Virtual Reality Vocational Training

Writing 118, Professor HanerDecember 12th, 2018

Louis Vincent, Selina Tesfandrias, Emmanuel Melgoza, Max Moison, and Tomny Hang

VRVT

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Table of Contents1.0 Executive Summary...............................................................................................................................3

2.0 Company Description, Products, & Services ……………………………………………………………..……………………4-5

3.0 Industry and Competitive Analysis.....................................................................................................6-7

4.0 Marketing Plan and Market Analysis......................................................................................................8

4.1 Talent Acquisition..............................................................................................................................8

4.2 Marketing to Companies...................................................................................................................8

4.3 Pitching to Prisons………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….9

4.4 Nationwide Expansion of VRVT..........................................................................................................9

5.0 Financial Risks and Opportunities...................................................................................................10-11

6.0 Management and Personnel..........................................................................................................12-13

7.0 References......................................................................................................................................14-15

8.0 Appendix A: Team Resumes ..…..…………………………….………………………………………………………………….16-20

9.0 Appendix B: List of Figures & Tables ………………………………………………………………………………………………..21

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1.0 Executive Summary “To provide inmates as skilled employees to technical companies in

order to alleviate the problem of employee training and hiring.”

Employment is one of the most vital aspects for every person’s life, yet so many individuals throughout the world face unemployment. One specific group of individuals who face discrimination for employment are those released from prison. Our company, VRVT, strives to provide current inmates the skills necessary to gain employment upon their release. We are unique because we utilize virtual reality technology so prisoners gain a hands-on approach inside the prison itself. Using our virtual reality technology, with the assistance of our staff, we facilitate the technical or vocational skills the inmates select as their career path. We also contract with technical and vocational company’s, so they can hire the inmates that completed their certification through VRVT.

Our company strives to eliminate the perceived notion that those who served time are unable to become productive citizens with respectable careers. Focusing in California prisons, there are thousands of individuals serving time for their crime and once released, more than half are unable to gain decent positions in their communities. Without gaining employment, how can society discriminate when individuals undergo criminal activities in order to survive in alternative ways. This is why our role on inmates is vital for the future of the inmates as well as a moral community.

In California…

We plan to operate solely in California private prisons. Private prisons allow our company to effectively collaborate with the prisoners in order to fulfill a successful training program, as opposed to public prisons which would require more time before we can implement our programs. There are more than 180,000 inmates in private prisons in California which provides a large market size as we continue to develop and grow. During operation, we will provide two main functions, our VR equipment and the staff. We will provide our own trained instructor to each prison location, with staff to aid in an inmate’s simulation. Our operating costs combined with our profits, show that by the end of our first year will result in profit, which will only continue to grow.

Our growth will only increase because our service creates individuals contributing to the economy, allows taxpayers to save money from housing convicts because the reincarceration cycle will begin to diminish due to our company’s efforts. As the public begins to visually see the positive impact of our company, our transition to public prisons won’t face backlash against the traditional methods to solve the re-incarceration cycle.

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2.0 Company Description, Products, and ServicesThe concept of recidivism refers to a vast majority of inmates that are released from prison but will subsequently return to prison. Individuals are most often released from prison with a small amount of money of $200 or less. With this money, they need to find a place to stay, food to eat and most importantly find a job in order to survive in society. Returning to society is not easy for inmates after being incarcerated for years. With all the competitiveness that exists in today’s society, it is very tough for them to find a job. It’s difficult for them since they don’t have the skills required to obtain a job to be able to proceed with a new life. They must find a way to survive in a society that has been constantly changing. By not having the necessary skills to adapt in society they will eventually return to prison. There is data on how prison programs have had a positive effect in avoiding recidivism. These programs have helped inmates obtain jobs. According to Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program (PIE), “after three years, 60% of the PIE participants were arrest free and the other two groups had a 52% arrest free rate” (“How do prisons work,” 2016)

