A Chance to Snoop

Students from Carrington High School had a chance to experience 24 skilled trades on Friday, March 3.

Representatives from Job Service North Dakota, Heather Hovland and Nicole Wischnak, brought virtual reality goggles that showed students videos of careers they would like to try.

The Career View Virtual Reality goggles were created by Fargo-based company Be More Colorful.

Nicole Wischnak, representative of Job Service ND in Fargo, said, "Be More Colorful reached out to us directly to discuss their new product and how we could work together." When asked how the career goggles came to be and when more videos might be available, she said, "Be More Colorful is currently looking to add 40 more videos, but they did not go into detail what the types of careers would be. They said they are working on it throughout the year, and are booked out into 2024."

There are only two sets of these goggles, one each at the Fargo and Bismarck Job Service ND offices.

In other virtual reality goggles, you usually see a box with a video, much like looking at a screen in real life, but you can't see the surroundings in the screen.

However, with Career View goggles, students can see the surroundings, making them feel like they are actually in the video.

One of the many career videos offered was respiratory therapy. Looking through the goggles, students could see the respiratory therapists monitor a patient's breathing in a hospital room. The therapists were talking to the patients, but you couldn't hear them.

The video showed an emergency, where the therapist was required to use C.P.R.

They also performed tests to determine if a patient had asthma or other breathing problems.

The short videos, each less than 10 minutes long, made students feel like they were actually in the room with the professionals.