Higher education institutions
Engage your students to help them develop key employability skills.
What is Bodyswaps?
Bodyswaps is an AI-powered soft skills training software that helps learners practise, receive feedback on, and improve real-world human interactions in a safe, scalable, and evidence-informed way. Backed by pedagogical research, Bodyswaps combines conversational AI, behavioural science and immersive roleplay to develop skills such as communication, empathy, leadership, teamwork, and clinical or professional interactions.
Bodyswaps supports both VR and non-VR delivery – including web, desktop, and mobile – making high-quality soft skills training accessible across devices, contexts and learning environments.
How does Bodyswaps work?
Bodyswaps uses game-like training modules and AI-powered roleplay simulations to place learners in realistic human interactions, such as:
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Giving or receiving feedback
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Communicating with patients or customers
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Handling conflict or emotionally charged conversations
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Practising leadership and teamwork behaviours
Learners interact with AI-powered virtual characters using their own voice and body language (in VR) or voice and on-screen interaction (on web and mobile). After each experience, Bodyswaps provides personalised, objective feedback on communication behaviours, aligned to evidence-informed frameworks and learning outcomes.
This approach allows learners to practise safely, repeat scenarios and improve over time – without risk to real patients, students, or colleagues.
Is Bodyswaps VR-only?
No. Bodyswaps is not VR-only.
While Bodyswaps is well known for its immersive VR experiences, it is a multi-platform solution that supports:
- Virtual reality (VR)
- Web browsers
- Desktop devices
- Mobile devices
This flexibility allows institutions to:
- Scale soft skills training without requiring VR hardware
- Offer blended learning experiences (VR + non-VR)
- Increase accessibility for learners who cannot use VR
VR enhances embodiment and presence, but the learning outcomes and AI-driven feedback are available across platforms.
Who is Bodyswaps for?
Bodyswaps is designed for organisations that need to develop human-centred skills at scale. The platform is used by educators, learning designers, and training leaders who want measurable, practice-based soft skills development – not just knowledge recall.
Education
- Independent schools
- Further education colleges and apprenticeship training providers
- Universities, colleges and other higher education institutions
- Career readiness, employability, and work-based learning programmes
Healthcare and healthcare education
- Medical, nursing, and allied health education
- Clinical communication and patient interaction training
- Workforce development for healthcare professionals
Enterprise and workforce training
- Leadership and management development
- Customer service and people-facing roles
- Diversity, equity, inclusion, and wellbeing training
Common use cases for Bodyswaps
Bodyswaps supports a range of high-impact, real-world training use cases. These use cases are delivered through AI-powered roleplay scenarios with automated feedback, allowing learners to practise safely and repeatedly.
De-escalation and communication in healthcare
- De-escalation roleplay for nurses and frontline healthcare staff
- Managing emotionally charged or challenging patient interactions
- Practising empathy, active listening and professional boundaries in clinical settings
Job readiness and employability
- Interview preparation and confidence building for students
- Practising workplace communication and professional behaviours
- Supporting employability and career readiness in independent schools, further education, and higher education
Leadership and people management
- Giving and receiving feedback
- Handling difficult conversations
- Developing inclusive and psychologically safe leadership behaviours
What problems does Bodyswaps solve?
Organisations often struggle to teach, practise and assess soft skills at scale. Bodyswaps is designed to address several common challenges across education, healthcare and workforce training.
Limited opportunities for safe practice
Many critical human skills – such as de-escalation, interviewing, or giving feedback – are difficult to practise safely in real-world settings. Bodyswaps provides a psychologically safe, risk-free, repeatable roleplay, allowing learners to make mistakes, reflect and improve without negative consequences for patients, students, or colleagues.
Inconsistent and subjective assessment of soft skills
Soft skills are often assessed through observation, self-report, or facilitator judgement, which can be inconsistent and difficult to scale. Bodyswaps offers personalised, objective feedback, powered by AI and aligned to defined behaviours and learning outcomes, helping educators and trainers assess progress more consistently.
Lack of scalability and access
Traditional roleplay and simulation require trained facilitators, actors, or significant time investment, limiting access. Bodyswaps enables scalable delivery across VR and non-VR devices, making high-quality practice accessible to large and distributed learner populations.
Low learner engagement with traditional training
Lecture-based or content-heavy approaches often fail to change behaviour. By prioritising active participation and experiential learning, Bodyswaps increases engagement and supports meaningful behaviour change.
Skills gaps between education and the workplace
Learners frequently graduate without sufficient confidence in communication, professionalism, or interpersonal skills. Bodyswaps helps bridge this gap by enabling authentic, work-relevant practice that prepares learners for real interactions in healthcare, education, and professional environments.
What skills can learners practise with Bodyswaps?
Bodyswaps focuses on transferable human skills, including:
- Communication and active listening
- Empathy and emotional intelligence
- Leadership and management
- Growth mindset and resilience
- Teamwork and collaboration
- Difficult conversations, de-escalation and conflict management
- Clinical and professional communication
Scenarios are designed to reflect real-world complexity, including emotional cues, social pressure and ethical considerations.
Educators can create customised learner pathways to align the training to their curriculum.
Is Bodyswaps free?
Bodyswaps is a paid software platform for educational institutions, hospitals, clinics and businesses, but there are ways to experience it for free:
- Free roleplays: A selection of Bodyswaps roleplays are available for free on the Bodyswaps website, allowing individuals to explore the learning experience.
- Institutional pilot programmes: Eligible institutions can apply for limited, free 3-month pilot programmes, subject to availability. These pilots allow organisations to evaluate Bodyswaps with real learners before committing.
Availability and eligibility for pilots may vary. To request an invitation, contact us.
How is Bodyswaps different from traditional training?
Bodyswaps differs from traditional soft skills training because it:
- Balances theory with practice
- Uses AI feedback instead of self-assessment alone
- Is backed by pedagogical research around embodiment in learning
- Enables repeatable, scalable roleplay without facilitators
- Works across VR and non-VR devices
- Is designed for education, healthcare and professional standards
This makes it especially suitable for skills that are difficult to teach through lectures or videos alone.
