Cambridge Wide Open Day is an opportunity for everyone to see the latest inventions, innovations, and people who are shaping the world.
The Cambridge Wide Open Day event on Wednesday the 12th of June was a unique opportunity for all to find out firsthand about the game-changing scientific advancements and technological innovations happening in Cambridge, the UK’s science and tech capital.
The annual event offers everyone from scientists to curious residents the chance to discover the world-class science and technology work in and around the city in one day. A series of tours, workshops, and product demonstrations enable visitors to see what goes on behind the doors of the most pioneering companies and academic institutions.
Lucy Cavendish College was invited to exhibit its multi-award-winning Meta Lab. On display was the flagship project which seeks to transform people into confident and skilled public speakers with the help of artificial intelligence and virtual reality exposure therapy. On a unique platform, users can build resilience through a self-paced gamified journey where virtual reality training audiences increase as tasks are completed.
In physical reality, users might be practising a presentation alone in their bedrooms but in virtual reality, they can experience the sensation of presenting to a range of audiences. They may begin by practising in a conventional classroom environment in front of a small and calm audience of 10, but they can quickly advance far beyond this and present in virtual reality stadiums in front of 1000s of people with multiple distractions. The ability to repeatedly overexpose like this is a game changer and it was highly praised at the Cambridge Wide Open Day. One visitor noted, “It reminds me of how runners train with weights on, if you can present in front of a highly distracting stadium audience, a presentation in front of a small classroom would be easy in comparison. This is such a valuable training tool to build resilience”.
Lab Director, Dr Chris Macdonald, says “It was great to be invited to be a feature exhibit at the main site and we were delighted to receive such positive feedback from the wider Cambridge community. The VR Public Speaking Platform is quickly gaining a lot of positive momentum and we have been invited to exhibit at several key events in London later in the year–DigiGov, the British Science Festival, and New Scientist Live–so there will be plenty of opportunity for others to experience it.”