We've updated our column.

Why not try immersive reality training and see what it's like to be someone else?

“Why are they asking me that?” “Why did they do it that way?” “That's not what I meant.” What is the person in front of you thinking? The business world, and life in general, is full of unexpected situations and encounters with people who think differently from you. Miscommunication often arises from differences in perception between people.We have been thinking about how to reduce such gaps. One key is “getting to know the other person.” The best way to understand someone else is to become them. By adopting their perspective, you can see the world through their eyes. 

However, gaining another person's perspective is not easy. You need to understand their personality and the circumstances they are in. More fundamentally, their upbringing may have shaped their personality, and you cannot experience their life firsthand.That's when I came up with the idea of providing a place where people can have an immersive experience that allows them to become someone else. By becoming someone else, participants can understand the other person's way of thinking and behavior, and learn to communicate in a way that respects the other person's existence. 

That's what our human resources development program, “Immersive Training,” is all about. “Immersive” is an English word that describes a state of being completely absorbed or engrossed in something.The object of immersion is not oneself but another person's personality. This training program is a real-life experience where participants are assigned roles as characters in a virtual space and work toward achieving specific goals within a set timeframe. By fully embodying another person, participants not only gain an understanding of their mindset and thought processes but also develop communication skills rooted in respect for others. 

In the next installment, we will explain the specific features of how participants can fully embody another person.