The Big Interview
How VR software can you give you the benefit of hindsight In today’s digital age, technology is rapidly transforming the work that we do. For this month’s feature interview, editor Amy Dawson and art director Owen Dye met with Helen Costa and Charles Hamilton from the Cornerstone Partnership, an organisation specialising in virtual reality software. During our interview, we learnt more about how virtual reality isn’t just for gaming fans, but can also revolutionise the ways in which we deliver social work practice. Ahead of our interview with Helen Costa and Charles Hamilton, we had read about the innovative virtual reality software which is making big waves across the social work profession. Last year, the Cornerstone Partnership conducted a thorough pilot trial, featuring 30 councils and care organisations with more than 500 professionals. The trial was to determine if virtual reality (VR) could improve the life chances of children in care and children who have experienced attachment-related trauma. The results were clear; 91% of participants believed that VR can change the perspective of carers and adopters, whilst 85% believed that the use of VR could help them to make quicker decisions. A staggering 72% said that they would do things differently as a result of the training whilst six out of ten social workers felt that they had increased their own understanding of the experiences and feelings of children. We were extremely excited when we were invited by CEO Helen Costa to visit the Cornerstone Partnership’s offices in London to try this new software for ourselves. After all, how effective could a simulated computer scene really be? With minimal experience of virtual reality software, it was with trepidation that we each put the headset on. To help us adjust to the 360-degree experience, we were suddenly transformed to the plains of Africa where a herd of elephants walked calmly towards us. The experience was certainly surreal; wherever we moved our heads the scene was all-encompassing. Sales Director Charles Hamilton had warned us that it really would “isolate the senses” and he was right – it was hard to believe that we were sat in a central London location! The Cornerstone Partnership currently has a set of 12 videos which are designed to help professionals understand the real impact of childhood trauma.
Each video varies in length from three to seven minutes, and each video gives you a powerfully immersive experience of what life is like for an abused child. Users can gain an in-depth insight into an abused child’s development, starting from in utero, through to the early years and school years, which helps them to understand situations from the child’s perspective. The result was undeniably powerful; there were times when we naturally gasped out loud and grabbed hold of the seat in shock at what we were seeing. In fact, the videos are so powerful that before we began the test, Helen had to issue a warning that these videos can, in fact, be a trigger for some professionals. Having viewed two separate videos, one which was aimed as a recruitment tool for potential foster carers, and one which is designed to be used by professionals, we sat down with both Helen and Charles to find out more about how social workers can take advantage of this exciting new software.
Your virtual reality software is a ground-breaking method of allowing social workers and prospective foster parents to understand life from the perspective of a child. How was the technology developed to support the adoption and fostering process? We’re incredibly proud of the video content that we’ve developed and we’re continually working on plans to increase our video library. We’re actively trying to have more stakeholder input into future content; we want to be speaking with academics, professionals, law enforcement and even central government. We have this fantastic tool which
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