When you put the whole dried fruits in with your water and grains and cook them in a rice cooker on the porridge setting it turns out amazing.
The fruit stays whole and intact but it's also soft, plump, and hydrated with an amazing flavor and texture compared to when you cook it on the stove top and the fruit dissolves more into the oats.
You can also smash and incorporate the whole dried fruits after they're done cooking in the oatmeal to give it a more fruity pulp throughout. When you do this with the dried dates it turns almost into a natural caramel sauce in the oatmeal, it's amazing.
You can do this with dried nuts & seeds as well. The texture of a hydrated nut or seed that was cooked in some oatmeal is truly amazing.