC have pointed to the benefits to organizations that come from virtual reality training.

“We always take an approach where, with the XR space, there will be a transition from the 2D world,” said Jackson.

Jackson said there are individual efforts to create micro-level learning programs. Then there are the company departments that are creating their own training programs. Finally, there is the work of the metaverse, or building interoperable worlds of learning content, she said.

“That certainly is fraught with challenges, as I’m sure you can see. But the micro and the macro are here,” Jackson said. “We are providing tools that will work in all three areas. And there will be discussions about standards” at some point.

Jackson said the money will go towards building an ecosystem with its partners and working with a connected network of content partners and resellers. And the company will continue to build the metaverse of work.