PwC involves VR in cybersecurity training

As we hit two-year mark with COVID-19 impacting our lives, many are wondering how long the effects will last, even after the pandemic subsides. Thus, this opens up a huge door for VR technology to step in and take hold of this opportunity to show what they can do to help — even past the pandemic.

With cyber-attacks and online threats up by as much as 6x the normal amount since COVID started, companies are having to up their training and security as much as possible to keep their information protected during this critical time.

During PwC’s Global Relationship Partner Summit, the company created a training session that employed 300 Pico VR standalone headsets. It was an interactive experience using 360 degree video in which the participants had to make decisions that would affect the outcome of the crisis.

PwC networked all the headsets together and, using a custom system from Showtime VR Story, synchronized the start time of all participants and remotely record a range of data in real-time including what decisions each user is making, how long they are taking to make those decisions, where they are in the multi-branch narrative, etc.

Attendee feedback was overwhelmingly positive, citing the immersiveness of the experience, which helped them better understand the impact of a cyber-attack on their company. Since the success of the event in Toronto, PwC continues to run and develop the cyber crisis experience. It’s now widely distributed and used by PwC employees and their clients all over the world.