KFC is using VR to demonstrate how to make fried chicken. 'The Hard Way – a KFC Virtual Training Escape Room' is designed as an escape room where Colonel Sanders gives his trainees hints and clues along the way to ensure they are making fried chicken the way he invented more than 70 years ago.
After successfully completing the five main steps – inspecting, rinsing, breading, racking and pressure frying – participants exit the training kitchen with a glimpse of what goes into cooking Original Recipe chicken, a process that takes 25 minutes from start to service in its real-world KFC kitchens. In the virtual world, the game is able to use tools such as time lapse, to provide participants with a ten-minute demonstration of KFC's cooking process.
KFC will use the VR simulation to supplement its employee training program, called Chicken Mastery Certification, which provides eLearning and training for cooks in each of KFC's kitchens. KFC will provide yet another platform by bringing the VR simulation technology to its regional general manager training classes, quarterly franchise meetings, and employee onboarding at its headquarters.
Instead of using virtual reality to teach team members how to do their job faster, KFC is using the technology to teach its cooks how to make its chicken better.
"The Hard Way – a KFC Virtual Training Escape Room" was developed in partnership with Wieden+Kennedy's creative technology group, W+K Lodge, and designed for the Oculus platform using the Rift headset and Touch controllers.
"What excites us is experimenting with new tools and mediums to tell stories. VR became an obvious choice to create an immersive experience that teaches trainees how to make KFC's Original Recipe. The escape room concept builds on the pure training and utility of the experience into something that's also entertaining and connected to KFC's iconic founder," said Jonathan Minori, W+K Lodge design director.