Students at KSU Salina learn soft skills through VR

SALINA, Kan. (KSNW) — K-State Salina is using virtual reality to implement new soft skills training for students and staff.

They can do different tasks such as give presentations, identify workplace issues, and practice job interviews.

“It’s all about like communication and the VR space gives them a safe space to practice, work through issues they might encounter,” assistant professor and graduate faculty member Dr. Michael Oetken said. “For students, we’re also using it to practice for job interviews, and so they go into a situation in the Bodyswap software where they can go through a job interview.”

There is also artificial intelligence giving them live feedback.

“They can watch themselves in their avatar and say, maybe you could have done this a little bit better because it’s recording what they say and all the other movements, so it’s a pretty cool tool,” Dr. Oetken said.

Graduate student Michael Moran says it’s useful and insightful.

“It definitely adds a perspective that you don’t really think about, especially in the modules that I was doing,” Moran said. “It’s asking you to identify things that you may not actually normally see. So when it gives you that feedback in real-time and actually points out what you’re looking at, or what you’re identifying, that actually helps a lot.”

They are working on how exactly the VR will be incorporated into the curriculum and courses.

“I want to incorporate it into some of our like upper level, junior, senior courses,” Dr. Oetken said. “But then also, I’ve been working with some of the other faculty on campus to see how they could implement it, especially with maybe intro to communications-type course where they can practice giving presentations in VR, and it might not seem as intimidating right off the bat, and getting used to that, being able to present.”

Dr. Oetken says this provides a safe space for them to learn and practice.

“Eventually, we want them to be able to communicate effectively and feel comfortable person to person, but with the integration with the AI and some of the feedback it gives, it’s just another great tool that they can use on their own time,” Dr. Oetken said.

“You can actually just, I guess, conquer some fears that way as well,” Moran said. “Or maybe just practice knowing that no one’s actually watching you.”

This method also provides convenience.

“You can have it set up to where you’re presenting in front of 20 people,” Dr. Oetken said. “You put the headset on and it feels like there’s a room full of people, and it’s not necessarily taking all the resources to put 20 people into a mock interview or presentation or something like that.”

K-State Salina is launching a new degree within the next year centered around the development and design of Virtual and Augmented Reality applications.

“The technology can be used across majors, across industries,” Dr. Oetken said. “So we’re working with everybody from, you know, aerospace-type industries to local nonprofit organizations that are using VR and AR for those more human factor-based applications.”

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