This “entreprenerd” is setting a new trend in classrooms, museums and training programs where one is immersed in an environment that is similar to the real world—or can even be fantastical.
Ibrahim Rasul Bernardo, chief executive officer of tech startup I AM Cardboard Philippines
(IAC PH), said he prefers to be called an entreprenerd, and that being a nerd drives his passion for entrepreneurship.
His company, he added, is gung ho on virtual reality (VR), which, Bernardo said, has a lot of potential in education, museum and training for human resources.
“The closest you can get to learning is by doing it VR. The other way people retain information is through connecting with the content. Again, VR has the edge because we bridge the psychic distance gap. You’re not reading or watching something as an outsider; you are the one doing it. VR is the link between knowledge and experience. It’s almost the difference between theory and doing, potential and kinetic. I can expound more if you want. But like I said, I can fill an encyclopedia on why VR is great for training,” Bernardo, a self-confessed fan of the hit series Game of Thrones (GOT), shared.
Bernardo, in an interview, said being an entreprenerd is “not a balance actually, [but] it is total imbalance, the geek and entrepreneur are all on one side. The nerd is what fuels the entrepreneurship. [That’s] what drives me.”
And being a GOT fan has influenced his life and business. GOT, he said, taught him to avoid working with bad people. He pointed out that all the business contracts-signed and seemingly binding—can’t protect him and other entrepreneurs from being annihilated by competitors if there are bad people around them.
“All the contracts in the world can’t protect you from getting Red Wedding’d,” he said. Red wedding, in his jargon, means disaster. The term originates from an episode of GOT, where the wedding between Edmure Tully and Roslin Frey turned from a happy occasion into a bloody massacre.
Moreover, Bernardo said, an entrepreneur must use the Internet and social media like Lord Varys using his network to find out from the Web about partners and clients.
Lord Varys, also known as the Spider or the Master of Whisperers, in George R. R. Martin’s magnum opus, is known to have a wide network to advance his agenda.
The majority of his IAC PH’s business is with the corporate sector like Globe Telecom, Google Philippines, Boysen, Tao Corp., Jollibee and more well-known brands.
IAC PH has found partners who have deployed VR to thousands of students. Bernardo believes this is just the start of more brighter things to come as technology will mature and become more common in the next couple of years.
As far as balancing traditional learning and VR, Bernardo has this to say: “What we do is we go through the standard training to understand the needs of a client. Afterward we work with their instructors to pinpoint key areas where VR can massively improve their existing modules. It could be as simple as a 360 degree still image of what an ideal store setup is so that employees have a clear immersive idea,” he said.
Bernardo said they can notch higher by creating a scenario like in the Ayala Museum, where the trainees are put in the position of a client to showcase pain points and build empathy with client problems. VR can easily and affordably integrate with existing training processes.
IAC PH recently launched another VR diorama in partnership with Ayala Museum titled “Emergence of the Filipino Nation” that features iconic Philippine heroes Emilio Aguinaldo and Andres Bonifacio in a 10-minute, fully immersive 360 degree virtual-reality experience.
The Emergence of the Filipino Nation is the second VR content made by IAC for Ayala Museum, and comes after the diorama series “The Future of History,” which dramatized Jose Rizal’s execution in Bagumbayan when it was launched in 2017. The Future of History recently clinched a Silver Boomerang for Visual and Audio Excellence under the Digital Craft category during the 2018 Boomerang Awards.
Awarded by the Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines (IMAPP) since 2008, the Boomerang is given to advertisers and agencies who excel in digital marketing and content creation.
“We are really honored to receive this Silver Boomerang award. As we retold the history using virtual reality, we’re also able to make history with Ayala Museum using this innovative approach to make the museum experience more immersive and engaging,” Bernardo said.
“Using VR as a tool to innovate the museum experience can entice the younger generation of Filipinos to learn more about our history. Telling a story using high-quality 360 degree video and virtual-reality technology revolutionizes the interaction between the museum visitor and the content. With this innovation, we are letting them view history from a first-person perspective, making them feel that they’ve actually traveled to the past,” Bernardo shared.