According to a recent Glassdoor survey, almost a third of adults in the UK, US, France and Germany have either witnessed or experienced racism at work.

To tackle the issue, start-up company, Vantage Point, have designed a virtual reality learning resource that lets people ‘experience’ harassment or discrimination in the workplace, giving fresh insight and perspective by putting the participant in the victim’s shoes.

The course is designed to increase awareness of unconscious bias and build empathy for co-workers on the receiving end of abuse. While Vantage Point’s team acknowledge that technology can cause apathy, they have found an innovative way to use immersive technology to make the world more caring and inclusive.

Vantage Point’s pioneering development effort is very reassuring, given that a recent McKinsey report found that companies that scored highest on ethnic diversity were more likely to be profitable, while firms with more than 30% women executives outperformed their peers. In light of these findings perhaps there are wider opportunities for companies like Vantage Point to employ immersive technologies to broaden the horizons of corporate inclusiveness.

If you are looking to fund an innovative project similar to Vantage Point, there are a number of grant options available to support your business. Innovate UK’s Smart Grant competition is currently open for application, closing late November, and the range of competitions supporting development in varying disciplines is updated on a weekly basis. To find out more about the support available for innovative developments please email immerse@abgi-uk.com or call Georgina on 07494499954.