New Virtual Reality Careers Experience from Work Window
This has been an exciting week for Careers as we have been sent a trial unit of our very first set of Oculus Virtual Reality Careers goggles that have been customized by Work Window in Brisbane to orientate students to a wide variety of work places and Career activities.
Test driving Work Window has been an inspiring experience as the comfortable goggles put you right in the middle of a work place and allow you to explore all around in 360 degrees of viewing and listen to various guides who are expert in their fields introduce their work and explain the advantages and challenges of what it involves. The sets seem quite robust and come with anti-Covid instructions so that they can be easily sanitized.
The controls are very simple and intuitive. Just switch on and after initializing with the Oculus button use the control stick thumb button to scroll through work place options of which there are many, and the trigger to select them. A full three dimensions of the work place and its context in city or country then appear slightly below you in virtual reality, which can well astound you at first. Someone in charge of the workplace will then introduce what is involved and then invite the viewer to select a presentation work activity that is typical of that work place. The viewer then gets a fantastic experience of what happens and can see what is important and what the challenges are. Anything missed can be replayed.
After working through the different presentations of work place activities the viewer is invited to ask questions by selecting from a list of frequently asked questions. These cover quite a wide variety of interest areas and concerns, including what the negative aspects of the work are and how they can be met.
This new technology is not designed to replace work experience, which is still very important, but it can very quickly highlight what experience would be most suitable for a particular student and inspire viewer exploration of new work pathways with such a comprehensive exposure. It can save a lot of time and money in possible job search and motivate viewers to search out the best career paths for them.
Also, because the work place is demystified with cheerful, positive commentary and clear, straightforward practical demonstration, it demystifies it and sets the viewer at ease. This is especially advantageous in allaying any anxiety and uncertainty about going into the working world. It provides an excellent context for teachers and parents to engage with students concerning future work.
Hopefully, we will be able to acquire some of this technology in the near future.
Mr Jim Ward
Careers Advisor