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business

Twitter Spaces: the future of audio content

By Espresso Insight on

Audio based content on the internet like podcasts are episode based series that a users can listen to at a time of their choosing.

The structure of audio content may have a number of variations, the most common being interviews, storytelling, memoir and more.

At their best, podcast conversations tend to flow more naturally than old school news or television interviews, giving people the time (normally an hour or more) to discuss topics in-depth without interruption.

This format enables people to have lengthy, thought-out conversations, exploring nuances on all sides of a given topic.

Audio consumable content is growing in popularity

According to Oberlo, over 500 million people listen to podcasts in 2022, close to double that of 2019.

Similarly, search traffic on Google for the word “podcast” has slowly trended upwards since pre-2009.

chart showing the growth in number of people searching for the word "podcast" from 2009 to 2022
Growth in interest over time, “podcast” search results via Google Trends.

While the popularity of podcasting and audio content in general is increasing, there’s a new format on the scene that is slowly grabbing large numbers of users attention.

Specifically, Twitter Spaces is the internet’s next iteration of audio consumable contact.

Twitter Spaces improves upon podcasting’s content model

Similar to podcasting, Twitter Spaces facilitates conversations, interviews, and discussions to happen and flow naturally.

However, in traditional podcasting, the conversation happens behind closed doors where a group of people record a conversation and then publish it to an audience afterwards for later listening.

On Twitter Spaces, this audio model is improved in two critical ways:

Twitter Spaces enable live, real-time conversations

Podcasts normally don’t happen live.

Twitter Spaces happen real-time, in the moment.

The candid, off the cuff, and unedited nature of Twitter Spaces makes them feel more authentic.

While Twitter spaces can also be recorded and released for future listening on Spotify or even just re-listened to on Twitter for a few days,

The fact that Twitter Spaces happens live in an open format allows for that live stream style discussion to happen between the audience and the speakers.

This includes real time feedback from the audience via Tweets, emojis, and replies.

Twitter Spaces enables open discussion where new speakers can jump in and leave freely

Podcast conversations happen between a smaller number of guests, where new individuals are not able to freely join the conversation.

However, the format of Twitter Spaces allows new members to join into the conversation in real time.

If someone in the audience has a unique perspective or hot-take on an idea being discussed, that person can request to get on stage and share their thoughts.

As new guests are invited up to the stage, this can add new insights and diverse perspectives into the conversation.

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How to Host a Podcast or Twitter Space: Beginner’s Guide

By Espresso Insight on

After hosting a few Twitter Spaces myself, here are a few things I wish I new when I got started.

Twitter Spaces are very similar to Podcasts, however, the communication model is much newer.

The two key differences between Podcasting and Twitter Spaces is that they happen in front of a live audience, and second, is that you can have up to 10 speakers on stage contributing to the conversation.

A lot of the skills that make traditional Podcast hosts successful are likely transferrable to Twitter Spaces, however, there are a few key differences.

Starting the conversation

Have some sort of structured introduction planned out.

Ask people about stuff you see in their bio.

Thank people for jumping on.

The dead space while waiting for people to jump on during the first few minutes after going live on your spaces is a good time to talk about:

  • context / background for the conversation
  • welcoming people in
  • thanking people for joining
  • inviting speakers up
  • tweeting out the link
  • DM’ing co-hosts and speakers to remind them to jump in
  • reviewing the purpose and vision for the Space
  • reminding people of the open and inclusive nature of the conversation
  • as well as anything else you might want people to know.

Find or Build a community

Authentic community and genuine followings on social media takes work.

However, find a community that in some way feels involved in your success and actually wants to join twitter spaces that are hosted.

Find a great Co-host

In my case, after making a few posts in the community Discords, I received a few direct messages about the excitement from the community.

I don’t think I originally planned on having a co-host but it worked out well.

Two things stood out: Jrocki was taking action from the get-go, and even put together a POAP for our pilot Twitter Spaces.

Unfortunately this process is not easily repeated.

Guest Scheduling – One at a Time

One guest at a time is better than trying to have multiple unrelated people on at once.

While multiple speakers can contribute to the conversation, we can’t go from topic to topic without the conversation losing structure and focus.

When you invite a guest on, they need to be able to have time to voice their thoughts and info about their project. When you invite multiple people on, guests may feel like they are not getting their opporutnity to speak

With guests, you need to establish focus… Having many speakers is an innovative approach to podcasting, but it must feel organic and they must be on the same page.

Prepare

Be curious, be interested in other people. Cultivate curiosity for as many unique interests as possible, and let that curiosity come through when talking to other speakers.

Ask specific questions.

Do some preparation – look them up and find other stuff they have talked about. Find answers they have given, and ask about something specific.

Dig deep. Find the content your interviewee has produced or been involved with that doesn’t have tons of views. Maybe they share specific ideas on something not commonly talked about? Use this as a jumping off point.

For example, if the interviewer has had multiple podcast appearances in the past, perhaps they share different stories or anecdotes on each one.

Spend time think of questions and discussion topics but don’t be afraid to diverge if the story gets rich. Which brings up the next point…

No plans, just vibes

Research and preparation aside, it i ismportant to have time to riff and allow speakers to let the conversation flow.

Time to vibe is important.

If you find the conversations topics at the beginning naturally tend toward something silly, I believe that’s actually a good thing.

We’re all humans here, and social media should be fun and entertaining at the end of the day.

For example, at the beginning of the recent Shell Protocol space, the speakers started talking about mayonnaise of all things. Regardless of how you feel about the pale condiment, it was pretty funny and actually learned a few things – namely, that the mayonnaise in Belgium is waaay better than what we have in the United States.

This feels similar to the “ice breaker” games that some corporate jobs have employees do on their first day. However, I was never a big fan of those formalized ice breakers. Letting it flow informally feels more natural.

Inclusiveness

Encourage inclusivity and open discussion. Let conversations topics go out on tangents if the speakers are engaged and contributing to the conversation. At the end of the day, the goal is to make sure everyone enjoys the conversation.

As long as all speakers treat people with respect, everyone should feel comfortable sharing their opinions and diverse ideas.

People join Twitter spaces from all over the world

Be considerate for time zones globally. Mention the time zone you are in, show empathy to global community that some people may have to listen to the recording later or are jumping in at obscure hours for them.

Shut up and listen

As the host, be willing to stay quiet and let people talk!

If you are interviewing someone about their project or endeavors, don’t be afraid of the awkward pauses… allowing some space between words will encourage the other person to talk more, share more insights, and ultimately make for a better interview for the audience.

When someone is talking, actively listen. Don’t try to think of the next question while they are talking.

Questions and Answers

Asking good questions, along with topic selection, is the difference between a boring show and an interesting show.

When you ask a question, make sure to be as concise and direct as possible.

