Loto-Quebec to use virtual reality to counsel winners on coping with windfall

Cassandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press</span>
Published Wednesday, August 30, 2017 11:55AM EDT

Quebec's lottery corporation is using virtual reality to help winners cope with the real-life emotional and financial rollercoaster that often comes with hitting the jackpot.

Loto-Quebec says it's offering the technology for the first time today to a winner who scored a $500,000 prize on a mobile game.

The technique involves wearing a headset that immerses the user into various real-life scenarios they could encounter.

A spokesman says it lasts several minutes and includes scenes at a house party and a workplace.

Brian LeCompte says the VR experiment compliments counselling services already offered to the roughly 1,500 people a year who win prizes of $25,000 or more.

The project is a partnership with Fondation Jasmin Roy, a group that hopes to one day use virtual reality to combat bullying and discrimination in the workplace.

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