In this episode of the XR Industry Leaders Podcast, Brad Scoggin and Will Stackable sit down with Sophie Thompson, CEO and co-founder of VirtualSpeech, and Gema Molero, Project Manager of XR at IE University, to explore how VR is reshaping higher education.What started as Sophie’s personal struggle with social anxiety has grown into VirtualSpeech—a global VR platform for soft skills training. Partnering with IE University, they’ve scaled immersive public speaking and leadership training across campuses, impacting thousands of students. Gema shares how IE made VR compulsory for over 1,000 master’s students, scaled to 700+ devices, and proved measurable gains in student confidence and skills.The conversation covers the origins of VirtualSpeech, faculty adoption hurdles, the power of AI feedback, and how ArborXR helps IE University manage devices across multiple campuses. Whether you’re running a pilot or scaling XR globally, this episode is full of lessons on building programs that stick.Key Moments01:02 – From Social Anxiety to VR Pioneer05:03 – Why IE University Made VR Compulsory11:07 – Faculty Adoption & Early Challenges15:30 – What Students Actually Do in VR20:39 – The Power of Immersion & Emotional Response20:39 – AI Coaching for Personalized Learning21:46 – Scaling to 700 Devices Across Campuses27:31 – Proving ROI: Confidence Up 24% in Two Sessions27:31 – Advice for Universities Considering VRQuotes“In less than 20 minutes, students using VirtualSpeech increased their public speaking confidence by 24%.” – Brad Scoggin, citing IE University data“At first, we had 300 headsets. Now we’re managing over 700 devices across multiple campuses—and ArborXR makes that possible.” – Gema MoleroAbout the GuestsSophie Thompson is the CEO and co-founder of VirtualSpeech, the first VR app built to help people overcome fear of public speaking, now used globally for soft skills training.Gema Molero is the Project Manager of XR at IE University in Spain, where she leads the integration of VR into curriculum and manages the university’s 700+ headset deployment.Links and ResourcesGema Molero on LinkedinSophie Thompson on LinkedInVirtualSpeech WebsiteIE University WebsiteBrad Scoggin on LinkedInWill Stackable on LinkedIn

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