Bringing VR Beyond the Lab: One VR resource to make it a campus-wide asset

When it comes to cutting-edge resources like Virtual Reality, success isn’t just about having the technology — it’s about making sure the entire campus community sees its value and gets involved. A VR lab tucked away in a corner won’t drive real return on investment; widespread engagement will. The more departments, students, and faculty who find ways to integrate VR into their work, the more powerful — and transformative — the impact becomes. In this post, we’ll dive into strategies for building momentum, fostering collaboration, and making your university’s VR resource a true campus-wide powerhouse based on a single addition – Virtual Orator.

a VR resource to save your public speaking

Virtual Orator is VR public speaking training application. It provides an experience of presenting in front of people, targeted to the needs of each user. It has been shown to be effective way to overcome a fear of public speaking and is great for preparation and perfecting of presentations and speeches. Presenting is part of many college level courses. It is part of research, and an important part of the future careers of the students.

It is a tool that is of potential use to everyone on campus. With up to 70% of all people having a fear of public speaking and presenting part of every university educated persons life, everyone can benefit. Like the VR headset itself, it is only useful if you get people to use it!

With Virtual Orator you can get buy in started across campus by addressing concrete needs across a spectrum of use cases, making your VR resource more valued. Here are some of the ways you can get cross campus buy-in:

Communications Department

1. Integrated part of communications classes. Virtual Orator has been used as part of Communications 101 courses, for instance, at MSU.
2. Support of communications classes. Professors/TA can reference it as a resource for those crippled by a fear of public speaking, giving students a chance to improve outside of class and avoid the social implications associated with a trial by fire method of learning.
3. Speech Therapy. Several practitioners use Virtual Orator for triggering stuttering, allowing them to work with the student on strategies. Because it is ‘just’ virtual it is easy to pause, retry, and students are more willing to participate than with real people. As a resource for this purpose it can be part of classes, research, or practice.
4. Communications research. Research using VR has many benefits but many researchers are intimidated by the technology. Student research projects can also leverage VR to create situations not normally possible to simulate in the scope of student research.

Career Services/ Placement Office

5. Interview practice and skill building. Virtual Orator has prepared interviewing scenarios, and the university can create their own custom scenario and learning paths.

Entrepreneurship programs/Startup Accelerators

6. Improving delivery of pitches is critical to entrepreneurship and in particular fundraising. Perfecting the pitch and importantly the delivery is supported by using Virtual Orator.
7. Learning to field typical Q&A after the pitch can help not only student entrepreneurs understand their own startup better but also prepare them for actual fundraising.

Language Department/ ESL programs

8. Speaking in front of people in a foreign language is stressful and yet an important and skill-accelerating skill to learn (see post why this is so powerful)

Clubs

9. Activities like debate teams can leverage Virtual Orator to practice for events. Virtual Orator includes impromptu topics and can be extended to include custom topics

Graduate Students

10. Oral defenses are a major source of stress for many graduate students. So much hinges on them, yet students are often underskilled in this area. Having a resource that allows them to gain realistic practice can help them enter it with reduced fear and even confidence.

Research Office

11. Presentations of research results are an essential part of a research career. Particularly the first time presenting can often be very overwhelming, and poor presentations often reduce the impact of quality research.

Every Department

12. A referral resource for getting over a fear of public speaking. Professors requiring presentations, including end of year, should be letting those with a fear know that a resource exists to help them.
13. Preparation of end of semester presentations. Again this is a resource that professors should be mentioning that exists for their students, particularly in fields that are traditionally weak in presentation skills and that have aptitudes for tech usage.

A VR resource you’ll truly use

VR holds lots of promise and has seen rapidly increasing adoption in specific fields of university education. VR Resources are often frequently underutilized. A combination of awareness and perceived value makes getting campus-wide excitement and buy-in challenging. Adding a specific software, Virtual Orator, provides targeted ways to create interest and buy-in, with identifiable use cases.