  • Poorly-phrased question: “what are your future plans with the OptiPunks? Do you have anything like… i don’t even know what you could do but…”
    • Again, its a bad habit ramble on unnecessarily after asking your initial question.
  • More effective and concise question: instead, just stop talking after you ask the question, something like this: “what are your future plans with the punks?”

When some one asks a question and you as the host can’t immediately think of a great answer, this is a great opportunity to open up the question to other speakers that are up on stage, as well as your co-host. This does a few things – first, it shows that you are humble enough to admit that you don’t know everything. Second, it helps get other people involved in the conversation to help have diverse perspectives, ensuring that you as the host don’t just monopolize the conversation.

After re-listening to the first two episodes from the Twitter Spaces I hosted, a few times when I gave answers, it felt like I initially rambled a bit and went slightly off topic. Even if I tried to bring what I am saying back around and relate it to the original question, going off on a tangent can be somewhat distracting and might confuse both listeners as well as other speakers

Sometimes i say something and then say a disclaimer after like “i dont know tho” – dont do this

Position statements for the perspective of listeners.

In the case of our spaces, since we cover user-ready blockchain dapps, every statement I make sure be catered toward the perspective of a potential user of a given app, as the listeners are likely prospective users.

Relate what you are saying to how others can benefit from it.

Eliminate the Ego, Avoid talking about yourself

For example, re-listening to myself, I noticed it sounds a bit off when I talk about my own experiences using the apps without focusing on how other users might also interact with the app.

On one of the first Spaces I hosted, I said something along the lines of “maybe I’ll be eligible for the next Optimism airdrop who knows”.

This statement sounds bad because its self-seeking, as opposed to sharing statements about how a user/listener can gain value from the Optimism ecosystem.

Instead, I could talk about how users in general that were not eligible for first airdrop still have a chance for other OP token airdrops, and share a bit about the Optimism phased approach to airdrops.

This approach would increase the value that listeners get by listening to the conversation.

I talk too much about things I can do in web3 like

At one point, during episode 1, I was talking to Bodo about the voting process for public goods funding within OptiPunks. This is another opportunity to talk about how users in general that own an OptiPunk can actually vote as well. Its just a less self-centered way of speaking, and will likely create a more entertaining and educational conversation.

Showing support for project founders

Founders don’t need you to be the second pitch-person for their project.

For example, when you learn about something new such as a new project or protocol, instead if saying “I’ll have to check that out”, say something like “great to know – so anyone that has gets involved with ____ project is eligible to do ____.”

If someone talks about one of their initiatives or a project they are building, you can show support for that person by being the person jump on board and say something like “oh that’s so cool, I just followed that project and will look into minting one!”.

In this scenario, the listeners don’t need you to be the second person pitching them on the project, as the founder has just done so.

You can show support for the other speaker by taking the role of being somebody that is excited about the project, which will likely make other people want to follow your lead get involved too.

I host a weekly Twitter Space — join me on Twitter, and be a part of the next conversation!

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How effective are solar panels in northern latitudes?

By Espresso Insight on

Solar panels are more effective in colder weather.

…wait, really?

Yes, really. But first, the basics…

How latitude affects efficiency of solar panels

Solar energy is not equally distributed across the Earth.

Although plenty of northern regions get a lot of sun, it would seem that in general, solar panels are less effective the further north you go.

Why is this?

Angle of solar impact

The Southern Hemisphere receives more energy during December (southern summer) than the Northern Hemisphere does in June (northern summer) because Earth’s orbit is tilted. [8]

Optimal Solar Panel Tilt Angle Calculator - SolarSena
source: SolarSena

One factor influencing solar radiation intensity is the angle of impact. For harvesting solar energy from cells, the optimal angular impact is 90 degrees perpendicular.

In northern latitudes, because because the angle of impact is less direct than it is at the equator, it is spread over a greater surface area and therefore you get a less concentrated energy output per unit area.

And unfortunately, this also means that solar panels are less effective during the months that Earth is tilted away from the Sun, during the winter months.

To make up for this, solar panels are often tilted based on the location on Earth as well as time of year.

The angular tilt of solar panels to maximize efficiency is greater the further north you go as well.

In addition to the sun’s rays being spread over a wider surface area, there is a second factor that latitude influences.

Absorption scattering of UV rays

As we see in Figure 1 below, the distance that solar radiation must travel through the atmosphere is further.

A wider band of atmosphere through which the rays pass means there is more absorption scattering of sunlight in the atmosphere.

UV rays comes into contact with the nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and other gases in the atmosphere over a wider area, so more is absorbed.

Figure 1: source, hong kong obervatory

Because a large amount of UV rays have been scattered and absorbed, they are less intense once they reach Earth’s surface

The combination of absorption scattering in the atmosphere as well as the angle of impact suggest that in general, we would expect solar panels to be less efficient during the winter time in each respective hemisphere.

Climate conditions affect solar cell performance more than expected
Figure 2: deltaPR on the y-axis represents change in Performance Ratio throughout the months of the year (summer, fall, winter, spring). PR measures how effectively the photovoltaic panels convert sunlight into energy. [3] photo/gift from phys.org [2].

However, as mentioned at the beginning of this post, there is a third factor that influences solar panel efficiency – temperature.

Solar panel efficiency in cold temperatures

Yes, cold weather does increase the efficiency of solar cells, if everything else is constant. [9]

This means that cold weather (with sunshine) are the ideal conditions for solar cells.

The reason is that low temperatures decrease the solar cells’ internal energy leakage.

In cold temperatures, electrons are less active. At higher temperatures, electrons are more active.

With lower electron activity, energy can be stored and moved across wires and batteries more efficiently. [1]

According to phys.org, solar cell efficiency decreases by 0.3% for each temperature degree increased. [1]

This means that a warmer region, while perhaps sunnier, is not necessarily going to be an optimum place for solar energy generation.

This is good news for the northern regions of Earth.

While northern latitudes may be at a disadvantage for reasons based on the first two factors mentioned the earlier section of this post, we can make the case for solar energy in cold, sunny places!

Of course, snow and ice can be a problem for solar panels, and attempting to scrape it off could damage or break the components.

If the ice is translucent, the solar panels may be able to generate a continued output of energy.

Solar in Germany

Germany is the leading country in Europe for solar deployments.

Germany is further North than most people realize. Berlin, Germany occupies the latitudinal region of 52 degrees N (Berlin).

Climate Zones Map Scheme Vector Illustration Equatorial Tropical Polar Subtropical Stock Vector Image by ©Vector.Plus #419957486
Figure 3: Earth’s climate regions based on latitude.

By comparison, the latitude of Calgary, Canada is around 51 degrees N.

It is inspiring to see a country as far north as Germany have so much success with solar, and Germany should perhaps serve as a model for other nations.

If a northern, Temperate country like Germany can prove the viability of solar, surely countries further south can too, with even greater ease.

Still, we’re not at 100% sustainable energy yet.

In order to meet 100% of its electricity needs with solar, Germany would need to significantly increase its solar photovoltaic capacity to between 303 GW and 446 GW.

