Vic Vice- Victorian Virtual Industry Careers Experience

The VIC VICE project aimed to transform career exploration for Victorian high school students through immersive virtual reality experiences. The challenge was to bridge the gap between traditional career expos and actual workplace visits, making career exploration engaging and informative.

The design process was meticulous and professional. It began with consultations between the Goulburn Murray Local Learning and Employment Network (GMLLEN) and industry reference groups to ensure alignment with industry needs and relevance.

The highly experienced team created 14 interactive 360-degree videos and immersive 3D simulations. These experiences were designed to be engaging, fun, and larger than life to inspire students. Students are guided through workplaces by young professionals who explain their roles and industries. Interactive touchpoints within the simulations offered creative scenarios for a fun and challenging experience that was relevant to each industry.

The final design features a user-friendly app that runs on over 240 VR headsets and allows easy content updates. Pilot testing showed significant positive impacts, with many students exploring new career paths, demonstrating the project’s success and setting a benchmark for future educational tools.

The VIC VICE project meets and exceeds the criteria for good design by integrating functionality, accessibility, aesthetics, safety, quality, and sustainability into its core.

Functionality: The platform offers 14 immersive workplaces through interactive 360-degree videos and 3D simulations. This setup provides a practical and engaging way for students to explore various career paths, incorporating gamified elements to enhance learning.

Accessibility: VIC VICE is designed for deployment across 914 schools in Victoria. Its user-friendly app and modular content management system allow educators to easily customize and update VR experiences, ensuring broad accessibility.

Aesthetics: The project features vibrant, larger-than-life visuals that create an engaging and exciting experience. The 360-degree videos and 3D simulations are crafted to be immersive and visually stimulating, sparking students’ interest in career opportunities.

Safety: Utilizing virtual reality ensures a safe learning environment, allowing students to explore workplaces without physical risks. The technology has been rigorously tested to meet safety standards.

Quality: VIC VICE maintains high standards with cutting-edge VR technology and professional-grade production. The high-quality content accurately represents real-world work environments, enhancing the educational experience.

Sustainability: The platform’s design emphasizes long-term usability. The app’s modular system supports ongoing updates, keeping the content relevant and impactful.

The user experience is central to VIC VICE’s design. Interactive touchpoints and real-time simulations provide an engaging, educational experience. Students are guided through workplaces by young professionals who explain roles and industries, with creative scenarios that make learning both fun and informative.

VIC VICE sets a new benchmark for design excellence by effectively combining technology with educational needs. It enhances career exploration for Victorian students and highlights the value of investing in professional design, establishing it as a model for similar initiatives in Australia and beyond.

The VIC VICE project tackles the challenge of engaging high school students with career exploration in a truly innovative way. The core problem was to provide an immersive and interactive experience that allows students to explore various career paths without leaving the classroom.

Innovation and Originality: VIC VICE is groundbreaking for its use of virtual reality to offer a highly immersive experience. Students can explore 14 distinct workplaces through interactive 360-degree videos and fully realized 3D simulations, making it a pioneering application of VR in education. The platform features gamified elements where students make real-time decisions, enhancing their engagement and understanding of different professions.

Unique Features: The project stands out for its integration of immersive VR environments and interactive touchpoints. Students are guided through workplaces by young professionals who explain their roles, creating a realistic and engaging experience. The combination of real-time simulations and creative challenges provides a fresh approach to career education, making learning both enjoyable and informative.

User-Centered Design: VIC VICE is designed with the needs of students and educators in mind. Its user-centered approach includes customizable content and a modular system that allows schools to tailor the experience to their specific needs. This ensures that the VR experiences are relevant and engaging, effectively addressing students’ curiosity and educational requirements.

Overall, VIC VICE not only addresses the problem of limited career exposure but also sets a new benchmark in educational technology by offering an immersive, interactive, and user-centered approach to career exploration.

The VIC VICE project delivers a profound impact across social, economic, and educational dimensions. By providing high school students with immersive virtual reality experiences of various career paths, the project fosters a deeper understanding of career opportunities, particularly in sectors facing skills shortages. This not only inspires students to explore and pursue careers in high-demand fields but also equips them with practical insights that can guide their future career choices, ultimately addressing workforce needs.

Social Impact: VIC VICE creates a meaningful and engaging way for students to explore careers without geographical or logistical constraints. By making career exploration accessible and exciting, it encourages students to consider roles they might not have previously contemplated, thereby broadening their career horizons.

Economic Impact: The project plays a critical role in preparing students for future careers in high-demand industries. By aligning educational experiences with industry needs, VIC VICE helps bridge the skills gap and contributes to a more informed and skilled workforce, which is essential for economic growth.

Environmental Considerations: VIC VICE adheres to principles of sustainability by utilizing virtual reality, which minimizes physical materials and waste. The digital nature of the platform reduces the need for physical resources and supports a more sustainable approach to career education.

Design Excellence: This project showcases the potential of professional design to solve complex educational challenges. VIC VICE enhances Victoria’s reputation as a hub of innovative design and educational technology, setting a high standard for similar initiatives.

By demonstrating the effectiveness of immersive and interactive learning tools, the project underscores the importance of investing in high-quality design and technology solutions. It positions Victoria, and by extension Australia, as a leader in integrating advanced design and technology into education, with potential influence on international practices.