Business builds virtual, augmented reality educational tools
Members of the U.S. Navy could soon receive a futuristic educational tool courtesy of an Oklahoma-based business just beginning to set sail.
Greg Hallman is the president of Ocupath, a startup tech company in Oklahoma City specializing in the production of virtual reality and augmented reality tools to be used for educational purposes. The company recently secured a Small Business Innovation Research grant to work with the Navy’s antisubmarine
warfare department.
“It was a big home run,” Hallman said of the grant. “It was a 17-page proposal that was a lot of work that kept me up at night.”
Hallman will now work to develop an augmented reality, or “AR” as it’s often called, program to better teach Navy sailors. The program should allow the sailors to make use of headsets and other technology to immerse themselves in a more interactive learning experience when completed.
“How it’s taught today is Power Point and textbook,” Hallman said. “So it’s easy to see it’s kind of archaic.
“AR is being used across many mediums, but we are wanting to make it educational,” Hallman said. “We
are creating the content that will be used in the classroom.”
A homegrown company
Ocupath got its start as an inaugural member of the Thunder Launchpad business accelerator program. The program is a partnership between the Oklahoma City Thunder and StitchCrew, an organization designed to cultivate entrepreneurship in Oklahoma City.
Hallman was selected to participate in the 12-week program, where he received assistance in the development of his business, advice on the business model and some key contacts to further the company, which ultimately led to the discovery of the grant.
StitchCrew founder Erika Lucas said Hallman is exactly what the Thunder Launchpad program
is designed for — entrepreneurs who need some assistance with the periphery items in order to focus on the development of the product.
“When you’re a startup it’s all chaos, so what we’ve said is let’s invest in the founders,” Lucas said.
Hallman is a former college career counselor, who decided to step away from that career in order to fully dedicate himself to Ocupath.
The initial pitch was to develop virtual reality programs, also called “VR” by Hallman, to help students in high school and college make more informed decisions about careers. It was enough to gain admission to the Launchpad program, and Ocupath officially began in March.
This idea quickly evolved to include the exposure of students to well-paying skilled careers that might not require an advanced degree. Many parts of the U.S. have faced a “workforce gap” wherein a demand for these skills is
not met by those working in the industry.
“We knew if he (Hallman) could bridge the gap, he could be a game changer because we haven’t solved the workforce gap,” Lucas said.
Hallman felt he could take students to the career field without leaving a school if the proper programs were designed.
“The idea is that you would virtually take them to that office,” Hallman said. “If you can’t be there in person, the next best thing is to be there virtually.”
The experience
Hallman is just beginning the work with the Navy project, and is still working with the content experts to determine what needs to be designed for implementation. But he’s also working on several other projects that are helping keep him busy.
“We’re very much in our infancy, but things are already taking off,” Hallman said.
One project he’s worked on is sales training for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Trainees can wear the VR headset and sit-in on a hypothetical corporate sales meeting. Observers can observe good examples of sales pitches, and sometimes just as important can be witnessing bad examples, Hallman said. By doing so, trainees can gain a better understanding of a real-life business meeting.
Hallman hopes to continue with potential corporate clients, as well as work with as many jobs and industries to help gather material to put in the hands of students around the country. He sees the market for AR and VR experiences only expanding in the future.
“In 10 to 15 years from now, you’re going to see this used so much more around the world,” Hallman said. “It’s in a theoretical and testing stage. We are taking AR and changing the way it’s taught.”