Cañada College VR Staff Training
It was a demo project from Hyla Lacefield, Dean of the Business and Workforce Division at Cañada College, I worked with the Cañada College team to develop a DEI-focused VR staff training program. From conceptualizing Hyla’s vision to scripting and final implementation on a VR platform, I designed and developed an immersive VR empathy-building prototype for staff training on DEI-driven hiring practices. The experience allowed users to step into the perspectives and internal dialogues of personnel during hiring scenarios. The prototype garnered acclaim from the DEI Committee for its striking realism and depth, earning overwhelmingly positive feedback from faculty testers during trials. The final demo was shown on the Cañada College booth at AWE 2024 Long Beach.
Organization
Cañada College
Platforms
Quest 2, Pro, 3, and 3S
Teams
Work with Cañada College XR Immersive Technology Team.
EDI Simulation: An Empathy-Driven Staff Training Experience
Simulation #1: DEI Role-Play – Race & Gender Perspective Simulation
Scenario: Participants choose to experience the scenario as a Black woman or white male attendee, with dynamic narrative outcomes emphasizing empathy and self-reflection.
Walkthrough:
Scenario Setup: A Black professional retrieves a misplaced water bottle at a conference, seeking assistance from a white male attendee.
Dialogue Interaction: Attendee responds with a microaggression (“Are you from Africa?”), exposing stereotypes and unintended “othering.”
Conflict & Learning: Users experience real-time emotional consequences (frustration, alienation) via character monologues, followed by reflection exercises on identifying microaggressions and fostering inclusive communication.
Key Outcomes:
Recognize subtle biases
Reflect on personal assumptions
Build empathy for marginalized perspectives
Recorded from Quest 3
Hand Grab and UI Menu Prototype
Developed a hand-tracking VR interaction system where users select emotional responses via a custom 3D emoji interface integrated into the selection cursor. After choosing an emotion (e.g., happy, angry, or sad), the system triggers real-time emotional mirroring in the non-player character (NPC). For example:
Selecting 😊 prompts the Black woman character to respond with warmth and positivity.
Choosing 😠 results in visible frustration or anger.
Picking 😢 leads to a subdued or sorrowful reaction.
This mechanic directly ties user decisions to NPC behaviors, fostering empathy-driven decision-making within the simulation.
Simulation #2: DEI-Driven Faculty Hiring Role-Play
Scenario: A hiring committee—composed of two white women, one Black woman, and one white man—debates candidates for a faculty position.
Key Interactions:
Bias in Action: Two committee members dismiss a candidate’s qualifications, focusing on stereotypes (e.g., criticizing her attire as “unprofessional” and questioning her background in the foster care system).
Advocacy: The Black woman challenges these biases, advocating for equitable evaluation of the candidate’s merits.
Disengagement: The white man remains indifferent, scrolling through his phone and avoiding meaningful participation.
Learning Objective: Users step into each committee member’s perspective through immersive role-play, uncovering the biases, assumptions, and systemic influences shaping their viewpoints.