Given the three factors covered above that impact solar panel efficiency, equatorial areas are not necessarily going to be the only places (or even the best) where solar will work.

Conclusion

Eventually, the world will need to transition to 100% sustainable energy. We cannot survive off of fossil fuels and coal forever, as these reserves will eventually run out.

This post isn’t meant to provide a more realistic approach and help people understand how solar can help while supplementing other energy sources in order to maximize the amount of sustainable energy for the grid. It should be mentioned that wind, nuclear energy, hydroelectric, and more could also help transition the world to sustainable energy.

For example, as solar is added to the grid, it reduces the net demand for electricity in the middle part of the day (when the sun is most radiant).

Figure 4: Based on data over a 72 hour period, solar energy is able to account for a the largest portion of energy demand during the middle of the day, when the sun is most intense. [6]

And if we assume there is no storage of excess energy during peak hours, solar output during the night is pretty much zero.

Perhaps off-grid regions of the world, such as research bases in Antarctica or remote areas of Alaska, could fulfill their own power demands via solar systems during the summer. [7]

For now, perhaps solar energy could be a viable way to reduce diesel, at least during the daytime.

With improvements in battery technology paired with a greater number of solar panels across the globe, perhaps humans can one day capture and store enough solar energy that we can sustain our energy requirements all hours of the day and night.

And if land is abundant, as it is in the United States, perhaps the most reasonable way to increase the percentage of renewable energy that we consume is to simply build more solar panels.

Sources

  1. https://phys.org/news/2018-03-solar-cells-nordic-climate.html
  2. https://phys.org/news/2017-12-climate-conditions-affect-solar-cell.html
  3. PR aka Performance Ratio for photovoltaic performance https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy13osti/57991.pdf
  4. hong kong observatory http://www.hko.gov.hk/en/education/edu06nature/ele_srad.htm#
  5. https://renewablesnow.com/news/germany-needs-up-to-446-gw-of-solar-pv-to-achieve-100-renewables-750437/
  6. https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy13osti/57582.pdf
  7. https://www.energytrend.com/news/20180411-12257.html
  8. http://www.geo.mtu.edu/KeweenawGeoheritage/MiTEP_ESI-2/Solar_energy_and_latitude.html
  9. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Solar-cell-efficiency-vs-Temperature-plotted-for-the-two-cells-with-trap-densities-of_fig7_237824433
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Why platform and infrastructure products make great businesses

By Espresso Insight on

not investing advice, obviously…

Across every industry, investing in platforms and infrastructure is a proven area for substantial, secure returns.

Here’s what that looks like:

What to we mean by platform, infrastructure, and application?

Infrastructure: Infrastructure is like tools and equipment. Infrastructure tools are what enable more things to happen, or be built.

During westward expansion and the California gold rush, infrastructure companies – those that made the picks and the gear – were the most profitable entity.

Think about the companies building the mining gear and equipment, transportation such as railroads, and those that laid the groundwork.

Although individual applications may fail, infrastructure create economies and positive feedback loops, lowering costs of those tools so that more people can do the thing or embark on the journey and hence enable them to thrive.

Infrastructure doesn’t go away in the near-term.

Although it may become less popular (and can be quite un-sexy), infrastructure continues to exist long after the applications taken root.

Infrastructure continues to thrive, as well as evolve with the industry.

Platform: the platform is the base of which something is built.

In software, this hardware and software architecture that acts as foundation or base upon which other applications, processes, or technologies are developed. [1]

Similar to infrastructure, platforms tend to survive for the long term.

Think about it – the foundation of buildings like those at Gobekli Tepe from over 11,000 years ago still exist.

While the remains of everything else is gone, the platforms on which buildings, homes, and churches were built has not been demolished.

Application: applications are businesses that use both tools and existing foundations. Whereas platforms and infrastructure serves application developers, applications serve the end consumer, the individual.

Application businesses can be wildly successful too, no doubt.

The best and most long-term successful application businesses transition into being a platform and infrastructure business.

Because applications are more risky, the most successful companies search for any opportunity to pivot and become a long-term monolithic, ossified entity in the industry.

Infrastructure can be compared with the analogy of a garden. The dirt, the fertilizer, the water, all the tools and equipment used to build, grow, and maintain a garden.

The applications are like seeds… in an ideal world, every seed will grow to become a mature plant or a bush or a tree.

And as we know, not all seeds will grow to become flowers.

Some seedlings will die, just like some applications never make it big time. This is why applications are riskier than infrastructure… just look at how many apps there are in the iOS app store.

The apps we hear about are the successful ones – but there are millions that never survive and their story is all but forgotten.

As the few seedlings become flowers, the garden grows stronger and more valuable.

WHY platform and infrastructure products make great businesses:

As we covered, infrastructure is the tools that enable future products to be created.

These tools can often be sold or licensed to other businesses.

Businesses that sell products or services business products tend to make great companies because their customers (other successful businesses) typically have a large budget and are willing to pay a lot for a good product or service.

As more products are created, the infrastructure becomes fine tuned and improves over time to better need the needs of application developers, gardeners, etc.

The infrastructure is what leads the direction of the industry as it evolves into the future. New types of infrastructure allow innovation to happen.

The infrastructure defines what can be done, how cheap it will be, etc. It is the launchpad and defines the starting point for future apps.

Sooner or later, many companies and projects depend upon this infrastructure to meet their needs. In the best case, people simply can’t survive without it.

Examples of Platforms and Infrastructure in Businesses

Platforms for Mobile Apps:

We’ve talked about the Apple App Store so let’s dive deeper.

Apple knows and understand that what they built was first and foremost a tool and a platform.

Apple fights tooth and nail to try to maintain their position as the defacto industry platform for apps.

Apple makes a significant portion of revenue from its App Store serving as the platform from which iOS apps are built.

Google Play exhibits a similar model, as does Facebook with their robust suite of apps built into their website.

Regardless of the debates on whether or not this is an ethical practice (yes, debates exist, and result in many lawsuits).

The fact that developers are willing to build applications in these places is telling of the value that platforms bring.

Programming Language

Another example of infrastructure is a programming language.

Oracle owns the open-source programming language called Java. Although its old today, at one time it was the hottest thing.

But Oracle couldn’t directly sell the rights to use the programming language… aside from being counter productive, it would also

What Oracle did was build on top of Java. Oracle built platforms and tools that use Java so that developers and businesspeople that are already familiar with the Java language would be more likely to want to purchase Oracle software.

Marketplaces

Marketplace platforms enable thousands of people with products or service to reach prospective customers.

However, these platforms are more profitable and generate more revenue than even the highest earning individual on any given marketplace.

Take OpenSea, for example.

NFTs are the hottest thing recently in the world of Blockchain and web3. But the companies and individuals making the real money are the ones that power the NFT craze.

OpenSea is the #1 website where people can buy and list NFTs for sale. The owners of OpenSea make a percentage of every single NFT that sells.

