Virtual Reality Job Simulator “Startklar”

The virtual reality app we developed for the German Federal Ministry of Health (Bundesministerium für Gesundheit) is used in vocational schools. It simulates working under the influence of alcohol.

What is a virtual reality job simulator, and why do you need one?

A job simulator in virtual reality (VR) is a type of VR application that places potential employees in a realistic work environment and tests their skills and experience in handling specific tasks or challenges. It can be used both in training and in hiring processes.

Companies and schools can use a VR job simulator to test whether potential employees or students are suited to certain jobs or degree programs. It gives companies a more realistic picture of applicants’ skills and working methods, helping them make fairer hiring decisions.

With “Startklar” (“ready to go”), we simulate being drunk at work in virtual reality

In two rounds, the vocational students have to carry a tray of glasses through a restaurant kitchen. Simulated physics realistically recreates the challenge of balancing the tray with the glasses on it. The first round is usually easy.

In the second round, the effects of alcohol are also simulated: tunnel vision, double vision, and delayed reactions. This makes the simulation much harder to master, and over the course of the route, everyone will drop many glasses or even the whole tray.

Virtual reality makes it possible to make mistakes without getting hurt. That is very useful, because we learn best from our mistakes. No other medium can do this as well as virtual reality. In this case, you can judge with a clear mind what it means to be in a “state of mind clouded by alcohol,” in which you simply cannot learn and make judgments as well as when you are sober.