Helping keep young Cantabrians out of harm’s way

First Place: Helping keep young Cantabrians out of harm’s way at home

Wednesday, 8 March 2017

AMI is helping young Cantabrians understand how they can make their homes safer with First Place, New Zealand’s first interactive virtual reality (VR) experience that teaches Millennials how to identify and address the most common hazards in their home.

Popping-up at Ara Institute of Canterbury on Thursday 9 March, First Place participants will have the opportunity to don a VR headset and experience a virtual first-person perspective of a typical Kiwi living room, which they must navigate against the clock to identify and address 12 household hazards that can cause harm to people and property.

With over 3,500 house fires in New Zealand each year, and more people injured at home than anywhere else, AMI is the first New Zealand insurance company to use a virtual reality experience to educate young Kiwi’s about home safety.

Kevin Hughes, Executive General Manager – Consumer AMI, explains, “At AMI, we take pride in being right here with advice on how to make Kiwi homes safer, and support if the worst comes to pass. By engaging students at Ara in the interactive virtual world of First Place, we hope to play an important role in raising awareness of how to spot hazards around Canterbury homes.”

While many Millennials are aware of the outcomes of hazards around the home such as personal injury, fire and water damage, Hughes says they are less aware of the small everyday actions that can dramatically reduce the chance of these outcomes occurring.

“I don’t want to spoil the challenge of First Place, but simple actions such as keeping portable heaters at least a metre away from other objects, disposing of worn and frayed power cords, and keeping on top of maintenance tasks helps prevent damage from occurring and keeps Cantabrians out of harm’s way at home.”

While First Place was developed with Millennials in mind, Hughes says the game has a much broader appeal, and encourages people of all ages to have a go.

People can experience First Place first-hand at Ara Institute of Canterbury, 130 Madras Street, Christchurch, onThursday 9 March 2017 from 10:00am - 3:30pm.

- Ends -

© Scoop Media