And given that any single product could have up to hundreds of ETH worth of NFTs traded over the span of a few days, OpenSea is likely SUPER profitable.

We can also look at more traditional internet companies to use as examples.

Etsy enables artists to list their creations online and sell them.

Ebay lets people sell used goods and collectible items (usually non-new stuff or collectibles).

Amazon started out as a book marketplace, but now anyone can sell pretty much anything.

Airbnb lets people list their house or apartment for rent.

Do you think the users on these platforms are making a lot of money? Perhaps some of them are.

But I guarantee you that Etsy, Ebay, Amazon, and Airbnb make way more money than any individual seller makes.

This is the platform effect.

While these platforms likely sustain hundreds and thousands of individual sells and allow them to make a respectable income, the platform that is the marketplace itself is the single most profitable entity in the entire picture.

Tesla:

The robotic factories that build the cars are infrastructure that the company will one day be able to license out to others manufacturing companies.

The manufacturing platform that Tesla has built is arguably their most valuable asset. The tools and technology and the skillset needed to build electric cars at scale are more difficult to build than the car itself.

But the value of building this infrastructure around the product itself means that the company doesn’t have to focus as much on every single car that it makes… the robots do 80% of it for them.

The company can then dedicate resources to working ON the business, instead of IN the business. This enables Tesla to focus on the end-to-end electrical power grid.

This includes installing charging stations across the world so that future customers have a way to easily charge their car in any city or town.

It includes developing the dojo supercomputer to enable artificial intelligence and neural network training and data costs to drop dramatically.

sources:

  1. Software platforms https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/types-of-software-platforms/
  2. Transportation during the gold rush https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft758007r3&chunk.id=d0e10615&toc.id=d0e10615&brand=ucpress
  3. Ruins and Remains of Gobekli Tepe https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/gobekli-tepe-the-worlds-first-temple-83613665/
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Airport Hacks I Have Known and Loved

By Espresso Insight on

Business professionals end up flying more than expected

Air travel ends up being a big part of the day to day experience of busy professionals.

As I’ve posted specifically about the future of air travel before, at espressoinsight.com, I generally attempt to cover the future of business and emerging technology. To minimize travel stress and maximize comfort, it is important to know how to optimize your experience as a passenger.

Moving to Oahu, Hawaii meant flights between the island and mainland became a regularity.

As taxing on my personal budget as this has been, taking a minimum of a 5+ hour flight everytime I want to go anywhere off-island meant that I quickly adapted to quick a few tricks of the trade of air travel.

I hope these are helpful – not necessarily to hack the system, but simply to make the flying experience more enjoyable.

Airport Hack #1: Boarding time

Oftentimes, when the planes are not at full capacity, you will be able to have your choice of seating if you are last to board the plane. Flying during pandemic times with a large percentage of empty flights is just glorious.

The best seats in first class and even the ones that aren’t quite first class but are still premium seats are often open.

As a bonus, you can opt to find a seat by the window or aisle to your choosing, and may even be lucky enough to get a whole row to yourself as I have a few times.

(add photo).

Boarding late on my flight from San Francisco to Honolulu, more than half of first class was completely open, as well as many seats in the premium / upgraded section, where I was able to find an entire free row.

Words of advice: Even if first class is open (the ones with the lounge chairs and private rooms / pods etc), avoid sitting in first class, though, because the flight attendants will often keep a seating chart to greet first class by name, which would be a dead giveaway for you, in which case you may be asked to move.

Airport Hack #2: Optimizing carry-on luggage

Depending on your ticket, you might not be allowed more than one personal item, meaning no bringing an extra carry on. If this is the case, there is a way to sneak an extra bag on if you absolutely need to.

On personal items and carry ons: Not all of us are minimalists, sometimes we have a lot of stuff to bring with us.

Let’s be honest – bringing extra stuff on the plane isn’t going to hurt anyone. There’s always plenty of room – and even if there weren’t, the gate attendants will start offering people a “free checked bag” directly at the gate, so there’s always a solution.

The bag rules are the airlines’ way of encouraging customers to upgrade their tickets and spend more money.

Heck, I’ve brought my guitar on the plane and stuck it in an overhead bin with absolutely no issues whatsoever. When carrying on such a large item, keep an eye out for bin space anywhere on the plane. You don’t necessarily have to use the bins directly above your seat, just find a spot that will fit your instrument and remember where you put it!

However, to ensure the overhead bin space isn’t full, consider trying to get in line to boared sooner rather than later (yes, this optimizing for Airport Hack #2 goes is the opposite strategy of Airport Hack #1).

Here’s what you do: opt for a small-ish duffel bag and a backpack, and don’t jam-pack them too full. When you walk to the gate and scan your ticket, arrange your backpack so that it is on top of your duffel with the straps of the straps of the duffel wrapped around the backpack.

(show photo here).

Voila, you have technically “consolidated” your two bags into one, and may carry on in peace! To avoid any hassles from the gatekeepers, walk up to the gate attendant with the bags in your left hand, low and at your side, with a big smile and friendly greeting, and scan your ticket / ID with your left hand exclusively.

Airport Hack #3: Masks

Mask hacks: Masks are important an a necessity on all airlines currently, however, often, masks can become uncomfortable when worn for 5+ hours on a flight because they pull on your ears.

An easy fix for this is to bend the metal nose bridge so it squeezes and affixes the mask to your face, allowing the mask to remain in place without the need of the ear-loops. Unhooking your ear loops and balancing the gently pinched mask onto your nose, I have even used a small piece of tape to keep it in place. You be the judge on what’s most comfortable, but I’ve found that it can be nice to give my ears a break from being pulled forward.

Additional options are to find a mask that has looser ear loops so that it is less tight on your face.

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Cholodny-Went: Mental Models To Know #1

By Espresso Insight on

The Cholodny-Went Model is an theory in biology from the 1920s that describes how light energy on part of a plant will stimulate growth of the entire plant by producing and transporting a hormone (called auxin), to other parts of the plant that don’t get the benefit of direct light exposure. This is how root systems are grown, as well as leaves and branches on the lower areas of the plant.

The Cholodny-Went theory is valuable because it serves as a model for processes in any realm – human life, business, industry, education, etc. that result in indirect improvements in other areas.

The model is a good example of how positive stimulus in even a small area can have a large positive impact on something that might be seemingly unrelated.

How can this be applied to life and business?

Self improvement: Apply the Cholodny-Went model to improve your life by realizing that certain behaviors and actions can have an indirect positive (or negative) effect on other areas of your life.

Hiring: Good employees are hard to come by. But if you can get hiring done right, the rest of your business will excel in multiple areas as a result. A company is simply made up of the people multiplied by the systems in place that allow those people to be productive. It is a simple principle: having more intelligent and skilled employees means that your company will do better.

