Rehearsing for the bank robbery with virtual reality

The Dutch start-up Warp VR specialises in tricky situations. It offers training for employees using VR scenarios. Virtual storylines can be used to train a company's employees in dealing with their own customers or to learn what first aid measures need to be taken in the event of an emergency at work.

Realistic role-playing games

One of Warp VR's customers is Erste Bank in Austria. Employees at a branch can play through various scenarios using VR glasses and learn how to de-escalate difficult situations. They also rehearse how to keep a bank robber at bay at the counter. Without falling into a false hero role, of course.

"The VR glasses and the 360-degree view make it much easier to immerse yourself in a scenario that is also much more realistic than learning videos or role-playing games," explains David Gezzele, Head of Learning & Development at Erste Bank. But especially when it comes to escalations and real threat situations, this is "difficult to simulate" in conventional workshops with your own colleagues.

Such training scenarios are created by the bank's training managers together with Warp VR. Once the scenario has been defined, the storyline with the various options is determined and then filmed using a 360-degree camera. In addition to professional actors and actresses, real bank employees are also involved in the production. To ensure that everything looks as realistic as possible, the film is shot on the bank's premises - for example in a branch or at the First Campus in Vienna.

After an initial experimental phase with expensive VR glasses such as the Oculus Go and Quest, the bank has now been able to switch the sophisticated programme to smartphone-based headsets. This naturally makes the training concept even more attractive.

Source: kleinreport / VR Wrap