5 minute read
Driving better outcomes
New franchise MINTEDVR uses VR tech to help keep leaner drivers safe on New Zealand's roads.
After spending over three decades as both a teacher and a police officer, MINTEDVR cofounder Ashley Gore saw first-hand the struggles many youths and New Zealand communities experienced as a result of the current barriers to obtaining driver licenses. “Through my policing work, I could see that this was a big issue, and I wanted to do something positive to help both learner drivers and their communities.”
Since 2021, Ashley and his wife Malica, an experienced teacher with a special interest in using digital technology, have been working towards a goal of keeping New Zealand’s learner driver population safer. Now, they’re ready to share their technology, and their processes, with the world. Using the power of educational virtual reality (VR), MINTEDVR’s coaching technology provides a simulated, safe environment for learner drivers to develop confident driving skills and safe and responsible road habits, before they get behind the wheel of a car.
Using innovative technology for education
Ashley and Malica are now franchising MINTEDVR, looking for coaches to take the highly portable programme into communities across New Zealand and beyond. Speaking about its potential, Ashley points out, “There are 100,000 young people in New Zealand who reach the driving age of 16 every year. Using our easily affordable and accessible technology, we could have every 16-year-old or 17-year-old finish high school with a license, and much better job prospects. If a franchisee is connected with their community, with their schools, they will know the pain that’s out there already.”
Ashley says that the pilot programmes run in Auckland high schools and Pasifika communities have shown just how effective the technology is for teaching newer drivers and how learning in VR can be replicated on the roads. “We’ve had kids who’ve never driven reverse parallel park after five or six hours in VR. You put them in a car with an instructor, and they’ve been able to do it first time, because they understand the whole dynamics of what they need to do.”
Keeping communities safer
“VR technology has allowed our learners to skip the ‘white knuckle phase’ of driving that those getting behind the wheel for the first few times experience, keeping everyone on the roads safer.”
Ashley explains that they’ve had significant interest in MINTEDVR from individuals and organisations across New Zealand, as well as in both America and Australia. He investigated a range of methods for getting the technology out, including hiring coaches himself, but settled on the franchising model, thanks in part to New Zealand’s robust franchising sector, as well as the potential that it offers to franchisees.
“The franchising model really struck home because it gives our coaches a chance for huge personal growth. You’ll need some business skills and to be well connected in your community, with a few contacts in schools or churches, for instance, to find suitable venues for classes. And then as you start developing your area, your own market, you can take the product, with our support, to more and more people, and you have the potential to reach levels of growth and satisfaction way beyond what an employee would get.”
Reaching out to markets near and far
Ashley and Malica have developed the MINTEDVR franchise model with a low entry cost, to encourage high volume take-up. Ashley says franchisees will be expected to run a minimum suite of 10 headsets initially, allowing them to facilitate lessons for 10 students at a time. Each Meta Quest VR headset, with the software installed, costs around $1,000 and franchisees can choose to purchase the headsets themselves, rather than through the franchise. The initial investment required is $20,000, including 10 headsets, software, set-up costs and full training.
Making use of cost-saving new technologies within the franchise support system too, MINTEDVR uses the Meta for Work and ArborXR platforms to help set up franchisees. The platform enables Ashley to provide training remotely, reaching those interested in facilitating VR driving lessons within hard-to-reach communities right across New Zealand and beyond.
Becoming a VR expert
“Our training gets franchisees up to speed with all things VR,” smiles Ashley, “while also ensuring they can pass all the assessed driving scenarios in VR themselves. We aim to give franchisees a full understanding of the driver portal, as well as teaching them how to coach students to develop good driving habits, and how to help students fix driving performance errors that the VR software is tracking. Also included in the training is access to a detailed franchisee manual that unpacks MINTEDVR’s processes, allowing both first-time and experienced franchisees to quickly get to grips with the business.”
“The ideal MINTEDVR franchisee doesn’t have to be a qualified driving instructor,” says Ashley, “but having some teaching or coaching skills would be very beneficial and, to succeed, you must understand the needs of your community, and your community’s young people.”
If you’re interested in using innovative technology in your community to provide better outcomes for new drivers, then MINTEDVR wants to hear from you. Get in touch today to learn more.
Advertiser Info
MINTEDVR
Contact
Ashley Gore
020 445 5492