Steve Jobs has discussed how getting “A-players” together results in future hiring becoming a self-policing phenomena where they only want to hire other A-players to work with. By hiring a few A-players at a company and allowing them to work together, a company will likely not only have more productive employees, but also impact future hiring by enabling

source: @squat_university

Exercise: Doing squats might seem like solely a leg exercise, but the effect of doing this simple workout may indirectly help stimulate hypertrophy (muscle growth) throughout the human body. Squats are so intense and require so much physical exertion that they help increase testosterone throughout the body. Leg workouts are known to have this effect as well, but squats have the greatest effect [2]. This indirectly helps you build muscle and strength in your upper body, core, and other areas. The simple act of exercise does more than improve your life physically. The act of doing hard things and pushing yourself may improve your mental and stress levels in other areas of your life.

Product development: Elon Musk has a common business mantra that goes “focus on making the product great”. By applying the Cholodny-Went principle here, we can begin to understand why Elon believes so fervently in this statement. By improving the product, this has a down-stream positive impact on other areas of the company:

  • Lower customer support cost: A better product means that the customer support team has an easier job, with fewer bugs and customer issues to solve.
  • Lower marketing budget: A better product also means that news may spread by word of mouth, so the company needs to do less in the way of advertising.
  • Better finances: a great product will be one that customers are excited to buy. If customers love the product, they will buy more of them, so the company will be more profitable.
source: @CharlieMungerQuotes

Learning: The world of knowledge is seemingly infinite. One of my favorite instagram accounts shares a large amount of Charlie Munger Quotes.

Using the Cholodny-Went model in your own life

There are many ways the Cholodny-Went model may be applied to life and business.

As CMQ investing has discussed on his substack page, using various models when thinking about problems can help you make better decisions.

Leave a comment and share a few areas where you can apply the Cholodny-Went model to improve your own life!

Sources:

  1. https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(02)70780-X.pdf
  2. Hormonal Response to Leg Exercise: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24276305/

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How procrastination can help you be productive

By Espresso Insight on

Procrastinating is a sign of intelligence. You don’t want to stop procrastinating, you just need to use it strategically.

One of the greatest business minds of our generation used procrastination as a tool to achieve success.

Steve jobs would procrastinate on certain tasks right in front of him. He would use this time as an opportunity to explore creative areas that were perhaps less conventional, but would prove extremely valuable to himself and the business.

Jobs carefully considered where his time was spent during each moment of his life. Diverting energy and time from one task allowed him to focus on unique and larger ideas.

If you are naturally intelligent, you may tend to procrastinate on dull and profane tasks.

By procrastinating, you are subconsciously searching for meaning. You are looking to exert your energy towards something more important.

Procrastination makes you feel like it is hard to get things done.

But the opposite is true. When you procrastinate on one task, you are normally incredibly efficient at another, less urgent (but still relevant) task.

I commonly hear that as people halt the efforts toward an urgent task, they exert energy towards something like cleaning. And the surprising thing is that they normally report cleaning their entire house/apartment, despite having something else seemingly important waiting off-hand.

Our goal is to move from wasteful procrastination towards productive procrastination.

  • Wasteful procrastination is when you aren’t making progress towards any of your goals.
  • Productive procrastination is when you postpone one task, while taking care of another important task.

To allow ourselves to exert productive procrastination effort, we need to outline our goals, then create tasks that map to those goals.

By having an outline of these, we will be able to selectively choose where we exert our procrastination efforts.

Here are a potential list of goals that you may have.

  1. Pass professional certification exam for your 9–5 job.
  2. Deliver exceptional work to clients at your job.
  3. Grow your blog on the side.
  4. Grow a following on Quora.
  5. Learn to make and edit YouTube videos.

Let’s think about how we can leverage procrastination to exert creative effort towards achieving all of our goals.

Here’s a story:

Perhaps you have been studying for your exam for a few hours. Eventually, your focus drifts off and you open up YouTube and go down the rabbit hole of videos.

BUT WAIT!

One of the goals on your list had something to do with YouTube. You want to learn how to make and edit YouTube videos. As you “procrastinate” by browsing YouTube, you’re not just mindlessly watching videos. You are watching with intention, observing and learning what makes an appealing and interesting YouTube video. What types of headlines are successful creators using? How do the thumbnails of the best videos look? Does the content appear scripted? How long are the top videos?

As you exert this type of distracted yet productive energy while “procrastinating”, you’ll eventually begin to get some ideas for your current YouTube projects. You’ll also start to understand what makes a good YouTube video. This will help refine your vision.

Perhaps you start to procrastinate some more. You take a break from YouTube and go for a walk. On your walk, you shoot a few video clips of cool stuff you see in your neighborhood – nothing fancy, just on your iPhone. Street art, interesting buildings, uniquely shaped trees, you and your friend, whatever. The beginnings of your YouTube creation project.

The day is coming to a close, and you decide to meet a few friends for drinks. As you the conversation progresses, you share a bit about the projects you’re working on in your current job. Since you work in similar industries, your friends give you some ideas about those projects, and you give them a few ideas as well.

The next morning is Saturday, and you feel guilty for sleeping in late. Surprisingly, you have no hangover.

You begin to remember a few ideas for your clients. Although it is Saturday, you don’t want to forget these ideas, so you go ahead and write them down on a document. Before you know it, an hour or two have passed and you’ve actually made a lot of progress on the client project. You realize that this will make your life much easier in the upcoming week.

Your attention begins to divert as you looked something up on Google that brought you to Quora, and now you’re going down another rabbit hole of Quora content.

BUT WAIT!

One of your goals is involving growing a following on Quora. Just like how you used dedicated intention and focus towards learning about YouTube, you can do the same here. As you read a few click-bait answers, you realize you could write just as good, if not better answer than some you’re seeing. You go ahead and answer a few questions that spark your interest. Little do you know, these answers you write will start getting a few views! Perhaps you can use this content to drive traffic to your blog as well?

So, to review:

How did we leverage productive procrastination in the story above?

  • By procrastinating on studying for the exam, we were able to watch YouTube videos and learn more about what makes a good video.
  • When we went on the walk, something seemingly relaxing turned into a chance for us to gather some raw footage to use in our YouTube project.
  • As we grabbed drinks with friends, we not only were able to socialize and blow off some steam, but we were able to get ideas and input from others about a few of our projects, and leverage this to help us move forward the following day.
  • Although oversleeping on Saturday may have consumed a few hours of our morning, the extra sleep surely helped us avoid having a hangover and we were thus able to be quite productive out of nowhere.
  • Although spending a few hours on a Saturday doing work, it was surprisingly enjoyable as we were able to relax and think freely without the common week day interruptions like emails, meetings, etc.
  • While we got distracted from the work we were doing on Saturday, we were able to divert this attention towards a few of our other goals – building a following on Quora and growing a blog.

Never forget that the time you spend “procrastinating” are minutes, hours, and days of your life. What you do makes you who you are.

