Virtual reality can do more than just let you wield flaming swords when you play Blade & Sorcery: Nomad. VR technology and new breakthroughs under the extended reality (XR) umbrella have begun transforming how people learn and work, too. An event at Dallas College is about to showcase some of the possibilities.

Jobs for the Future, a national nonprofit, and Dallas College are hosting an Innovation Challenge the week of October 16 “to allow Dallas-based small business owners and community visionaries to partner with technology developers to discover the next big idea” in VR technology.

The challenge is being sponsored by Meta, the owner of Oculus Studios.

First, a week-long hackathon competition will be held to create new uses for XR technology to solve small business challenges. Developers and entrepreneurs will be teaming up to create “the next big idea” in small business VR tech solutions.

Then, on Friday, October 20, from 3 to 5 p.m., a public event will showcase solutions developed during the challenge. The event will take place at the Dallas College Bill J. Priest Center at 1402 Corinth Street in Dallas.

It’s free and open to the public with no reservations required.

“Dallas-based small business owners face unique challenges and XR solutions are powerful tools to help, and can be tailored to their needs, such as enhancing customer experiences by showcasing the services they provide in new and innovative ways or improving employee training and skill development to increase business efficiencies,” the host organizations said in a statement. 

More info about the challenge, which is also taking place in Denver and Washington, D.C., can be found here.

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