VR AR eLearning design.

We’ve finally gotten around to testing Adobe Captivate’s 2019 release of the much-bandied-about 360 video augmented reality and virtual reality feature set.

Adobe Captivate puts a powerful authoring tool into the hands of many

Adobe Captivate gets a lot of criticism for being buggy, hard to use and just plain unfriendly to eLearning developers. Yet the rapid development software remains at the top of the list for those looking for an easily accessible authoring tool. I’ve used Captivate for over ten years. And it continues to evolve along with the changing technology, from responsive authoring to motion effects. Captivate has contributed a great deal to the eLearning industry by putting a powerful authoring tool into the hands of many. It also continues to add to a growing list of frustrating issues.

Adobe Captivate is buggy but usable

Just scan the internet for Captivate problems and you will see plenty of issues, from browser incompatibilities and publishing problems all the way down to statements calling for a total rebuild of this go-to development tool. Yes, there are bugs. But I believe most of the criticism comes from those with more experience using Articulate Storyline. When they jump to Captivate, nothing works according to their expectations. Then after a couple of hours of clicking around, most of the anxiety goes away.

Adobe Captivate 2019 new release

Captivate may now see more Storyline developers coming their way because of a much anticipated upgrade that attempts to answer the growing demand for making VR AR eLearning design accessible to the average eLearning developer.

When news of Captivate 2019 hit the market, there was much ballyhoo over the new possibilities of VR (well, VR, AR, MR, 360 video). Walking the trade show aisles of DevLearn, you’d swear VR was a brand new invention. In fact, the first VR headset was created in 1968! Really, the big headline here is that VR in eLearning has become even more accessible to the masses. This is also due to the multitudes of new and inexpensive 360 cameras on the market today.

So I quickly put together a fun Captivate 360 video of an interior of a Porsche 911 (991.1). I found many limitations. Nevertheless, it’s a fun addition to my eLearning toolkit. Click below. (REQUIRES CHROME BROWSER.)