Residents of the Chatham Islands are experiencing a taste of Mount Maunganui with Tauranga Emergency Management gifting two virtual reality headsets to the offshore island community.
Through a headset, users experience the predicted impacts of an earthquake and tsunami on the Mount Maunganui coastline. The 10-minute scenario asks you to make decisions in response to what happens around you.
Tauranga Emergency Management Team Leader Daniel Pearce says even though the programme highlights Mount Maunganui the learnings and lessons are the same wherever you are.
"Users will be guided through the correct actions to take in response to an earthquake and subsequent tsunami, things we’d encourage you to know if you were faced with this scenario in the real world."
Chatham Islands Emergency Manager Rana Solomon says the headsets will be used by children at the two schools on the Island as well as Pitt Island School.
“Once the school students have had a change to use the headsets, we will have them based at the Chatham Islands Museum which will give an opportunity for visitors to experience the scenario,” Rana says.
“So far those that have used them are enjoying the experience and find the VR easy to use and content informative.”
For two local students, Jack and Charles Cameron, the headset experience will come in handy.
Rana says the boys and their family are moving to Tauranga from the Chatham Islands later this year and the headsets gave them the opportunity to “get a little tsunami safety beforehand.”
Tauranga Emergency Management have upgraded their headsets which are being used at community events around the city.
Jack (left) and Charles Cameron test out the Virtual Reality headsets