Don’t worry so much about procrastinating.

Focus on what excites you.

In addition to your responsibilities, leverage that excitement to exert productive effort towards your goals.

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Looking Inside a Recycling Center: a visit to the dump

By Espresso Insight on

Do you have an altruistic dedication to protecting the environment? Recycling gives each of us an opportunity to do our part… or does it?

In this post, we’ll discuss garbage collection and recycling – how it works, what it does, and why its not perfect. To answer these questions, I visited the Shoreway Environmental Center in San Carlos, California. Adjacent to highway 101, Shoreway is California’s “greenest” recycling center and transfer station. This means that Shoreway serves as “a national model for sustainable building practices”.

As I arrive, park, and walk up, my nostrils are infiltrated by a smell reminiscent of battery acid and vomit. The dusty, chemical stench smells like a stomach ache.

Out front sits an array of 10-15 solar panels — a supplement to 2,700 others which, on good days, produce enough energy to power the entire facility. A huge cylindrical rainwater tank sits nearby. For the 70,000-square-foot facility, the roof and groundwater collection mechanisms are quite efficient – the tank requires just two inches of rain to fill.

I greet the tour guides, sign a waiver, and slip on a bright yellow construction vest, joining a large tour group of what seems to be a school field trip.

As the tour begins, my nose has acclimated and no longer notices the metallic non-natural smell. I can only imagine how my clothes and hair will reek when I get back to my office. Ew.

ReThink Waste, the organization in charge of hosting tours, does introductions. The facility covers jurisdictions from Burlingame to East Palo Alto. The Shoreway center is made up of a few different departments and organizations:
– Public Recycling Center, which offers public service for drop offs of certain items.
– South Bay Recycling
– Recology, is the waste hauler, which serves 93,000 homes and 11,000 businesses every week, picking up landfill, recycle, and organic waste.
– Transfer Station, which is the place where solid waste is dropped off after being collected by hauler.
– Materials Recovery Facility, which is “used for the unloading, processing and shipment to end markets of recyclables from homes and businesses”.

From employing people and vehicles for neighborhood pickup, to managing the complex robotic conveyor-belt systems, the combined efforts of all partners cover the complete recycling and disposal process.

As we enter a 3-4 story-high ceiling warehouse, tall, automated machinery creates a pandemonium as rubbish is sorted by conveyor belt, as seen here. In the distance, a Caterpillar construction vehicle transports piles of cardboard back and forth. To the vehicle’s left sits several wire-wrapped bushels of cardboard stacked cubically.

With walkways outlined by newly painted yellow handrails, the space we occupy is surprisingly clean next to the work area’s appearance below.

For legal reasons, the facility cannot possess waste or recyclables for more than 72 hours (compost is different, since it has to cook). This fact is apparent and proven by the degree of focus and attention exhibited by each orange vested worker. The plant processes 620,000 pounds of recyclables and 930,000 pounds of compost every day. Despite being a literal “dump”, the facility is incredibly well organized and flows quite efficiently.

Here’s a look inside the facility:

All of the waste you see moving through the conveyor belts came from homes in the Bay Area. At each house, you have three separate waste receptacles, one of each for compost, recycle, and landfill. By design, the landfill bin is the smallest of the three. Unsurprisingly, the landfill bin also tends to be the one completely full each week before pickup.

Once sorted, the facility relies on a number of partners to accept the waste. It is shipped overseas where companies accept it, although there are a few challenges.

Global Markets and Partnerships for Recycled Items:

Although almost every consumer good is sold encased with some type of plastic. So many things come in plastic, and

Plastics, which are made from fossil fuels, are not easily recycleable in the U.S., because its too expensive. Because of this, the US doesn’t recycle plastic bottles (if someone can figure out why else we can’t, please let me know(**link to google form). We actually ship things around the world just to recycle them. Because of this, partnerships and commodities markets for plastics matter for recyclable items.

relies heavily on partnerships and….

The United States relies on markets.
Certain regulations in
Historically, the United States has relied on agreements with with China and other countries overseas that have the capacity to process, refine, and reuse the recycled certain items for which there is no market for in the U.S., such as plastics.

Unfortunately, these agreements changed this year. Now, only very specific types of recycled items can be traded overseas.

Recycling is driven by markets – numbers on the plastic containers mean different things. Some markets are better than others.
Recycling partners overseas not taking as much recycling?
China? Now we must send to other countries, like vietnam etc. But an agreement with China recently fell through where they don’t accept our plastic any more.

One reason that partnerships are falling through is contamination levels were too high (metal to plastic ratio, food residue, etc.) Think about a plastic peanut butter jar, for instance. Before the recycled plastic material can actually be used, the residue peanut butter has to be cleaned from inside the jar. How much energy does that consume? It may take an average person a few minutes and a lot of soap and water to clean it out. Water is also a precious resource, and that process consumes a lot of water.

More on Recyclable Materials

Cleaning used items such as peanut butter jars, Separating items composed of more than 1 type of materials is difficult. Cleaning used items such as peanut butter jars experience a similar fate. Both of these types of items tend to go in the trash as the most efficient disposal method.

Special Items

There are a few specific requirements when it comes to certain items.

  • Rubber goes in the trash.
  • Black plastic cannot be recycled, it must be thrown away
  • You can bring old couches and mattresses to Shoreline’s facility as well. They will remove the metal, since there is a market for scrap metal in the US.
  • Metal items such as steel, aluminum, copper, etc. These items, like the mattress components, tend to be more valuable, so there is a natural incentive to recycle it. You can take pure scrap metal to a facility and trade it in for cash.
  • Electronic waste – such as batteries or computer parts – require careful disposal. You should think of these items as hazardous materials. Batteries can be put in an orange or clear plastic bag and placed on top of the black bin. Inside the garbage or recycle is the worst place to put electric waste – and can even be dangerous. When in doubt, wait and take them to a Best Buy or Ikea, which accepts used batteries and other electrical items. In September 2016 a lithium battery started a fire that destroyed many machines and caused the entire Shoreline facility to shut down for 4 months, costing about $8.4 million overall.
  • Cardboard products may still be sent overseas.
  • Glass is sent to a local California winery for that accepts glass bottles.
  • Someone asks “what do you do with styrofoam?” The group then learns that many places in San Mateo county are supposed to be getting rid if styrofoam altogether.  Hopefully, we won’t see it as much.

Where Do Most of These Items End Up?

Utilizing both man and machine, the imprecise process of sorting recyclables is one that is only partly effective. Many materials still end up in the landfill.
Situated at the final conveyor belt in the entire automated warehouse was a lady with quick hands and attentive focus. Here, she alone is tasked with saving any missed recyclables from entering the landfill. Her job, reaching over a fast paced conveyor belt, was to hand-select with burlap gloved hands, bottles and cans and other items with a higher recycle market. Currently, its not possible to recycle 100% of everything that is recyclable. Of course many items are missed, and just ends up in a landfill.