Figure 1: Process of Recidivism

As the market for virtual reality is immeasurably increasing our company will use virtual reality to prepare inmates for society. Virtual Reality Vocational Training (VRVT), is a company that uses virtual reality to train inmates for real-world experiences by having them engage in virtual programs. They will be learning how to handle situations with non-violence, how to effectively answer job interview questions, and most importantly, train them for a technical skill they wish to someday pursue as a career. For example, if an inmate wants to become an electrician, they will get all the training required to work for a high-tech company like Solar City. Inmates will be training from interview questions. With virtual reality, they are going to be sitting down just like if they were doing the real interview, a one on one situation. They will get feedback on what to improve on and methods to better answer the interview questions. Most importantly,

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we will train them with hands-on experience through virtual reality. If they wish to pursue to be an electrician, they will learn the basics of wiring solar panels and will also get the experience on how to install them on a roof. All this training is done through virtual reality. They will be conducting all this training inside the prison. It will feel like they are working on the real installation when all this training is virtual reality. This is just one example of the variety of options that we have. What makes this company different is that we have the most qualified instructors in each field. One of the key factors in this program is giving inmates a more realistic approach when it comes to job training, which prepares them for real-world situations. VRVT is easier to regulate in the prison system that other programs because all the training is done in person.

Our company will then proceed with four stages in the marketing process. The first stage is by training interns in the hopes of taking ownership of the product to be able to sell to companies across California. The second stage is to spread awareness of our product across California. Interns will canvas technical companies to invest in the product. In the third stage, our goal is to successfully pitch our product to prisons on why our product will benefit their inmates. Lastly, stage four, we will then market our product nationwide.

VRVT will not only help inmates to succeed but will also help society in different ways. A study by the National Institute of Justice, prison work programs have become a success. They concluded that 55% of inmates who participated in the PIECP prison programs found jobs more quickly and held them longer than those who did not participate. The only problem with these programs is that they are an extensively long and difficult to get into due to regulations and paperwork. With VRVT, inmates will get the chance to step into the outside world without having to step a foot outside the prison walls. They will receive an adequate virtual reality training that will prepare them for their chosen careers. Everybody has a benefit when a released inmate stays away from crime and re-incarceration. The monetary gains for society are tremendous when individuals work and pay their taxes, pay sales tax, purchase locally, and more (“After prison, then what?” n.d.). The savings to taxpayers are huge but this is not possible if they are incarcerated. That is why we are here to solve the problem of recidivism. VRVT will be working with different companies to bring in our technology to private profit prisons. We will show the prisons all the committed companies that are willing to take inmate trainees as employees. Our team will then train the inmates for a career they wish to follow and to then prepare them for real-world experiences.

3.0 Industry and Competitive Analysis

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Figure 2: Incarceration rates by countryFor the past 30 years, The United States Department of Justice has been alarming the nation over the colossal rise in prison population. In fact, according to Harvard professor Bruce Western, the number of incarnated individuals in America surpasses any other country in the world with an incarcerated population of just above 2.2 million people. With such a large prison population, only about 650,000 inmates are released each year (Noguchi 2017). But the most devastating fact isn’t so much about the substantial number in prison but that 89% of those incarcerated have historically returned within 9 years from their release (Alper 2018). This cyclical trend is devastating our economy by costing the nation nearly “$65 billion annually to lost economic activity” according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research (Noguchi 2017). With the increasing trend of newly entered inmates and with this strange cycle trapping them to return, it is almost impossible to find a sense of hope for these individuals. “We have to consider whether this is the smartest way for [nation] to both control crime and to rehabilitate individuals” said President Obama who was also the very first president to ever step into a federal prison (Remarks by the President, 2016). But the problem lies deeper than the numbers. The problem lies in identifying the hidden fuel that keeps this cycle going. According to Eve Tahmincioglu from NBC News, perhaps the problem lies in the fact that nearly 60% of inmates are estimated to be unemployed after their release (Tahmincioglu, 2010). This poses a critical problem within the struggles of post-prison life. If incarcerated individuals do not have a fighting chance after being released from prison, they will be forced to repeat the same mistakes that resulted in them entering prison in the first place. That is where the hidden opportunity lies. It is a profound opportunity to not only provide an outlet to reshape an inmate’s future but an advantageous potential to provide a critical service essential in changing the nature of our nation. It is clear that the demand is increasing to help break this cycle after being supported from politicians from congressman to the president year after year. This is where VRVT can provide services to an industry in need of such services. An industry with a purpose. VRVT can make major impact in not only the inmate future life but helping make the nation more productive by creating more workers ready in joining the workforce.

