When Jett Yaggie first came to college, she didn’t quite know what to think about virtual reality simulations.

“I didn’t think it would help me at all. I wasn’t too sure about it because I always think I’m right, my instructor is wrong,” first year collision repair and refinishing student Yaggie said.

But she was quickly won over by the use of virtual reality (VR) in Southeast Technical college’s Collision Repair and Refinishing program. They have been using VR for the past couple of years.

“This one has the best virtual reality system that I’ve used. When I have the goggles on and everything, it is just like I’m in the booth. So it’s just like for me, it’s super natural and that’s what I want the students to have is that experience,” STC collision instructor Dana Davis said.

In this program, students are able to paint different car parts.

“I get to pick the color of paint that I get to use, and I select my panel. I think the last one I did was a hood, and then you kind of just go through and you can play with the settings to see your angle, your speed, and seeing how consistent you are to the panel,’ Yaggie said. “And then there’s also other settings that will change the color to be like red, blue and green, seeing if your pattern is correct, if you’re overlaying correctly.”

“The gun is weighted and the gun has controls on it, just like a real gun. And when you’re spraying, it actually vibrates, just like the feel of a gun. And the students get to actually go and watch and do the pattern. So they get to do the technique and everything involved with that. So it’s about as real as you can possibly get,” Davis said.