Well, not really — but it felt real. I was recently part of a group of journalists and students invited to test out Bank of America's virtual-reality training programs at an event in New York City. The bank launched its VR training pilot back in 2019 with just 400 employees, and has since expanded its use of the technology to train current and new employees to prepare for the toughest situations they may encounter at work.
In my case, I donned a VR headset and found myself inside a Bank of America location. A woman was waiting in line, clearly looking frustrated. Using joysticks that are synced to the headset so that the user can engage with the virtual setting, I selected her and began my interaction. The virtual customer wanted to open a new account without an ID — which, it was my job to inform her, is against company policy. Despite best efforts to not escalate the situation, it escalated: she yelled at me, questioned my competence and even threatened to take her business elsewhere. Then the customer decided to film our interaction to post on social media, ultimately storming out.
My task was to assist the client without escalating the situation.
Bank of America
At the end of the interaction, my training supervisor appeared inside the virtual world to provide feedback on what I could have done differently. (My directives: empathize with the customer more and be more direct.) I was also told what I did well, which was to keep security from getting involved.
Did I know this interaction was fake? Yes. Did I find myself incredibly stressed out anyway? Absolutely. I felt anxious when I couldn't settle the customer down, and frustrated when I found her to be unreasonable. This, I was told, is the point: To accustom users with uncomfortable feelings so that they don't act on those feelings and know how to temper their reactions in real-life situations.
"Nothing really replaces human interaction at the end of the day," says Mike Wynn, innovation and design executive for The Academy at Bank of America. "But it's also one of the most awkward interactions to have. And so what if you can do the roleplay by yourself in a safe space? If you can give something that's going to help your employees, then the fears go away."
Other scenarios demonstrated by Wynn and his team included everything from helping employees select their benefits to the more harrowing experience of dealing with a bank robbery. While these programs are used to train BofA employees, the bank also sees the embrace of AI and VR as a smart recruiting tactic for up-and-coming professionals.
John Jordan, head of The Academy, the career training program at Bank of America, says the simulations and training are an engaging way to help ease the transition young employees experience when starting a new job, and can be a fun way for new hires to connect.
Bank of America's virtual campus allows students to learn and interact with the metaverse and each other.
Bank of America
"People want to practice before they start [working], because no one wants to feel uncomfortable or embarrassed," he says. "We wanted to take away all of that as much as we possibly could, and AI gives us the ability to do that."
The bank is continuing to rely on virtual reality to cater more to the needs of their existing workforce, too. Earlier this year the bank launched VR meditation programs designed to help employees rest and recharge at work, complete with calming scenes inside a rainforest or on the shore of a beach. Their tech team is rolling out a new module where employees can practice presentations and public speaking while the simulation keeps track of their filler words, their tone and then gives them feedback.
As more teams experiment with VR, it's important to prioritize purpose — it's not about replacing employees with tech, but rather giving them new tools to succeed,
"We're trying to introduce [potential applicants] to the metaverse early because it's going to be a leading strategy at our company," Jordan says. "We believe that this is going to be a space that is not only going to make onboarding a better employee experience, but when you start early in their career, it's going to unlock a lot of ideas."
