Cafes offering students virtual workday experience in Japan

April 20, 2018

Tokyo- Some cafes in Japan are offering college students simulated experiences, using virtual reality technology, of everyday life at work in a company.

The simulation takes the user through a day in the life of a company employee, moving beyond the explanations given at company information sessions. The content ranges from workplace atmosphere to the room layout of company dormitories and what the cafeteria is like.

The experience is expected to help students understand the gap between the ideal and the reality, as well as becoming a place for local firms to sell themselves to students in metropolitan areas.

The virtual reality system is available at Shiru Cafe outlets, which offer services specifically for students, near famous universities in Japan, including the University of Tokyo, Kobe University, Waseda University and Keio University.

Such cafes allow companies to promote themselves to students, in return for the firms becoming cafe sponsors.

The operator of Shiru Cafes partnered up with major online game maker Gree Inc. <3632> and Toyoda High System Inc., an information technology system developer owned by Toyota Industries Corp. <6201>, in March this year.

Through the partnership, the Shiru Cafe operator installed headsets used to watch the virtual reality videos at 14 of the 16 outlets in Japan.

Video clips include content such as introducing the flow of a day at work in a few minutes.

Students are able to watch clips for five companies including Softbank Corp. and Toyoda High System. The Shiru Cafe operator plans to increase the number to around 30 firms by the end of fiscal 2018.

After trying the virtual reality experience, a 22-year-old female university student attending Keio University, who is looking for a job, said that it will save time for students compared with going to multiple company briefings. Jiji Press