Unreal Results: Enhance Your Educational Experience with Virtual Reality
Now more than ever our target audiences are overstimulated, so finding a unique way to resonate with them can be difficult when planning your educational outreach tour. In recent years, technology has come a long way to give mobile exhibits that added “wow” factor and helps to reach audiences in a more hands-on and immersive way. Virtual reality technology is one of the top hi-tech approaches that allows guests to truly engage with an exhibit’s message.
Virtual reality refers to an artificial, computer-generated environment that combines immersive, high-end graphics and audio to make users feel as if they are interacting with what’s around them. These VR experiences are usually transmitted through a special headset that allow users to feel fully immersed in the experience. VR can help visitors retain more information about your message as it leaves more of an impact than a lecture or paper brochure. The hands-on approach to virtual technology increases subject matter comprehension and the overall enjoyment of the exhibit experience. Both bode well for your mission and the message you are trying to convey.
One success story example is the American Welding Society’s tour Careers in Welding. The tour goal is to educate young adults and those looking for a second career on exciting and rewarding welding opportunities, in order to reduce the current shortage or welders. The exhibit features a Virtual Welding Lab that consists of five VR welding simulators allowing visitors to safely try their hand at welding. Visitors don functioning VR welding helmets and wands and complete the hands-on welding assignment and learn more about what welding really is. LED monitors placed at each station broadcast vies from within the VR helmet, allowing onlookers to watch as the virtual welding happens-drawing in more interest and participation. Like a video game, as more visitors participate, the more the learning exercise becomes a challenge or competition which increases engagement and makes learning fun and exciting.
Virtual experiences are highly stimulating and engaging – just the ticket for our hard-to-penetrate, over-stimulated culture. They can create buzz and excitement and certainly add tremendous value to the overall experience.