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Figure 3: Obama inside a U.S. Prison

Within the last decade, much of the attention in helping break the re-incarceration cycle has only recently begun to take effect in developing programs to assist inmates while in prison. There exist two types of programs in combating this issue - vocational and educational programs. Educational programs have been the most sought out winner in combating this destructive re-incarceration cycle. One of the most famous educational programs is Bard Prison Initiative (BPI), a privately funded college baccalaureate program based in New York state. BPI provides incarcerated individuals the opportunity to help enroll into college level courses while serving their time in prison by providing them with academic support, professors, and the necessary instructional material to achieve their chosen degree program. However, just beginning in 2017, BPI goes beyond the textbook and helps link BPI graduates with internships at various companies. This essentially creates the talent pipeline necessary to reverse the direction of these inmate’s life and also contribute to the economic activity of this nation. This is a major competition against VRVT since our company specifically focuses on learning your selected profession, while BPI educates the individual.

VRVT is more competitive against BPI because their education doesn’t guarantee a job. VRVT contracts with various company’s so those incarcerated will be able to hold positions since they have been already trained to accurately perform. Since we train all individuals through virtual reality technology, every individual will actually be able to imagine themselves working in that specific environment. We at VRVT understand the importance of gaining higher education, however, obtaining higher education certifications does not prepare those released from incarceration properly. Since its difficult for previously convicted individuals to gain employment, now they will also struggle in gaining a hands-on experience for the field of their interest.

4.0 Marketing Plan and Market Analysis

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Today, inmates in our prison system are severely underserved. The lack of access to education while incarcerated is alarming. We need to invest in those that are victims of our own society. Our company hopes to cater to these inmates who wish to reinvest and re assimilate into public life, achieving an education, finding a job and thereby stabilizing the world for all.

Our company hope to create enough buzz by raising awareness for the rising problem of inmates who are not receiving the training they need to reenter society and avoid recidivism. In hope of capturing big VR companies like Facebook’s Oculus, we will cater to the group’s social justice initiative, leveraging them to equip VRVT with the tech it needs to achieve its most humble goals of inmate vocational training.

Our Mission:Our company VRVT is virtual reality vocational training for inmates. Our mission is providing inmates as employees to technical companies to alleviate the problem of employee training and hiring. We hope to bring in technical companies, for example, Solar City, WebCore and others like them.

4.1 Talent Acquisition:The first stage of the marketing plan is to assemble a team of 30 unpaid interns. The Interns will take ownership of the product and sell it like it were their own company. These Interns must be motivated individuals who will not quit their passions. The hiring stage will take approximately 4 weeks.

4.2 Marketing to Companies:In the second stage interns will canvas technical companies across California. The goal of this is to get the word out about our product, through word-of-mouth advertising specifically tailored towards technical companies. Our goal is to have at least 5 of the largest technical companies signed up and committed for VR vocational training for inmates, or VRVT. We have a technological competitive advantage as our product is to be patented in the state of California. We will convey to company board members, there is a large enough inmate population to sustain their employment needs with our system. The population in private prisons accounts for nearly 30% of all inmates in the United States, 18% in federal and 7% in state prisons (Private Prisons, n.d.). Our group will increase our value proposition for our product by marketing to different companies across California. The features of our virtual reality system will guide inmates back to the life of work; solving companies hiring needs. The second stage will take approximately 4 weeks.

4.3 Pitching to Prisons:In the third stage of our grassroots marketing plan we will be pitching our assembled list of companies and our VRVT technology to private for-profit prisons. We will attempt to show there are committed companies willing to take inmate trainees as employees today. Moreover,

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our team will convey there is also a sizeable market present. We will offer $0.50 per inmate to the prison once the referral occurs to our partnered technical companies. However, the prison will need to agree to set a quota of 100 inmates trained per month for 12 months.