Landfills often tend to be the best option for non-recyclable items. Most of the collected waste will end up in a landfill located in one of Northern California’s most beautiful coastal areas, Half Moon Bay.

There is a Landfill in Half Moon Bay, and they estimate they have about 15.5 years left in the landfill. 15 years sounds like a long time, but the fact that there is a finite amount of time left before they have to find a new landfill highlights a significant point that I described in a previous article (link to your other one) – garbage, especially those materials that don’t break down, will be on earth and in a landfill FOREVER. those materials will never ever go away.

Next time you walk down the aisles of a grocery store, observe the tens of thousands of products encased in plastic. Where do you think most of that plastic will go? Well, now, you know. What’s missed by the automated conveyor belts and team heads to a landfill in a small, coastal town, named Half Moon Bay to be stored underground forever. Think about that next time you buy a case of twenty-four plastic water bottles for $1.99.

Potential Solutions

Maybe, manufacturers should be responsible on bearing some of the burden of recycling, rather than municipalities.

But there truly aren’t any potential solutions. Companies like ODMI doing something pretty special. They are raising awareness at schools about pollution at oceans and beaches.

Given that it costs more to prepare these types of items for recycling than they are actually worth. To combat this, plastic is being burned as a way of disposal. Surprisingly, incinerators are actually quite environmentally friendly. They’re designed to release fewer emissions than a backyard charcoal grill.

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How to use Virtual Reality in Human Resources 2020

By Espresso Insight on

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Using virtual reality technology in an organization may seem futuristic. But VR is quite well established; current technology systems exist and are readily available for implementation. In the virtual world of 2020, businesses have an opportunity to leverage VR to serve a wide array of functions.

But with an emerging technology like VR, where should a business start? It turns out HR is a safe place to establish a pilot virtual reality strategy.

In this post, we’re going to discuss the applications of virtual reality to human resources. We will focus on both benefits and potential return on investment of implementing such systems.

“Employees are a company’s most valuable asset.”

To stay modern, HR leaders have a responsibility to invest in the best tools for their employees.

From the initial job application up to an employee’s daily experience post-hire, VR will change the employee journey.

If HR leaders can learn anything from their own workforce, its that employees crave a modernized work experience. A big part of this is making sure your employees have the latest and greatest tools. Its likely that employee adoption of VR will be quite rapid, since its intuitive and easy to use. Technology companies like STRIVR are building VR tools oriented around the business user.

With a strategic up front investment in time and resources, companies may see long term benefits including:

  • reduce travel expenses
  • reduce costs
  • save time
  • enable employee flexibility
  • enhance productivity
  • increase efficiency,

Many human resources departments are taking steps in VR. Let’s look at a few HR processes where you have he potential to leverage VR today:

VR in HR in 2020

Interviews & Candidate Screening:

the benefits: By leveraging VR to screen candidates and conduct interviews remotely, firms will benefit by minimizing travel expenses without sacrificing sense of personal connection.

During the candidate screening process, VR will foster a collaborative and interactive environment for prospective employees to meet with recruiters and hiring managers. VR may allow candidates to work out problems in front of the interviewer in ways that we cannot yet imagine. Additionally, group interview sessions could be done remotely while maintaining the personal and collaborative feel that an in-person interview would have.
As opposed to phone or email exchange, VR may make the subtleties of person-to-person interaction more fluid and natural, taking body language and other non-verbal communication into context.
Although VR may seem rare today, comparative technology to conduct video interviews is being used by many companies. Software like HireVue makes this possible by organizing video interviews with candidates. Virtual reality would only enhance the immersive experience of video, which is already used by candidates and hiring managers alike.
Similar to the video interview tools out on the market, a virtual reality system would be integrated within the applicant tracking system or core HRIS with minimal burden on IT teams.

Pre-employment experiences:

the benefits: By providing candidates with pre-hire tours, companies will ensure they are portraying the right brand message.

To attract the best people to join their teams, companies must differentiate themselves. Virtual reality provides an opportunity to prove that they are modern and high tech.
Virtual reality is the closest thing you can get to experiencing something, without actually doing it. A virtual tour of the office could give the employee a better sense for the workplace culture, and what it will actually be like working for a particular firm. In addition to info sessions and career fairs, virtual office tours could be used as a method of familiarizing candidates with the company culture. Come companies offer online 3-D tours of office amenities and training areas. The job market is hot. The unemployment rate is at an all time low – 3.6% as of May 2019. The best applicants are selective and often receive multiple job offers. Aside from the common offerings (competitive pay, benefits, development, flexibility, etc.) employers may find it valuable to provide a virtual experience of the actual day to day job.  Rather than just hearing about the job opportunity, candidates could actually feel themselves doing the job with VR.

Employee Onboarding:

the benefits: speed up employee time to productivity.

How long does it take your new hires to reach proficiency in their jobs? How much productivity is lost between the time from when they accept the offer letter to the time that they are actually doing productive work for your business? How long is your onboarding process? These are just a few questions HR teams ask themselves, especially when companies hire large cohorts of people. Optimizing the post-hire processes can help ensure quick time to productivity. Your CFO will be glad to hear that your employees can get started on their actual jobs more quickly, ultimately contributing to your company’s profitability and bottom line. Developing a type of self-paced e-learning with VR could simply supplement what companies are currently doing with their learning management system.
Includes the employee training process, could be linked within your Learning Management System.

With the self-paced and module based training courses, VR in addition to videos may help employees to learn more quickly. Which brings us to our next topic of VR in HR disruption, learning management. More on that below.

Learning and Development:

the benefits: continuous, on-demand employee training.

Flight simulators already exist that offer pilots in training with the opportunity to perfect their skills before the danger of a live environment. Similarly, other types of employees, such as bridge construction workers that perform tasks on underwater bridge supports while scuba diving, experience potentially dangerous work situations. To ensure the employees are practiced, ready, and know what to expect, simulation of work environments could be developed such that they can better prepare themselves for the job. In this scenario, incorporating a mixed reality  experience may even make sense.

Workplace Gamification:

the benefits: by leveraging AR type tools to make work engaging and motivating, companies may increase employee productivity.

Here’s where we can use our imagination even more, and where understanding what types of things Video Game systems have already done will help us understand what’s actually possible. In a physical-labor intensive job in high school, I had the task of loading equipment and supplies from a warehouse into the back of large semi-truck trailers. The hours were long, the pay was good, and it was quite a workout to say the least. Imagine warehouse workers, like me, who are tasked with the repetitive task of loading trailer after trailer, could do so in a virtualized gaming world. Imagine the workers could wear a headset, and become immersed in a tetris-like environment where they are no longer simply loading boxes and supplies into a truck, but are playing a game in real-time with various graphics, information, and instructions being displayed to them during their entire workday. Incentives could be pushed in the form of in-game rewards or something similar to help them stay motivated. Beyond the work and the game itself, the game could serve as a platform fostering greater employee collaboration, feedback, and performance.

