The Institut des Hautes Études de l’Éducation et de la Formation (IH2EF) is France’s national institute dedicated to the training and professional development of education leaders. Its mission is to strengthen the managerial, strategic, and interpersonal skills of senior staff across the Ministry of Education. By embracing pedagogical innovation and immersive technologies, IH2EF places experimentation and real-world simulation at the core of its training approach.

Training education leaders to conduct complex interviews with ministry staff is a demanding task. These interactions require empathy, active listening, and a solid command of managerial communication—all within sensitive human contexts. IH2EF needed a tool that could realistically and interactively replicate these situations, allowing each trainee to practice freely, receive tailored feedback, and progress at their own pace.

Pico4E, Meta Quest 2 & 3, WebGL. Playable through the Inversive platform.

To meet this challenge, we designed a virtual reality training application that enables education leaders to practice interviews with AI-powered 3D virtual characters.

These avatars analyze speech in real time and respond naturally and contextually, following predefined personality traits, emotional profiles, and situational scenarios. The experience is fully adaptive, meaning every conversation is unique and evolves according to the participant’s behavior and choices.

Learners must reach specific interview objectives, fostering deep immersion and measurable skill development—an innovative, human-centered approach to experiential management training.