Another normal day. Wake up, get ready just in time to leave so you can miss all that annoying traffic. Arrive at work, open the windows, clean the store. And here comes your first customer… with a big bag and a knife.
What do you do now?
Experiencing an armed robbery is not something employees, or people in general, are prepared for but this mentality should change. Armed robberies are quite common in our society, unfortunately, BanCrime states that in 2010-2011 “there were an estimated 126,300, or 346 per day, incidents of robbery” all over Australia. This is an alarming statistic. While we can not lessen the amount of crimes that are taking place, we can assist in training individuals so that they remain safe during these ordeals.
Numerous industries are focused upon making their companies the most advanced technologically in order to remain ahead of the game. As the years progress, companies continuously replace old technologies with the latest devices. VR (virtual reality) is that technology, the one that will evolve but not be replaced. The retail industry has discovered VR’s potential and as such, is utilising VR technology to train existing and potential employees to tackle everything from customer service to how to handle armed robberies.
“The emotions that they felt during the robbery experience they feel during the VR experience… by the end of the [virtual reality] experience they feel like they’ve been robbed three times, and by the third time their confidence is significantly higher.” Lou Tedrick (Verizon employee) says.
VR is an immersive device as it integrates 360 video and surround sound, which is extremely helpful when learning new skills and proper reactions. VR training used to prepare employees what to do during an armed robbery, is already being done in America. Retail workers in the US have been using Verizon’s technology in order to learn how to handle armed robberies. Employees are able to practice frightening situations, such as being held at gunpoint, in a safe environment and how to remain safe whilst lessening overall physical harm.
The employees are placed into compromising situations without physically and mentally having to experience it, enabling the workers to repeat scenarios and become more calm with the scenario. As a result of the realistic portrayal of these situations, employees have a higher chance of remaining safe and collected if or when an armed robbery occurs in real life.
Have a look at this video to see how the simulation would look like, while imagining how it would feel if the characters were actual people instead of CGI;
Interested in ensuring your employees know how to handle these dire situations? YesVR can help; with our hyper-realistic and interactive scenarios which utilise actors with 360 video that can be played on browser or headset.
Written by Belinda Saha
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