Health & Wellness:

the benefits: keep employees happy and productive by providing employee escapism & mini-vacations.

The “R” in VR. Reality. We shouldn’t take this word lightly. The immersiveness of VR often makes the user feel that their experience is truly real. As the saying goes, “perception is your own reality”. If someone has an experience, and barring logic of knowing that they are wearing a VR headset, it feels real to that person, is the impact it has on them not close to the impact that the real life experience would have?
All humans encounter and experience stress. Its a fact of life, and some stress is good. But having time to relax is also important. By providing a meditative like experience through Virtual Reality to break up the continuation of a stressful work environment, companies could foster employee wellness. By giving employees a relaxing mini-vacation at their desks, how much might employee productivity be increased?

Meetings:

the benefits: remote work more personal.

Similar to the case with interviews, VR tools could allow teams located in different areas to communicate and collaborate as if they were in the same room. The goal is to replicate the natural feeling of presence you have during a standard in-person meeting.

We’ve covered the potential ways that virtual reality could change and improve the employee experience.

Businesses leaders must consider the question of how they will establish an advantage over competition by staying ahead. Adopting virtual reality technology to supplement their HRIS might just be one way to do so.

As we’ve shown, employees have a tendency to embrace and consume the latest and greatest technology in the workplace. Improvements in monitor screens, ergonomic mice, automated standing desks, etc just make the employees day more comfortable and immersive.

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9 Productive Organizations Using Virtual Reality in Human Resources

By Espresso Insight on

In this post, we cover 9 different companies that are using virtual reality for human resources. We’ll discuss the benefits these companies have realized by implementing VR in HR and other parts of the enterprise, which include:

– reduce travel expenses
– reduce costs
– save time
– enable employee flexibility
– enhance productivity
– increase efficiency, and more.

We hope this post helps you decide if VR is right for your business.

Examples of Enterprise VR for HR:

This post will cover a few companies that have implemented virtual reality into their current processes and systems.

1. Deutsche Bahn

German Railway company Deutsche Bahn employed a large population of employees set to retire within a few years. The company was hiring aggressively, and needed a way to train all these new employees. As a railway company, equipment and machinery is heavy and expensive – there isn’t an easy way to bring it into the classroom. The company built 360-degree VR experiences with the help of a few 3rd party startups. “This lets technicians practice how to assemble switch locks and troubleshoot problems with switches”, stated the Deutsche Bahn website. The company also mentions that an augmented-reality system can be used to guide even their more experienced employees through complex repair processes to speed up procedures. In addition to training, the company sets up VR headsets at job fairs, trips, and interviews. This enables recruiters to present immersive experiences to attract prospective candidates.

2. Walmart

Walmart, which is the nation’s largest private employer, has installed Oculus Go headsets into their 4,600 U.S. stores. VR helps understand how an employee accomplishes a task in a virtual setting. Managers are able to gain insight into employee skills and understand how employees handle everyday scenarios, which include managing sections of the store or preparing for busy season. This helps determine who gets raises and promoted to management roles. Walmart’s goal is to reduce turnover as well as limit decision bias in hiring to increase diversity. STRIVR, company based in silicon valley, builds the VR simulations.

3. The British Army

VR helps soldiers of the British Army familiarize themselves with aspects of combat before going through actual training. VR is used for vehicle, flight, and battlefield simulation, medic training, and even a virtual boot camp. Leveraging VR allows the British Army to save money. VR is a cheaper way to train soldiers on certain processes before doing them in real life. Visualizing and going through proper procedures and techniques in a virtual environment minimizes the use of costly resources such as fuel and supplies. Avatars within the simulation are designed to display true facial features such that soldiers can recognize each other, allowing soldiers to function as a team. Data capture and analysis allow soldiers to review and improve their performance. The virtual training is developed by Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BiSim).

4. Kentucky Fried Chicken

KFC is using the technology to teach employees how to cook fried chicken. The company did so by partnering with Oculus, to build an escape-room themed game where employees learn how to cook chicken the hard way. Although the game has received mixed reviews, the description states that “this was the clearest way to communicate exactly what is expected when it comes to making his fried chicken.” Say what you will about the overlap of VR technology and cooking chicken – one thing is for sure – there are few better ways to satisfy your hunger than stopping by KFC.

5. Lowe’s Home Improvement

Lowe’s developed a VR application at their Lowe’s Innovation Labs to make home improvement projects simple and seamless for the customer. The virtual experience allowed customers to walk through and learn how to accomplish DIY projects, such as tiling a shower. According to Lowe’s, going through such a project in virtual reality helped people reach memory performance levels comparable to someone with more experience. It can be hypothesized that VR has a measurable impact on humans ability to learn. By giving inexperienced customers the confidence to take on a DIY project, Lowe’s stands to sell more products and increase revenue.

6. Hilton Worldwide

Hilton is using VR for virtual employee training. Hilton’s goal was to improve communication between customers and staff. To do so, they developed VR system that replicates real-life customer reactions to different scenarios. This helped employees develop the interpersonal skills needed to foster positive customer interactions. Beyond customer interaction, Hilton also piloted a conflict resolution program to help employees become more skilled at service recovery. One of the challenges of rolling out the service, it seems, is localization. Since Hilton has properties across the world, the VR must be catered to many different languages.

7. Samsung

Samsung needed to make training at their production more efficient and less costly. The employee experience during training includes a headset as well as a handheld controller that mimics a tool that allows the employee to work through the mock manufacturing processes. For Samsung, the bonus is that they actually make the hardware: phones to be viewed on VR headsets.

8. Volkswagon

VW uses the HTC Vive virtual reality system to assist with train 10,000 employees in the production and logistics teams in order to increase productivity and efficiency. With VR training, employees can learn at their own pace, and the company avoids costly travel expenses. VR is also scalable. So far, the company’s VR lessons include vehicle assembly, new team member training, and customer service.
In addition to employee training, VW uses VR technology for prototyping. The product team is able to construct virtual car parts that can be built in real life after being perfected. Building virtual prototypes has a few advantages over physical ones – often, virtual is faster, cheaper, and easier to tweak. It also allows designers to communicate and share ideas with engineering and others on the development team.

9. NBC

NBC broadcasted a number of hours of the Rio Summer Olympics as well as the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in VR. The events included opening and closing ceremonies, men’s basketball, gymnastics, track and field, beach volleyball, diving, boxing, alpine skiing, curling, snowboarding, skeleton, figure skating, short track, ski jumping, ice hockey, big air, and fencing. The NBC team has partnered with Intel and Samsung to broadcast these past events.

We hope you now have a general idea about the ways that a number of large, recognizable companies are investing in virtual reality technology specifically for human resources. All of these companies are realizing a positive impact in doing so. Is your team looking to implement VR or other emerging systems in your organization? The team at AbstractRealization.com would love to hear about it – let us know, here.

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