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VR/AR, current use and future directions

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VR/AR, current use and future directions

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5 ways AR/VR is changing the User Experience Landscape | Techved

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Digital experiences are reshaping customer expectations, their way of perceiving information and redefining their interaction & engagement with the virtual world.

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Build your incredible machine and solve physics puzzles with gravity bending appliances! Gravity Lab's new lunar testing facility welcomes you to try out our standardized testing scenarios - now designed for humans!

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Esports and virtual reality make a great match since they complete each other. VR gives a perfect platform for esports to create a healthier community and esports gives VR a perfect opportunity to shine. Esports, at first glance, looks like an awkward imposter of traditional sports. Most people see it as players sitting lazily on a sofa banging on a keyboard. It doesn't make sense to compare esports and physical sports because the differences are so obvious.

If there is one striking resemblance, it's that esports can be a lucrative market for players, gamblers, and organizers, just like any other sport. In some cases, prizes in esports competitions are bigger than typical sports. In fact, the median earnings of an active player in 2019 were $8,782, higher than the average salary in any other sport.

Esports: A Global Phenomenon

To understand how big the esports industry is and its growth in the next few years, take a look at these statistics from last year.

Esports had a global audience of $443 million, 3.3x higher than what it was in 2012.

Global revenue reached more than $1 billion dollars at the end of 2019.

The total amount of prize money won in esports could reach $173 million.

Esports in 2019 was more popular than American football and golf.

In terms of global revenue, esports earned more than American Major League Soccer and the English Championship.

The number of professional esports players grew from 8 thousand in 2014 to more than 25 thousand in 2019.

Dota 2 had the highest prize money overall, with a whopping $11.2 million for the winning team.

Esports Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality

There is no doubt that esports and gaming are taking center stage this year. Esports not only provides another form of entertainment but is also projected to amass more revenue in the coming years, which is beneficial both for those who are directly involved in the tournaments and to the global economy.

But how about virtual reality in esports? Virtual reality is the use of VR devices when playing video games. These devices enable players to see in a 3D artificial environment. Most of these gadgets have motion-sensing controllers and trackers.

Most VRs have headsets where players can see the images and hear the sound. They also come with microphones that allow players to talk to other members of the team during the game. As more people get into esports, conversations gain traction to take the whole gaming experience to the next level. The audience wants players to move their bodies and show more emotions, and not just sit on their chairs for hours.

A New Esports Experience

The development of new technology capable of hand-eye coordination can increase the dynamics in gaming. Virtual reality can create a competitive esports experience that demands a certain level of physical/mental fitness. It will also incorporate sports values like dexterity and stamina for players.

Virtual reality is not only for players, but fans can also use it to get a better point-of-view and overall "feel" of the game. This experience allows fans to immerse themselves in a higher level of immersion and make them more emotionally involved in esports. These experiences can create a virtual room where people can get out of their seats, cheer for their team, or trash-talk opposing players or fans.

Many high-end VRs allow the audience to move from virtual to physical viewing seamlessly. This technology, called cross-reality, gives spectators a chance to read esports content on another screen. Because of this, they are updated with statistics and other data-driven stories relevant to the game they are watching.

VR's Next Steps

Although virtual reality is not a new concept, many tech enthusiasts are convinced that its role in esports is still in its infancy. More studies are needed to explore the potential of virtual reality, like sharing data or spectating a game.

Currently, virtual reality creates a highly personalized viewing experience that allows physical and emotional interaction for both the players and the audience. Many companies can tap into VR's massive potential in esports for future commercialization. Just like gaming in digital therapeutics, unheard of combinations like virtual reality with gaming and esports isn't impossible.
Written by Craig Bolin

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The Future of Virtual Reality in Esports | Esportz Network

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Virtual reality esports has a bright future since VR creates a perfect platform for a healthier community and esports gives the perfect opportunity to shine and gain promotion. Esportz Network is the place to go for the latest global esports news, professional statistics, tournament coverage, and more. We have a passion for esports.

