Talking in front of crowds can be a daunting prospect for a lot of people, and they don’t need to be big either. From hosting a small meeting to standing on stage with possibly dozens or hundreds of people all starring straight back at you, the fear of messing it up, forgetting what you want to say or just shear panicking at what may occur can put most people off. Now Cerevrum a virtual reality (VR) studio has created an app that can help you prepare, and hopefully calm your nerves called Speech Centre VR.
Speech Center VR is a training and education platform designed around improving a users communication skills, whether for business or just for your own piece of mind. The app is gear more towards work users who need to prepare for scenarios such as sales pitches, negotiations, press conferences, job interviews.
There are features and locations in the app to help users acclimatise to different settings. You can start with a training course which will take you through the basics of public speaking or attend a real-time lecture from an instructor. Then you can tryout one of the various locations, from meeting rooms to tranquil beaches.
Speech Center VR is split into two versions, one for individuals just looking to gain more confidence in public speaking and a business version so that companies can use the platform for training employees, sharing knowledge, and improve internal communications by holding virtual meetings.
“Virtual reality holds the potential to revolutionize how we share information and how we learn,” said Olga Peshé, COO of Cerevrum. “VR’s ability to immerse a user into a given subject, to command their full concentration, and to bring other users into that same space, helps stimulate comprehension, engagement and retention of information, whether that’s in a classroom setting or the corporate world.”
Aside from the training aspects Speech Center VR can just be used as a communication tool to sit an chat with friends from around the world in VR. The app features customisable avatars to so you can be as individual as you wish.
“We started with public speaking because it is one of the most important soft skills we can learn, and yet, it often requires us to overcome our fears,” said Natasha Floksy, CEO of Cerevrum. “VR has the unique ability to closely replicate uncomfortable scenarios, so the more students and professionals practice with Speech Center VR, the more comfortable they become with those scenarios.”
The software is free to download for Samsung Gear VR, but it does come with in-app purchases for some of the content.
VRFocus will continue its coverage of Speech Center VR, reporting back with any new updates.
