6,000 VR Headsets for Students in Vorarlberg
The new issue of the "Check Check Lehre" magazine will be distributed with a special supplement. A collaboration between the Offset Printing Company in Schwarzach, the WKV department "Apprentice Office - Training Service," and the Association for Training in Vorarlberg makes this possible.
With the new issue of the apprentice magazine "Check Check Lehre," career guidance teachers now receive additional support for their valuable lessons. Almost 6,000 cardboard VR headsets are currently being distributed alongside the magazine to schools in Vorarlberg. Students assemble the cardboard glasses, insert their smartphones in VR mode, and voilà, the virtual reality glasses are ready. Coupled with the WKO project of "virtual company tours," this also makes "virtual internships" possible. Students can virtually visit apprentices in various industries across Austria thanks to VR videos and learn more about the profession, company, and training.
These profession clips have been used in Vorarlberg as well as in other federal states for years. However, they were primarily utilized as software/apps with the help of VR glasses at apprenticeship fairs or in career counseling by BIFO, AMS, or the Association for Training in Vorarlberg. Ideally, alongside the app, the VR-compatible website www.berufe-vr.at was developed. Users can navigate through the world of professions on a PC, tablet, or mobile phone using a mouse or touchscreen—though without the virtual feeling. However, this is now possible through the VR cardboard glasses developed and produced in Vorarlberg. Upon request from the Association for Training in Vorarlberg, the apprentice Elias Vögel at the Offset Printing Company in Schwarzach created a cardboard headset along with the corresponding packaging. Finally, graphic designer Sylvia Dhargyal provided an appealing design and instructions.
“It was important for us not to order mass-produced items from Asia but to find a Vorarlberg solution,” explains LiV Managing Director Markus Curin. “Because in addition to the obvious ecological and economic reasons, our glasses also had to meet certain requirements so that we could use them as a supplement for the apprenticeship magazine 'Check Check Lehre' from the Chamber of Commerce Vorarlberg. This way, we support teachers in career orientation classes, reach thousands of students each year, and have a practical giveaway at fairs and events.”
“We were familiar with the cardboard glasses and had our own for our trial apprentices as a craft activity. The idea of designing our own within the framework of an apprenticeship project and using them throughout Vorarlberg really appealed to us,” adds Robert Keller, Head of Marketing. The requirements for Elias were not easy: “All elements had to fit on two printing sheets to be packed compactly and flat for the magazine,” says the apprentice. Instead of storing them in plastic bags as usual, they included an attractive cardboard box that now holds the instructions for the VR experience.
Practical Test at MS Mittelweiherburg
After the initial use of the cardboard glasses at the training fair "i," the Integra Dornbirn team is currently distributing 6,000 apprentice magazines along with VR cardboard glasses throughout Vorarlberg. However, there was an initial practical test at MS Mittelweiherburg in Hard. Equipped with plenty of tape, the students of class 4a assembled the first cardboard glasses and immediately tested the virtual apprentice videos with their smartphones.
The result: After 10 minutes, the first glasses were ready, and excitement about the functions was high. No remote control is needed (controlled with gaze/eyes), and headphones enhance the experience; however, some phones were too large for use. “The experiences with students and parents have already shown at our fair events how important virtual internships can be for career orientation. With over 200 apprenticeship professions, not everything can be experienced on-site and in person,” says Markus Curin. “The VR videos are an ideal way to exclude certain professions/industries in advance or to take a closer look at favorites.”
Lena Fritsch, Head of the Apprentice Office - Training Service of the Chamber of Commerce Vorarlberg, adds: “The magazines, which are published once a year for parents and once for students, were already a popular teaching tool for Vorarlberg career orientation teachers. It’s great that this year we can support young people even better in their career orientation by linking print and digital.”