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With the mainstream travel industry experiencing a period of major downtime amid the Coronavirus pandemic, adventure seekers are having to put their globetrotting plans on hold. But even with planes grounded and hotels shut, there are still some alternative ways of experiencing the thrills of wanderlust - and among them are the opportunities afforded by the burgeoning world of Virtual Reality.
There are a huge number of Virtual Reality companies all vying to create ever more unique experiences for consumers and one of the biggest VR growth categories has been travel. And what better time to get a taste of travel from the comfort of your living room, equipped only with a VR headset, than now? We've picked out 10 of the best virtual reality travel experiences currently on the market.

So which VR headset should you go for? Our favourite is the Oculus Quest 2, which just launched onto the market. The Quest 2 is the successor to the popular Oculus Go, which is no longer available. For immersive games and travel experiences, we believe the Quest 2 is destined to become the leading VR headset over the coming years. It's pretty affordable, too, and unlike other headsets such as the Oculus Rift, doesn't require cords or a computer. You can purchase the Oculus Quest 2 at Amazon.com for $399
National Geographic Explore VR
Created in partnership with National Geographic, a world leading society in the fields of geography, cartography and exploration, this magical VR experience invites you to discover two of the most iconic locations on planet earth. Don your explorer hat and head to Antartica for an exhilarating expedition. Navigate around icebergs in a kayak, climb a vast ice shelf and survive a snowstorm as you hunt for a lost emperor penguin colony. Visit the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu in Peru and get immersed in amazing digital reconstructions of the legendary site. Witness mummy worships, raise a cup of sacred chicha and encounter cute and furry alpacas as you match Hiram Bingham's photographs from when he rediscovered the citadel. Be sure to take a camera as your best snaps may even make it into the prestigious National Geographic magazine.
PRICE £7.99 HEADSETS Oculus Quest The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners
Fans of the hugely popular TV blockbuster The Walking Dead can now join the world of zombies in this new VR adventure. Travel through the ruins of New Orleans as you fight, scavenge, and survive, each day unravelling another mystery lurking within the city's historic quarters. Encounter desperate factions and lone survivors who could be friend or foe. Whether you help others or take what you want by force, every choice you make has consequences. What kind of survivor will you be for the people of NOLA? Scavenge for anything that you can; weapons, food, tools, and clues. Be wary of the living and the dead, with spatial audio drawing attention to any loud noise. Craft makeshift gear out of scrapped material; blades, guns, medicine, and more. Test your morals and make difficult choices for yourself and others. It's all here, bringing the small screen to life in a big way.
PRICE £29.99 HEADSETS Oculus Quest ecosphere
Narrated by award-winning actress Anna Friel, this trail-blazing VR series opens the door to some of the planet's wildest environments while redefining the limits of 3D-180 cameras. Meet the humans protecting our most precious wildlife, explore the great savannahs of Kenya, discover the ancient jungles of Borneo and dive into the rich coral reefs of Raja Ampat. Encounter elephants, orangutans, manta rays and some incredible humans, all in stunning cinematic footage filmed from the air and deep into the ocean. The series was produced in partnership with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF),
PRICE Free HEADSETS Oculus Quest Alcove
The world is your oyster with this interactive, immerse VR experience that's designed to be played by the whole family. There's global travel and adventure in which your friends and family can join city tours, hot air balloon rides, back-country road trips, and plenty more. Or you can simply kick back and relax, practice meditation and get back to nature - all in the company of a guide or going solo, if you prefer. Other features include photo sharing, sound tracks, a range of fun game and media customisation.
PRICE Free HEADSETS Oculus Quest Rome Reborn: The Pantheon
Created by Flyover Zone, an American company specialising in virtual travel applications that present the world's most important cultural heritage sites and monuments, Rome Reborn is one of five applications that present different areas of ancient Rome. This particular one transports users over the entire ancient city, focussing on the Pantheon, perhaps the best-preserved building from antiquity. In the company of two virtual guides, you'll get to explore the exterior forecourt and interior sanctuary of the reconstructed complex as you listen and learn about the Pantheon's design and decoration, as well as the nature of the religious cult once housed within it.
PRICE £3.99 HEADSETS Currently only available on Oculus Go (soon available on Quest 2) The Great Pyramids of Egypt
