[Courtesy of KT]
SEOUL -- South Korea's major telecom company KT has developed and demonstrated a virtual reality-based job education program to help people with developmental disabilities adapt to job environments and improve work skills.
According to government data, about 2.6 million South Koreans were registered as people with developmental disabilities as of 2020. About 24 percent have simple labor jobs mainly at small and medium-sized enterprises including fast-food restaurants and mechanical workshops. The average employment period is five years.
KT has demonstrated the virtual reality (VR)-based job training program for the developmentally disabled at a job training center in western Seoul. The program was co-developed by KT, Bearbetter, a domestic headhunting service for the developmentally disabled, and Tektone Space, a Seoul-based VR content maker.
The training program is designed to generate environments such as the inside of a subway train and an elevator to simulate everyday situations for trainees who are about to get their first jobs. Students wearing a VR device can preemptively experience such situations to mentally prepare for their real-life at workplaces.
"I was scared by the fact that I will be going to work in the near future. But now, I am confident because I was trained using VR technology," an unnamed trainee was quoted as saying. KT said that the company focuses on providing continuous support for job trainees rather than offering a single VR session.
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