News and notes from Imagine! and the Imagine! Foundation.
Inclusion and Accessibility Through Virtual Reality
May-18-2021
Services
Today we are joined by Tyler Little, the Assistive Technology Supervisor for Imagine!’s Community and Employment Services, to talk about how Imagine! uses Virtual Reality in services.
For those who are unfamiliar with Virtual Reality (VR), it is a simulated experience that mimics the real world using a headset similar to the one pictured below. Many of those who use VR use it for entertainment purposes, such as video games or 360 travel videos. However, VR has so many other applications that the general public might not know about.
At Imagine!, we use VR in our Employment Services to help train individuals with disabilities for certain jobs. We partnered with Reality Garage in Boulder, CO to design programs that simulate the work environment for local breweries. It’s important to note that these programs do have a gamified feel to them, but are designed to be errorless learning. What that means is that if an individual does an incorrect movement, they will not be faced with those dreaded “Game Over” messages. Instead, the program will gently guide them with arrows to correct those errors. If the individual continues to make the same mistake, a video will pop up and help explain the process in an accessible way. Additionally, we are able to monitor their progress so that we can see when they need any extra help.
These VR programs are created to look and feel just like the brewery that the individual would work so that they can practice doing the job before they are hired. This particular program focuses on placing beer bottles into a crate for shipping.
We then collect data on the individual’s improvement in the program and once they get close to 100% performance, they move onto a controlled real-world environment with empty beer bottles. They are able to practice what they learned in VR in the real world using more tangible props so that they can continue to learn while in a comfortable and accessible environment. Once they are more confident with the processes and feel they are ready to move on to the job itself, they are matched with a job coach and move on to the big leagues!
Imagine!’s Employment Services just received a grant that will allow us to create another program that focuses on additional jobs, such as dishwashing or busing a table. We will provide more details when we get closer to launching the program!
But VR isn’t only used for job training here at Imagine!. In fact, it was a great way to allow folks who live in the Imagine! Group Homes to go on “virtual vacations.” These individuals could stay safely in their homes while exploring different parts of the real world, or in some cases, fantasy worlds!
Virtual Reality is a fantastic tool not only for creating a comfortable and accessible environment where people with disabilities can train for jobs but also allow others to do experience worlds and activities beyond their wildest imaginations! Technology is a truly amazing gift and we are so grateful and excited to utilize it here at Imagine!.
