US rampage: Virtual reality app teaches survival strategies

There were already more than 300 shooting rampages in the USA in 2019. VR training for companies should now help employees to act correctly in the event of a rampage.

What would be the best behaviour if you noticed someone running amok? In this country, we are not exposed to the danger as often as in the USA, where 300 shootings have already taken place this year. But as the saying goes: better safe than sorry; it pays to train employees for an emergency. In the El Paso shooting, the software is even said to have saved lives, claims Walmart CEO Doug McMillon. But first from the beginning:

The VR experience consists of instructive 360-degree videos that play out emergency situations at different locations in the office. The scenes are combined with quizzes to test employees' willingness to make vital decisions as quickly as possible. Animated overlays help to draw attention to warning signals and explain basic safety concepts and survival tactics.

The VR training is led by police officer and SWAT officer Drew Hancock, who has 25 years of professional experience. "Learning survival strategies is important, but actually simulating and experiencing different scenarios increases situational awareness and reaction time, which could make all the difference in an emergency," says Hancock.

Virtual reality is said to have already saved lives

The originator of the VR training is the US start-up Pixvanawhich, in addition to a platform for VR video editing and distribution, develops VR training courses for companies. For the VR rampage training, Pixvana worked with the security company Alexo together.

On the official website there is an introductory video to the VR app and the option to request more information. The start-up develops VR training courses for specific locations, architectures and industries on request.

Walmart already uses similar software to prepare employees for rampages. "I went through the training myself. And with VR, it's more like being in the situation and understanding the steps that need to be taken during a rampage," says McMillon.

Walmart purchased around 17,000 Oculus Go glasses for employee training in November 2018. This training is developed by the VR start-up Strivr, which cooperates with a number of large US companies, and according to Strivr CEO Derek Belch, the rampage training was developed especially for Walmart in collaboration with security companies. Among other things, recordings from security cameras were also analysed.

Source: Mixed