As of midnight November 28th, 2018, there are 183,692 inmates, in private prisons across the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation system (Weekly Report, 2018). At a $0.50 price multiplied by the set 100 inmate quota, 12 times a year and a potential population size of 183,692, will equal a potential market size of $110,215,200. The third stage will take approximately 4 weeks.

4.4 The Nationwide Expansion of VRVT:The fourth stage of our marketing plan will be to continue to reach our target audience for the purpose of expanding our product nationwide. We plan to advertise to politicians who work closely with private prisons in other states outside of California. As my colleague previously stated in the industry competitive analysis, the attitude the public holds about inmates today is negative. In line with our mission statement, our group will attempt to alleviate this problem with our VR solution, in order to reduce the rising inmate population. We also plan to canvas neighboring states, with a set of new interns this time doubling the size of our team. The California patent we hold now will be a federal patent, continuing our technological competitive advantage nationwide. This process will take approximately 4 weeks.

5.0 Financial Risks and Opportunities

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Our service would be providing 3 things: VR equipment and staff. As the costs will evolve as the company grows, we will focus here on the company’s initial stage: offer the service to a select 30 inmates per location.

Sessions will be run for one given training where we rotate on the VR equipment by groups of 5, while the other 25 observe and note bad and good practices. The VR equipment should be around $2,800 a piece considering an HTC Vive headset costs roughly $800 and a VR-ready computer costs roughly $2000 although discounts might be available as the company scales up. Since the equipment can be reused at least 10 times, it would cost us $1400 per program.

The staff requirements might be high. We will need one teacher that explains what is going on and points out good or bad examples. Additionally, we may need 5 other people to manage each inmate’s simulation. The teacher would need to be well trained and would get paid around $30/hr while the rest of the staff has fairly low skill requirements and would need to be paid around $20/hr. The course will be offered 4 times a week for 3 hours (plus 1 hour for setup and cleanup) over the course of 6 months. For one program, in one prison, we would need to run have around 312 hours of training. This would bring our operating costs to $9,360 for the teacher, $31,200 for the additional staff, and $1,400 for the VR gear, or $42,000 which we should round up to $45,000 to account for unforeseen issues and other potentially needed gear (tables, chairs…).

In addition to the physical equipment and training staff, we also need training software. To develop said software, we plan to start with a small engineering team. We would need one software engineering manager with an annual salary of $160,000 (Software Engineer Manager, n.d.), 3 software engineers at $120,000 a year (Software Engineer Salaries, n.d.), and 2 product managers at $125,000 a year (Product Manager Salaries, n.d.). This will cost us around $610,160 in salaries for our first year. The rent for office space would cost us around $7.50 per square foot per month (Palo Alto, 2018). With a minimum of 8 employees on location and 80 square feet per employee it would cost a total of $57,600 per year (Mehigan, 2016).

The equipment and staff on location costs $45,000 per program, the development team costs $610,160 per year, and the facilities cost $57,600 per year. With this information we can see that we could become profitable after selling around 45 programs per year at $60,000 each.

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Figure 4: Graph of Cost and Revenues

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6.0 Management and Personnel

VRVT is a company that strives for a high-quality virtual reality experience through the technical and vocational training of inmates. Our company began in the Central Valley of California because every member of our team is connected to the Central Valley in some capacity. This is a brief look into our VRVT team.

Emmanuel Melgoza is the Chief Executive Officer and the Founder of VRVT. Born and raised in California, he began to inform himself of the difficulty released convicts face when entering the workforce. He then decided to combine his passion for virtual reality and help those convicted by creating a company geared towards VR vocational and technical training. Through his knowledge working at Cummins Inc—a manufacturing engineering intern—he designed a unique VR training program that will allow convicted individuals to be prepared for the workforce upon their release.

Louis Vincent is the Chief Marketing Officer at VRVT. He has campaigned for various marketing companies; most notably an educational app for UC Merced’s campus. Utilizing his B.S. Management and Business Economics major, Louis began working in various marketing agencies, with many of his campaign’s being for Fortune 500 companies. Through his vast experience in marketing, Louis will present a unique perspective for the importance of VR technology for vocational and technical education in prisons.

