Sage and Bodyswaps create virtual reality experiences to support business education
Sage, a global academic publisher, and Bodyswaps, an award-winning virtual reality (VR) platform, have announced an expanded partnership to develop immersive experiences for soft skills training in business education.
A newly planned series of modules will focus on a variety of business-related soft skills, such as communication, problem-solving, and decision-making. Launching in the fall of 2023, it builds on the success of the organizations’ 2019 collaboration, the Mental Health Practitioner VR experience, a product that supports higher education training in health and social welfare programs.
“At Sage, we are thrilled to extend our partnership with Bodyswaps and virtual reality publishing,” said Michael Carmichael, Senior Director, Library Editorial at Sage. “We have heard repeatedly that certain business skills are strongly supported through role-playing simulation and repeated practice, which can be difficult for students to master without experiencing first-hand. By combining our expertise in education with Bodyswaps' expertise in virtual reality, we can create immersive experiences that will help students develop critical soft skills and enhance their graduate outcomes.”
As an independent company, Sage is free to think beyond traditional publishing, allowing it to experiment on the development of teaching experiences that offer real-world applications in new ways. The expanded partnership with Bodyswaps is a major step forward in the development of resources that transform teaching and advance knowledge.
The new VR experiences will be available to students and faculty at participating institutions through Bodyswaps’ VR Learning platform. The platform provides a variety of features that make it easy for users to access and interact with VR content, including:
A user-friendly interface that makes it easy to find and launch VR experiences
The ability to create and share custom VR experiences
Support for a variety of VR headsets.
"At Bodyswaps, we firmly believe that creating impactful and engaging learning experiences requires collaboration between technology and education experts," said Christophe Mallet, CEO and co-founder of Bodyswaps. "Our joint goal with Sage is to create the best future for education, one where immersive technologies play a central role in enhancing the learning experience for everyone.”
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About Sage
Sage is a global academic publisher of books, journals, and library resources with a growing range of technologies to enable discovery, access, and engagement. Believing that research and education are critical in shaping society, 24-year-old Sara Miller McCune founded Sage in 1965. Today, we are controlled by a group of trustees charged with maintaining our independence and mission indefinitely.
Our guaranteed independence means we’re free to:
Do more — supporting an equitable academic future, furthering disciplines that drive social change, and helping social and behavioral science make an impact
Work together — building lasting relationships, championing diverse perspectives, and co-creating resources to transform teaching and learning
Think long-term — experimenting, taking risks, and investing in new ideas
About Bodyswaps
Bodyswaps is an award-winning VR platform that brings realistic simulations and AI-enabled feedback to soft skills training. Learners can practice and fail safely without repercussions while building the communication, teamwork and leadership skills needed for successful careers. Since 2019, London-based Bodyswaps has helped a wide range of educational institutions and corporate clients to unlock human potential in the workplace.