In the popular imagination, insurance is often thought of as somewhat old-fashioned on the technological front. Computers and the internet have enabled much faster policy writing and claims processing, but this doesn’t necessarily place the industry at the forefront of tech innovations, does it?
For Sheri Wilbanks, Global Innovation Lead, AIG Client Risk Solutions, technology has numerous and largely untapped applications for the insurance industry.
One such technology that’s moving to the forefront is Virtual Reality – VR. Frequently used for training purposes, VR has already been adopted across a number of industries. Aviation is arguably the most famous, and it’s also carved out a significant niche in surgical training.
Yet Wilbanks believes that VR training has a much broader range of applications than are popularly realised – and that includes in the insurance industry.
“We’ve found that some insurers are actually using virtual reality to train their claims adjusters,” she says. “VR enables you to build lifelike and realistic scenarios and put staff through so many different scenarios much faster than would be possible in the real world.”
Thanks to this realism, higher staff engagement is possible, in turn facilitating better information recall. The practical applications are obvious, enabling new staff to get up to speed more quickly, while also enabling swifter training on new procedures for existing staff.
Additionally Wilbanks also highlights construction as making use of VR for training purposes too. Here, the focus is obviously less on claims processing and more on enabling a safer work environment in which claims should not occur to begin with.
“We have a client in Hong Kong who’s using virtual reality for training already,” says Wilbanks. “We’ve got modules that include construction-related hazard identification, as well as a few others.”
Wilbanks reports that client interest in VR is quite positive.
“It’s obviously similar to the consumer market – there are always early adopters, and those who want to wait a little longer and see how the technology develops,” says Wilbanks. “But in general, clients want to know about it and be kept up to speed. The interest is high globally.”
