Innovate, Imagine, Inspire: Virtual Learning for Youth and Seniors

Innovate, Imagine, Inspire: Virtual Learning for Youth and Seniors

Using virtual and extended reality (XR) subject matter experts at the Institute for Integrative and Innovative Research (I³R), we will design and deploy experiences for both youth and senior populations to encourage skills-building and engagement in novel environments through XR headsets. While the desired outcome for each group differs, we will utilize the same tools and basic approach to achieve “success” in our project. XR headsets will be deployed to two distinct populations.

A) Youth populations; in this case: local high school STEM classrooms. These headsets will be equipped with environments that mirror “day in the life” experiences of local professionals (such as MRI technicians, researcher professionals, and so on). This can be pivotal in a student’s decision on further education and training goals. These environments would be developed using technologies such a 360-degree cameras, allowing the users to replicate short video clips depicting simulated scenarios in the workplace. Currently, this type of immersive opportunity does not exist for students due to hospital / clinic regulations and HIPAA compliance requirements. However, there is a large need for capable medical professionals in our area. These environments will create opportunities for immersion and “hands on” experiences and exposure to various career paths, where they did not previously exist for this age group.

B) Senior populations: previous experiences have demonstrated that utilizing technology such as XR in older populations can increase their engagement with their environment, increase happiness, and grant them access to new and novel experiences – all without leaving their home. By deploying headsets and programmed environments to senior living facilities, we hope to provide senior populations with experiences that will engage them in various ways – including tasks and games that involve mental and physical engagement.

The project purpose is to encourage continual learning and development of populations in our communities through novel technology use. Local high school students often have limited access to shadowing opportunities in some fields, which can lead to questions about their career path, or feeling unsure about higher education. Through meetings with Fayetteville Public schools and Washington Regional (specifically their Directors for Workforce Development and Career and Technical Education), we have identified that virtual reality may be able to bridge this gap for high school students and their instructors – leading to more informed, confident students as they pursue training and enter the workforce.