One of the Escape Now seven-part virtual travel series, The Great Pyramids of Egypt transports viewers to one of the world's most iconic destinations - the ancient pyramid-shaped masonry structures of Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo, that date back to the Old and Middle Kingdom periods. Filmed and hosted by award-winning VR filmmaker, Tarik Mohamed, the tour features full commentary and background that provides viewers with fascinating and immersive insights into the experience. Mohamed is also working on expanding into online educational curriculums for middle and high schools dealing with social studies and history.
PRICE Free HEADSETS Currently only available on Oculus Go (soon available on Quest 2) Olympia in VR
Australian-based start-up Lithodomos have rapidly gained attention in the VR world for their archaeology-focussed applications that recreate the ancient world for tour operators, educators, and consumer entertainment. Among their most popular apps is Olympia in VR, which allows users to embark on a self-guided tour of ancient Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the modern Olympic Games. Highlights include the chance to explore painstakingly recreated versions of the Olympic Stadium, Temple of Zeus and Temple of Hera, as well as many other monuments and buildings. During the virtual adventure you'll get to interact with artefacts to hear their stories and gain a unique perspective on this historically iconic site.
PRICE £2.29 HEADSETS Currently only available on Oculus Go (soon available on Quest 2) Patagonia
Monte Fitzroy is Argentina's most famous mountain landmark and is even used as the logo for outdoor retailer, Patagonia. It is a place that immediate evokes a sense of adventure. At the foot of the mountain is a beautiful and remote glacial lake known as Laguna Sucia. Most people who visit Monte Fitzroy view it from a location that is much easier to access. Laguna Sucia requires a much tougher hard-to-access trail that culminates in one of the most beautiful and remote glacial lakes in existence. You are rewarded with a sense of almost meditative stillness as you approach this untouched natural amphitheater. This VR experience utilizes Pterovision, a 3D technology that integrates computational photography, 360 Video, and gaming and allows you to take off like a bird, fly around the lake, visit the waterfalls along the edge, and fly over glacial formations beneath the mountain peaks. Numerous narrations will tell you about the challenges we faced when filming in this location, as well as educate you about the geology, culture, and history.
PRICE Free HEADSETS Currently only available on Oculus Go (soon available on Quest 2) Crater Lake
Explore the beautiful and serene Crater Lake in Oregon, USA. Full 360 immersive virtual reality, 18 images to view, an interactive map to jump to different locations and animated scenes depicting the cataclysmic eruption of Mount Mazama and the creation of the caldera we see today. Interact with pop-up windows showing detailed information on 18 local wildlife and listen to their call sounds, plus in depth details on the Crater Lake bathymetry and other main features.
PRICE $2.99 HEADSETS Currently only available on Oculus Go (soon available on Quest 2) Redneck Road Trip
Rod Edwards is an international award-winning stills photographer and an interactive content creator who uses the VRdirect platform to create and publish his unique VR projects. The Redneck Roadtrip gives viewers the chance to become armchair virtual reality visitors and experience his tour in the comfort of their own home. When shooting Redneck Roadtrip, he enjoyed the excitement of just waiting to see what lies around every corner. It's a wonderful way to travel, experiencing life and meeting fascinating people along the way. It's almost as good as being there in person...
PRICE Free HEADSETS Currently only available on Oculus Go (soon available on Quest 2) Window to the World
Aurel Manea is a photographer and VR enthusiast committed to capturing the moment when reality and photography converge. From this mission has come Window to the World, A stunning showcase of his best landscape pictures through a remarkable 3D effect, created manually from original 2D photographs using a spin on traditional parallax techniques. The result is a beautiful piece of artwork that delivers a truly immersive experience.
PRICE Free HEADSETS Currently only available on Oculus Go (soon available on Quest 2) Gala360 - Travel & Relax
Taking you on awe-inspiring virtual adventures across the globe, Gala360 is the result of the magic touch of an array of exceptionally talented photographers who have captured their globe-trotting trips in all their glory before being rendered into VR form. In professional 6K resolution, more than 300 tours around the world are featured, with some also including narration which allows you to listen to the stories behind the trips. Most of the tours are free, but you can pay a small fee to unlock more.
PRICE Free HEADSETS Currently only available on Oculus Go (soon available on Quest 2)

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10 of the best virtual reality travel experiences - TravelMag

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With the mainstream travel industry experiencing a period of major downtime amid the Coronavirus pandemic, adventure seekers are having to put their globetrotting plans on hold. But even with planes grounded and hotels shut, there are still some alternative ways of experiencing the thrills of wanderlust - and among them are the opportunities afforded by [...]

