A seated man faces two colleagues spaced apart. A first person VR training scenario for justice and community services, seen through the headset.

Domain Group: feel exclusion, then talk about it

Domain staff experienced being bullied and left out in VR, then carried that into a workshop on inclusion.

The brief

Inclusion in the company’s DNA

Domain wanted diversity and inclusion to be felt, not just explained: emotion, empathy, a shared understanding across the company, and personal accountability for what happens next (Equal Reality case study; Equal Reality is a subsidiary of People Tech Revolution).

Objects rest beneath a streetlight, seen through the headset. — Objects rest beneath a streetlight.

A wheelchair user and colleague rehearse a conversation. A VR training scenario for virtual reality training and simulation. — A wheelchair user rehearses with a colleague.

Four people lean over a table in a dark studio, lit from below by a glowing shape resting on it. — Four people lean over a lit table.

A colleague across the table, arms folded. A first person AI roleplay scenario for applied AI in sensitive conversations. — A colleague across the table, arms folded.

A practitioner draws two controls inward and the translucent boundaries around an AI station contract. An AI roleplay scenario for applied AI in sensitive conversations. — A practitioner draws two controls inward and the translucent boundaries around an AI station contract.

Two sides of the same meeting room

In Power and Exclusion, staff become Martha, berated by a boss who towers over her, then John, shut out of a meeting while the boss rewards the people excluding him.

Equal Reality collaborated with mwah. to run workshops with Domain’s 643 employees, so everyone arrived at the discussion having felt the same two moments.

A visitor beside an empty chair in a consultation room, for practising a first meeting. A first person AI roleplay scenario for applied AI in sensitive conversations, seen through the headset. — A visitor beside an empty chair.

A wheelchair user chairs a three-person meeting. A VR training scenario for aged care and disability services. — A wheelchair user chairs a meeting.

A supervisor talks with a student and visitor. A VR training scenario for education. — A supervisor talks with a student.

What changed

Receptive, and clearer about their own part

Results from the respondents surveyed, published by Equal Reality. CIO reported the rollout independently at the time.

A facilitator briefs participants in a workshop room. — A group gathers for a briefing.

Ready for the conversation

95% enjoyed the VR experience, and 89% said it made them more receptive to the workshop that followed.

Staff rated their understanding of diversity and inclusion 40% higher after the blended workshops, and 98% of respondents reported understanding their personal role in it.

"The response from participants has been excellent - with participants in the program able to empathise and discuss the experiences of our scenarios in our workshops with detail that just wouldn't be possible without actually experiencing it themselves. I don't think role plays will ever cut it again in this space."

Nic Barry, Organisational Capability, Domain

Equal Reality case study

Two practice partners stand at separate workshop stations. A first person VR training scenario for immersive training and roleplay, seen through the headset. — Two partners at separate stations.

What this tells you

Our reading: the headset did its work before the workshop began. People who have just been talked over, or left out, bring detail to the discussion that a slide cannot give them.

Put the VR immediately before the facilitated session, not as a standalone module, and give every person the same scenes so the room shares one reference point.

A director waits in a plain meeting room. A first person VR training scenario for government and public sector, seen through the headset. — A director waits in a meeting room.

Two colleagues test a connected task. An AI roleplay scenario for digital twins. — Two colleagues test a connected task.

A participant follows a lit pathway. A first person rapid prototyping scenario for event experiences and activations, seen through the headset. — A participant follows a lit pathway.

For your organisation

Equal Reality titles, in PTR’s library

The PTR VR Library includes Equal Reality titles on race, gender and allyship, tested and reviewed independently in the Journal of New Approaches in Educational Research.

Planning an inclusion program for your people?

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