Maxime Moison is the Chief Financial Officer at VRVT. He began his career with an internship at Yelp as an iOS Software Engineer. He then gained his B.S. Computer Science and Engineering, at the University of California, Merced. His career continued and led him to consultation of clients, managerial experience, stocks, and the creation of the mobile app SOLUCIA. Maxime hopes with his vast knowledge of finances and stocks, he can manage and increase our revenue while our service serves as a public good.

Tomny Hang is the Chief Researcher for our virtual technology at VRVT. He gained his mechanical engineering degree at the University of California, Merced while being on the Dean’s List. He has managed 25

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undergraduate researchers in the Mechatronics Laboratory as the Research Lab Manager. Afterwards, he began interning for Alchemy VR in order gain the necessary skills to gain knowledge on VR technology. Utilizing his degree, his managerial experience, and his passion for technology, he will strive to create the finest VR technology possible.

Selina Tesfandrias is the Chief of Public Relations Officer. She brings a background in public policy from her work in the health promotion department at the University of California, Merced. Aside from this, she has experience teaching education through her work with Give Every Child a Chance, a non-profit organization, centered in the central valley. Her ability to connect with various department heads are critical as our VR technology will be against the traditional sense of prison education.

Ralph Diaz is a member on the Board of Advisors of VRVT. He currently acts as the Secretary for the California Department of Corrections, and has a background as a prison warden, a correctional counselor supervisor, and a correctional counselor. He has been key in creating policies for inmate rehabilitation. With him partnering to VRVT, he will assist us in conducting VR training modules.

Jeremy Bailenson is a member on the Board of Advisors of VRVT. He is currently a professor at Stanford University, while being the founding director of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford University. His role as a member and advisor is instrumental because his expertise in virtual reality will allow us to create a superior virtual reality experience.

7.0 References

After prison, then what? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://releasedandrestored.org/after-prison-then-what/

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Alper, M., Durose, M. R., & Markman, J. (2018, May 23). 2018 Update on Prisoner Recidivism: A 9-Year Follow-up Period (2005-2014). Retrieved December 13, 2018, from https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=6266 jlhkjhlkjh

How do Prison work Programs Really Benefit Inmates? (2016, July 05). Retrieved from https://web.connectnetwork.com/prison-work-programs/

Mehigan, D. (2016, March 04). What is the average square footage of office space per person? Retrieved from https://mehiganco.com/?p=684

Noguchi, Y. (2017, March 27). College Classes in Maximum Security: 'It Gives You Meaning'. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2017/03/27/518135204/college-classes-in-maximum-security-it-gives-you-meaning

Palo Alto, CA Office Space for Lease. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.loopnet.com/california/palo-alto_office-space-for-lease/

Private Prisons. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/issues/smart-justice/mass-incarceration/private-prisons

Product Manager Salaries. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/salary/product-manager-salaries-in-san-francisco-bay-area

Remarks by the President after Visit at El Reno Federal Correctional Institution. (2015, July 16). Retrieved December 13, 2018, from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/07/16/remarks-president-after-visit-el-reno-federal-correctional-institution

Software Engineer Manager Salaries. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/salary/software-engineering-manager-salaries-in-san-francisco-bay-area

Software Engineer Salaries. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/salary/software-engineer-salaries-in-san-francisco-bay-area

Tahmincioglu, E. (2010, February 17). Unable to get jobs, freed inmates return to jail. Retrieved December 13, 2018, from http://www.nbcnews.com/id/35263313/ns/business-careers/t/unable-get-jobs-freed-inmates-return-jail/#.XACN-C3MzBI

Weekly Report of Population as of Midnight (2018, November 2018). Retrieved from https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Reports_Research/Offender_Information_Services_Branch/WeeklyWed/TPOP1A/TPOP1Ad181128.pdf

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8.0 Appendix A: Team Resumes

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9.0 Appendix B: List of Figures & Tables Figure 1. An image to show a visual representation on the cycle of recidivism……………………...4Figure 2. A bar graph to display the incarceration rates for various countries…………………….….6Figure 3. A picture capturing Obama inside a U.S. prison discussing with prison security……...7Figure 4. A graph displaying VRVT’s predicted costs, revenues, and profits to comparatively show how they relate to one another…………………………………………………………………………………..11

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