Virtual Reality and Digital Twin Technology: The Future of Expatriate PreDeployment Training and Assessment

Staffing expatriate (expat) assignments is a high-stakes venture given the complexity and cost of the process, especially when a high degree of cultural distance exists between the home and host countries. Ongoing developments in virtual reality (VR) technology present a unique opportunity for immersive training experiences which can double as a candidate assessment tool for Human Resource (HR) professionals. This paper will address the following items: 1) Introduction/Objective: The main objective of this paper is to examine the current state of virtual reality (VR) training technologies and assess the technology’s potential for use in expat pre-deployment training. Additional emphasis will be placed on the integration of digital twin technology to improve the training’s accuracy and effectiveness. 2) Methods: This paper will examine academic literature, business publications, and professional social media channels to analyze the opportunities, challenges, and alternative approaches to the use of VR and digital twin technology for immersive expat training. 3) Result: The findings highlighted an increasing use of these technologies across a variety of sectors and provide introductory guidelines for best practices for strategic decision makers. 4) Conclusion: The outcomes of these analyses provide insights for business leaders and HR professionals who hope to improve their expat program outcomes by introducing VR and digital twin technologies into their development and strategic management plans.