WILL BRAY (H 14-19): WORKING IN ‘A CAREER OF THE FUTURE’

Early in my time at Bradfield I vividly remember sitting alongside my parents in the Music School listening to a talk by Dr Christopher Stevens in which he explained that his challenge as a Headmaster was to prepare Bradfieldians for ‘the careers of the future’, jobs which most likely hadn’t yet been created.

Fast forward ten years and I work for Campus-XR, an education platform using Virtual Reality (VR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), concepts that I certainly had not heard of then, so it’s safe to say my current job would have been hard to predict. Bradfield however prepared me well to make the most out of the opportunities presented to me. Here’s my journey towards joining Campus-XR…

Right from the outset I was keen to be involved with as much as possible at Bradfield and I stuck with that mantra all the way through which made life quite busy!

I loved being in Faulkner’s and the great network of friends I made there before moving to my Senior House. My positive Bradfield experience continued when I transitioned to H house in the very safe and entertaining hands of Mr Hanbury and Lisa Bates. I particularly enjoyed the Inter-House competitions from singing ‘It’s a hard knock life’ from Annie in the House Song to the fiercely competitive sports competitions.

GCSEs went by in a flash and for Sixth Form I opted to take the International Baccalaureate so that I could continue with a range of topics and chose Higher Level Biology Economics and Geography and Standard Level Spanish, Maths and English.

I really enjoyed the co-curricular side of Bradfield, particular highlights including my Gold DofE expedition with Mr Beith where I was part of a good group which chose to take a detour to incorporate climbing Snowdon into our walking route just for the fun of it. I played the saxophone and loved the opportunity to perform alongside talented performers like Tom Houston (F 15-20), Elise Golding (K 15-20), Kwaku Akonnor (C 17-19) and Raff Burrowes (G 14-19) at memorable events like ‘Jazz on a Summer’s Evening’.

Some of my best memories of Bradfield however had football at their core and played a huge part in my enjoyment and development at the College. Then 1st XI Coach Luke Webb created a programme that focused on developing each player on and off the pitch and regularly referred to the parallels between football and business.

I LOVED FOOTBALL AT BRADFIELD, NOT ONLY FOR THE SPORT BUT LEARNING HOW TO ADOPT THE RIGHT MINDSET, HOW TO DEAL WITH SETBACKS AND BOUNCE BACK

My football career at Bradfield led me to reach striker for the College’s 1st XI football team, the first Bradfield team to win the ISFA cup trophy in 2018. The memory that brings back the biggest smile however was scoring a second-half hat-trick against Charterhouse to win 6-1 after being 1-0 down at halftime and securing us the League title on goal difference.

My journey with VR started with football. During my time as the striker, Trevor Benstock, Director of IT and Founder of Campus-XR, helped the 1st XI with player development in his free time. I had a particular challenge with heading the football and having worked with me a little bit Trevor said that he had an idea.

He asked me to come down to the IT department one afternoon and, placing a VR headset in my hands, my training started. I was sceptical about how a virtual experience could translate into on-pitch improvement however the VR environment that Trevor had created was perfect. The graphics simulated a football coming towards me which allowed me to practise my timing, movement and jumping for headers.

The outcome of the VR training was that my confidence on the pitch increased massively and I was much better at scoring goals with my head! This was my first insight into the power of virtual reality to enhance educational outcomes.

TRAINING WITH VR MEANT THAT I COULD REPEATEDLY PRACTISE HEADING A FOOTBALL IN A WAY THAT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE IN REALITY AND OF COURSE WITH NONE OF THE NEGATIVE SIDE-EFFECTS WE ARE NOW DISCOVERING

Five years then passed. I went to the University of Exeter to study BSc Business and Management where I succeeded in achieving 1st Class Honours with an academic commendation and a proficiency in entrepreneurship, followed by a course in Venture Finance at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School.

Meanwhile, Trevor had been busy developing the product that is now known as Campus-XR, an educational platform designed to enhance student learning through VR and AI. When Trevor introduced me to Campus-XR in 2023, I was blown away by the immersive and interactive worlds he had created. I realised how valuable this platform would be for student engagement and enjoyment and knew I had to be part of this journey.

I joined the team a few weeks later, keen to embrace the mission to share the opportunity to use this cutting-edge technology with students all over the world. I have no doubt that access to Campus-XR will have a transformative effect on education.

In the Campus-XR team I am Investment and Engagement Lead. My role involves actively pitching to investors as we raise the ‘Enterprise Investment Scheme’ (EIS) funding necessary to expand our team and increase our market share of UK schools adopting Campus-XR. Additionally, I engage directly with schools, providing demonstrations and selling our subscription-based service.

It is amazing to be part of such an exciting company at the forefront of technology. I am particularly proud to provide both independent and state school students with a learning experience I would have loved to have had when I was in school.

The support given to the development of Campus-XR by the College highlights the forward-thinking nature of Bradfield and its commitment to the Headmaster’s words ten years ago.

THE RESPONSE FROM SCHOOLS HAS BEEN INCREDIBLE, MANY DESCRIBING OUR PRODUCT AS ‘GAME CHANGING’ FOR EDUCATION AND PUPIL ENGAGEMENT

For information about this transformational technology visit the dedicated Campus-XR webpage where you can read about the product as well as EIS investment opportunities and if you would to learn more, please do contact Will Bray, Campus-XR Engagement and Investment Lead on will@campus-xr.org

WILL BRAY (H 14-19): WORKING IN ‘A CAREER OF THE FUTURE’

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