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The use of Virtual Reality (VR) for workplace learning is fast becoming a game-changer in the way businesses induct and train staff. Next World Enterprises has developed the next world of VR training, where you can immerse yourself with a 3D render of your very own workplace, and tailor gaming strategies to train staff about potential hazards. VR is the perfect technology to help your staff visualise real-life scenarios without the dangers of being in the situation.
The idea around VR induction and training, converges science, technology, and innovation. VR is bringing evolution to the workplace training space, disrupting the in-effective ways with a breath of fresh air for learners.

VR training is delivering improved safety, onboarding and productivity. The technology itself is not only more effective than traditional training, it offers an entertaining approach to learning, as opposed to 'death by PowerPoint'. Users are no longer external observers of images on the computer but are active participants in a computer-generated 3D world.
On-Demand, On-Site, On Budget - finally an evolved method for training people.
Founder and CEO Michael O'Reilly launched Next World Enterprises in 2017, dedicating the brand to build VR assets for industrial applications. During this time, he has worked with a large number of businesses and councils to induct and train staff.

Michael said, "Bringing new value to businesses through innovative and engaging learning technology, like VR, is so rewarding. Immersion training is an effective teaching method to help the construction industry as well as local government and warehousing - any industry really".

Earlier this year Burke Shire Council, a very remote local government area in North West Queensland, Australia were given the opportunity to work closely with Michael and the team to induct and train their staff with the use of Next World Enterprises' Pilot program, and the results were outstanding.

Participants from Burke learned on average 67 per cent more and with such positive results in all areas, Burke Shire Council will see continued success with VR training and with that, greatly reduced training associated costs.

"The technology would eliminate the need for flights, accommodation and other logistics-related costs incurred by sending staff away for training or flying trainers to remote areas - saving the council and ratepayers a significant amount of money," Work Health and Safety contractor David Gornalle of Burke Shire Council said, "it would also reduce the amount of time staff are absent from work. You're just taking someone off the job perhaps for half an hour instead of an afternoon."
VR training is actually cheaper and more accessible than eLearning to customise now.
VR based learning is finding its place everywhere. RTOs are using it, big miners and oil and gas companies are using it; all because they've realised the purpose of sending staff for training is better met through VR over other options. It's great to be a part of evolution. The technology is rapidly being recognised and adopted for OH&S training, and has generated an increase in engagement, improved knowledge acquisition, minimal risk and an increase in productivity compared to traditional training methods.

Compared to e-learning, Michael explains, "E-learning has no place in a modern and performance-based workplace L&D strategy, the future of learning has been brought forward with VR".

Although the technology itself is ever-changing, VR training has now proven itself as the most advanced, cost-effective and successful way to train and induct staff in a safe environment.

Next World Enterprises is an Australian owned and operated company headquartered in Brisbane, Queensland. Offering custom inductions, bespoke training experiences and pre-designed 'Off the Shelf' training experiences (including Confined Space Entry, Working at Heights, Manual Handling and more), providing an engaging way to refresh your employee's accredited training with 75 per cent knowledge retention in under an hour.

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How virtual reality is transforming OH&S training - Build Australia

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The use of Virtual Reality (VR) for workplace learning is fast becoming a game-changer in the way businesses induct and train staff. Next World Enterprises has developed the next world of VR training, where you can immerse yourself with a 3D render of your very own workplace, and tailor gaming strategies to train staff about potential hazards.

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Future directions - industries already using VR

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Future directions - industries already using VR

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We all know virtual reality (VR) is being used for gaming but VR and XR are going to shape our future in so many more ways than gaming. From healthcare to real estate, recruitment, and education, this article covers 23 industries using VR - and this is just the start.

For anyone who isn't quite up to speed with VR, here's a very brief definition: VR is the term used to describe a computer-generated environment that someone can explore and interact with. A user is immersed in the environment and the brain is basically tricked into thinking what someone is seeing in the virtual world is real.

