iXplore

04/21/2026

Last week, our team wrapped up an incredible two days at Junior Achievement of Northern Indiana's Career Ignite - and the data tells a powerful story.

700+ students stepped into the experience, exploring real careers in orthopedics manufacturing and beyond, including new roles hot off the VR presses! What stood out most was the breadth of interest across pathways:
👉 50% explored hands-on manufacturing roles (CNC, polishing, quality)
👉 31.7% stepped into design/engineering
👉 19% explored entrepreneurship

Not one path dominating, but a wide range of students finding something that clicked, driven by their own choices and engagement.

Engagement held strong throughout the event:
• 13+ minutes average time in-headset
• 21% of students spent 20+ minutes exploring (!!)
• Continuous interaction throughout, not passive viewing

And it doesn’t stop when the headset comes off:
• 23% of students followed up after the event
• Of those, 50% asked for more information about the careers they explored

That’s the shift - from exposure to real interest and next steps…
and more importantly, students making informed, self-directed choices because they finally have enough context to decide what fits.

In their words:👇

"The VR experience was very cool, the models were fantastic and I liked how knowledgeable the entrepreneur was on the subjects taught."
"I loved the VR experience - especially the way I get to interact with the items was cool, and it helps me to know more about a design engineer's job."

Grateful to be part of this work alongside OrthoWorx., with support from the Don Wood Foundation, helping connect students to opportunities that exist right in their own communities.

01/01/2026

As we wrap up the year, we’re taking a moment to reflect on how far this work has traveled, and what’s truly at the heart of it.

While many have experienced our work in recent years through VR-powered career discovery, the foundation underneath it has always been storytelling. For nearly two decades, we’ve been designing immersive, interactive ways to help people understand complex ideas, environments, and possibilities across digital, physical, and experiential formats.

In 2025, that storytelling showed up in many places. iXplore traveled across borders and communities, from Switzerland in March with the Fairbanks Foundation and INCAP, to dozens of roadshows and events across the U.S., to classrooms, conference stages, museums, military institutes, and manufacturing floors. What connected it all was a shared curiosity about how immersive experiences can help people see, feel, and understand stories that matter.

That curiosity continued to drive momentum. Our roadshow team helped partners reach 6,000+ students and stakeholders through a mix of career discovery experiences, interactive exhibits, immersive virtual storytelling, and live engagement. There were high-energy days like Junior Achievement of Northern Indiana's JobSpark (including some punching-bag fun for the team 💥), thoughtful moments of learning at conferences, and countless conversations that reinforced the power of meeting people where they are.

At the core of this work is a commitment from our co-founders to make a meaningful difference in the lives of young people. Over the last five years, career discovery has become one of the most impactful ways to express that commitment, using immersive storytelling to help learners explore real pathways, step into real environments, and build confidence through experience.

Behind the scenes, we also strengthened the foundations that allow our work to scale across formats. We've invested in how we design, build, and deliver immersive storytelling, from motion capture and creative process to the infrastructure supporting VR, touch-screen interactives, data models, digital platforms, websites, and highly custom projects.

As we look ahead, this year reinforced something we’ve known for a long time: impact doesn’t come from a single product or format. It comes from decades of strong storytelling foundations, thoughtfully applied.

We’re deeply grateful to the partners, educators, collaborators, and communities who made this year possible (many tagged 👇), and we’re thrilled for what’s ahead in #2026 as we continue to expand impact, deepen results, and build what’s next.

Here’s a look back at a year full of movement, momentum, and meaning - with much more to come!

12/24/2025

Our team spans time zones, cultures, and traditions, and we’re grateful for the people and partners we collaborate with around the world. Sending warm holiday wishes as you celebrate the season.

12/09/2025

🎥 “They’ve made my job easier...They’ve opened up career paths for students that they never would’ve had any idea about otherwise.”

At Junior Achievement of Northern Indiana's 2025 JobSpark, Brooke Friedberg of OrthoWorx shared what it’s been like partnering with iXplore to reimagine career discovery and exploration. Not just as a development partner, but as boots-on-the-ground facilitators of the reimagined Discover ME program.

In just 60 seconds, she says it best:
✅ Letting employers stay focused on their business while we get students excited about it
✅ Bringing the industry to the students
✅ Handling the logistics so teachers can focus on their classrooms
✅ Creating meaningful impact - without the hassle

Huge thanks to Brooke and the OrthoWorx team for your partnership, and to the Don Wood Foundation for helping bring this vision to life across Kosciusko County and beyond.

🎧 Watch the full clip below. 👇 It means even more to us coming from a leader doing the work every day.

Video Credit: The brilliant Canaan Caño Sellers!

11/27/2025

From all of us at iXplore, we’re grateful for the partners, educators, students, and communities who believe in the power of possibility. 💙

Wishing everyone a joyful and restful Thanksgiving! 🦃🍁

11/17/2025

Brian Evans says it best! 👏👏👇👇

“We do not have trade schools. We are not investing in educating a next generation of people,” Jim Farley said.

11/16/2025

People often ask...what fuels the iXplore Roadshow team?
☕ Caffeine
🧠 Curiosity
👊 And, apparently… some seriously solid punching power.

Huge thanks to the U.S. Army for giving our team a chance to show off more than just career discovery skills. Turns out, we’ve got some heavy hitters on staff. 💪💥

We came to inspire the next generation at JA JobSpark - and left just a little competitive. 😄 🥊

Thanks to Junior Achievement of Northern Indiana for such a fun couple of days. Stay tuned for more fun from the road!

11/14/2025

Yesterday was powerful. 💥

At the Central Indiana Community Foundation’s See Yourself IN High School Summit, we had the honor of sponsoring and serving nearly 100 students in just two hours - each one bringing their own story, perspective, and curiosity.

Students from all walks of life lined up to try the OrthoWorx VR career discovery experience, exploring pathways in advanced manufacturing and MedTech entrepreneurship and proving once again that when young people can see it, they can believe it… and become it.

We brought the Orthopedic Capital of the World® to Indy - and the response was electric. ⚡ Headsets on. Minds open. Futures sparked.

Huge thanks to OrthoWorx for your continued partnership, to Don Wood Foundation for their generous support of the experience, to BioCrossroads for the invitation, and to CICP for creating space where students feel seen, capable, and inspired.

More moments like this, please. 🙌

11/06/2025

Huge thanks to Brian Evans and our friends at Aidex for being such incredible advocates for this work and for always showing up with energy, insight, and support. You’re right: career exploration is not a solo sport, and we’re grateful to be on the field with partners like you. 🙌

Stay tuned - we have lots more to share from JA JobSpark!