Virtual reality isn’t just for highly immersive video games anymore but can also be a tool used for career exploration Texas Workforce Solutions of Del Rio is brought  Twenty Oculus Rift headsets to the Utopia School on January 29th  to offer a new way of demonstrating training skills needed in this and future economies. Students were able to experience hands-on skills in several different potential careers.

According to Brooke Bolterman, who works with Texas Workforce Solutions as a career and education outreach specialist, “Our job is to inform these students on the career opportunities and pathways they can take,” 

“This is just an extra step for them to explore these opportunities with hands-on experience to better understand what duties they’d be performing on a day-to-day basis.”

Students donned headsets, which allowed them to see a virtual world, and a pair of hand controllers that include buttons and triggers to try their hand at different career choices.  The students had choices of careers such as welding, medical fields, microchip manufacturing, emergency medical technician, electrical company linesman, and more.

The students went through a brief tutorial where they practiced using the headsets. Students were first told to grab a block with a virtual hand and then throw it at targets. After that, students journeyed into a virtual workspace and then tried their way through several different career pathway options.  Hopefully, the experience will set students up for a possible future career.