First VR career lab to launch in Crawfordsville
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Indianapolis-based technology company VisionThree Inc. is partnering with the city of Crawfordsville to launch its first V3CONNECT lab at the Fusion 54 coworking space next month. The VR career lab is part of an $80 million effort announced earlier this year to give high school and college students the ability to explore possible careers in a virtual environment.
The lab includes 24 customized VR kiosks that include a VR headset, charging station and touchscreen tablet. VisionThree says the use of branded fabric backrops and an interactive touch screen will create “a virtual world of career opportunities.”
VisionThree has developed virtual reality, augmented reality and touch-interactive technology as an employee and customer training tool. In a July interview with Inside INdiana Business, Director of Strategic Partnerships Dawn Lang said the tool could also be used for job recruits.
“The goal is to really get them encouraged and excited earlier in the process by having have them put on the VR headsets, to see a day in the life, like what does it look like to be a technician in a pharmaceutical company? What does it look like to be involved in a semiconductor company? And what are the job opportunities there?” said Lang.
The city says it is partnering with industry and business partners to create day-in-the-life stories that can be viewed in the lab in Crawfordsville and future sites planned for elsewhere in the state and country.
“This is a groundbreaking moment, not just for Crawfordsville as a city, but for the state of Indiana as a whole,” Mayor Todd Barton said in written remarks. “We are proud to be leading the way in solving challenges for both talent pipeline development and the brain drain.”
Ivy Tech Community College in Lafayette will also be partnering with the city and VisionThree to bring degree program stories to V3CONNECT that can be used at trade shows, recruiting fairs and other events.
“We very much appreciate our partnership with Mayor Barton and the city of Crawfordsville,” said Ivy Tech Lafayette Chancellor Aaron Baute. “Virtual reality is an awesome and interactive technology that can help support workforce development and industry attraction.”
The lab at Fusion 54 is set to open in late January.
Fusion 54 opened in Crawfordsville in September 2018. It was created through the Stellar Communities designation the city earned in 2015 with the goal of supporting entrepreneurs, innovators and creatives.
The space is also home to Wabash College’s Center of Innovation, Business & Entrepreneurship.