JACKSON, Miss. ( WJTV ) – Virtual reality technology is being used to train Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) inmates as they approach life after incarceration.

MDOC unveiled its mobile welding simulator training center Friday morning. The mobile training center will also be traveling across the state. According to Bradley Lum, CEO of MDOC Works, it offers inmates the opportunity to earn a nationally recognized welding certification that opens them up to high-paying jobs.

“This training mechanism has wheels and can go and cover and canvas a large portion of our state,” Lum said.

Gordon Gros is an MDOC inmate and a certified welding instructor. He says it’s the closest thing trainees can get to the real thing.

“These are positional markers and it’s relaying that information through pass-through cameras. And he is able to see this inside of his hood. There’s sound, there’s feel, there’s haptic and tactical sense that you can get back,” Gros said.

MDOC plans on taking this training center to correctional facilities in Marshall, Noxubee, Alcorn, Chickasaw, Kemper and Winston counties.

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