Step Inside the Experience: Spotlight on Rob Steadman

Rob Steadman shares his journey from engineering to software development experience with a passion for immersive technology.

SPOTLIGHTS & INTERVIEWS

Rob Steadman, High5VR and OowOah

10/16/20264 min read

Rob Steadman combines engineering and software development experience with a passion for immersive technology. At High5VR and OowOah, he helps turn ideas into practical solutions for training, collaboration and communication.

1. Your business has evolved over time. What has changed most about the products, services or solutions you offer to clients — and why?

The biggest change in what we offer is the move from software supporting individual tasks to immersive solutions for training, collaboration and communication.

My background in building services engineering has shaped how I approach that work. I have seen first-hand how technology can change the way people work, from computer-aided design to the opportunities now emerging through AI.

Technology is changing at a pace unlike anything we have seen in the history of the human race. At High5VR and OowOah, our job is to turn those possibilities into practical tools.

For trainers, that means looking at what learners need to experience, rather than simply what information they need to receive. A presentation can explain a procedure, but an immersive scenario can give someone an opportunity to practise it.

We can develop experiences around an organisation’s environment, procedures and learning objectives. That makes the conversation about the training requirement: what should someone be able to do, and how can we help them prepare?

2. AI and technology are fundamentally changing the HR and Learning landscape. How have they changed what you offer, and what are clients asking you for today that they weren't asking for three years ago?

Technology has expanded the training experiences we can offer. Our VR solutions can support everyone from prisoners preparing for employment to oil workers practising safety procedures, giving them a safe, controlled environment to learn, make mistakes and build confidence.

Those are very different settings, but both can benefit from opportunities to rehearse before facing a real situation. A prisoner preparing for employment could practise an interview. An oil worker could practise identifying hazards or following a procedure without exposure to the physical danger.

For a trainer, the value is in what happens around that practice. Where did the learner hesitate? What did they miss? Can they explain their decision? The scenario gives the trainer something specific to discuss, and the learner can try again after feedback.

Clients want training that reflects real situations and can be repeated. They also want to understand how technology could reduce workload and improve productivity.

AI is part of that wider conversation, particularly around administration and organising information. Used properly, it can support the work surrounding learning while trainers retain responsibility for accuracy and relevance.

Three years ago, conversations focused more on what VR could do. Today, the focus is on how it could meet specific training needs, fit existing programmes and provide useful evidence of progress.

That could mean capturing attempts, completion times and correct responses, where these are built into the system. The important question is what those measures tell the trainer about someone’s readiness.

3. What is one misconception about your area of expertise that you would like to change?

That VR is mainly for gaming, or that wearing a headset isolates you.

Much of our work is about bringing people together and helping them prepare for real situations. OowOah Meeting Rooms provide shared spaces for discussion and collaboration. Live VR lets people experience real events remotely through immersive 360° video.

For learning, VR gives people opportunities to practise situations that may be difficult, costly or unsafe to recreate. It can also help make an unfamiliar environment more familiar before someone enters it.

I would encourage trainers to think about where practice is currently limited. Perhaps equipment is unavailable, access to a site is restricted, or a scenario cannot be recreated safely. Those are useful starting points for exploring VR.

The experience still needs a clear learning objective, appropriate guidance and feedback. A headset alone does not make a training programme effective.

VR can sit within a wider programme, with a trainer introducing the task, learners practising in the headset, and a discussion afterwards connecting the experience to their work. Accessibility and learner comfort also need to be considered when choosing the format.

4. What are you working on right now that you're particularly excited about?

OowOah Live VR, bringing real seminars, training sessions and live events to headset audiences. ME HR & Learning members Elena Buriani and Sara Haboubi are joining us as founding speakers.

When people cannot attend your event in person, a flat-screen stream through Zoom can miss the sense of being there. Live VR gives remote audiences an immersive view of the room, helping them feel part of the event.

For trainers, speakers and learning providers, this offers another way to extend access to an existing session. You can run the physical event and bring in a remote headset audience alongside it.

There is an important distinction here: Live VR streams a real session through a 360° camera. Bespoke VR training creates a scenario in which learners can practise. They serve different purposes, and the choice should follow the learning need.

I am interested in how both could fit into a wider learning journey: access to expert teaching, opportunities to practise, then reflection and feedback.

High5VR also has Sammy Rambles and the Floating Circus, a first-person VR film, in development. Storytelling matters in training too. A believable situation gives learners context for the decisions they are being asked to make.

5. And finally, outside of work, what is something your colleagues or clients might be surprised to learn about you?

I love sci-fi and enjoy DJing. People who know me through engineering or business meetings might not picture me behind the decks!

Sci-fi feeds my imagination; DJing gives me a creative outlet through music. I enjoy understanding how things work, but also exploring what is possible.

That curiosity carries into my work. I like taking an idea, asking questions and finding a practical way to bring it to life.

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/robsteadman
OowOah: oowoah.com
High5VR: high5vr.com