1. Automotive industry

VR allows engineers and designers to experiment easily with the look and build of a vehicle before commissioning expensive prototypes. Companies such as BMW and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) been using VR for years to hold early design and engineering reviews to check the visual design and object obscuration of the vehicle - all before any money has been spent on physically manufacturing the parts.

VR is saving the automotive industry millions by reducing the number of prototypes built per vehicle line.
JLR are using VR to hold engineering reviews earlier in the vehicle development process.
2. Healthcare

VR is making a significant impact in healthcare. In November 2021, the FDA approved prescription-use EaseVRx for the treatment of pain reduction in adults. The system uses cognitive behavioral therapy and other behavioral principles such as deep relaxation, attention-shifting, interoceptive awareness, and others, to aid in the reduction of chronic pain. VR has even been used as pain relief for burn injuries.

Healthcare professionals can use VR to better prepare themselves for being in the operating theater - whether as a junior doctor explaining diagnoses and treatment plans, or an orthopedic surgeon performing surgery. Companies like Osso VR enable surgeons to interact with medical devices in VR and practice surgery on virtual bodies, helping to increase familiarity with new devices and proficiency in implanting them.

VR can also be used as a treatment for mental health issues, with Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy thought to be particularly effective in the treatment of PTSD and anxiety. There are many other ways spending time in VR can have therapeutic benefits.
Osso VR provide a surgical training and assessment tool.
3. Retail

The way we shop online is set to drastically change with 'the metaverse'. With VR retail experiences and body-scanning technology, we will be able to try on clothes in the virtual world to see what they'd look like in person. Not only is this a time-effective experience for shoppers, but it's also more sustainable because customers will know before they order whether the item fits their shape and size, reducing the environmental cost of production and shipping fast fashion.

Various companies are attempting to bring us the VR shopping experience, including the European retailer ASOS, who invested in software development company Trillenium. Fashion houses like Hugo Boss will be amongst the first taking part in the first Metaverse Fashion Week in March 2022, where there will be virtual catwalks, stores, and fitting rooms.

And it's not just fashion getting a makeover. Back in 2015, eBay launched ' the world's first virtual reality department store' in partnership with Australian retailer Myer. Is this the future of shopping?
vRetail are using VR to enhance the shopping experience.
4. Tourism

There's nothing like a global pandemic and lockdowns to make you miss the freedom to travel to different countries, visit world-famous landmarks, and experience a glimpse into another culture.

Imagine being able to experience a guided tour of Barcelona or Budapest from your home in California or Singapore. With VR, you can do just that. You can even take a Harry Potter tour of Edinburgh from anywhere in the world!

In the post-Covid era, the developments in VR for tourism enable you to try a holiday before you buy it. Thomas Cook launched their ' Try Before You Fly' VR experience back in 2015, where potential holidaymakers could visit stores in various countries to experience the holiday in VR before booking it. As a result, there was a 190% uplift in New York excursions bookings after people tried the 5-minute version of the holiday in VR.

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VR Expeditions 2.0 is another way tourism can become more accessible, with hundreds of virtual field trips available. From Rome's Colosseum to coral reefs, and the surface of Mars, users can travel the world from the comfort of their own home.

5. Real estate

If you'd prefer to stay closer to home, you can look around properties from the comfort of your [existing] home - no estate agent appointments or sacrificing your weekend needed.

Companies like Matterport are leading the way for people to explore houses online and get a 'feel' for the space, saving time looking rounds places that might be smaller, darked, or otherwise not what you expected. This way, you can focus your time viewing only the properties you're most likely to love in person.
Matterport 3D camera produces realistic scanning of buildings which you can then visit in VR.
6. Architecture

VR is gradually changing the way that architects design and experiment with their work. VR makes it possible to see not just what a building or space will look like but how it will feel.

For example, if someone was looking to add an extension to their property, they can experience the space and what it will look like before it's physically built and then make real-time changes. This saves the customer and architect time and money, as well as increasing satisfaction on completion of the project.

Architects have been using 3D models for years but using immersive tools allows them to understand and explore the space at the deepest level possible. The BBC even have a TV show in the UK, Your Home Made Perfect, built on two rival architects showcasing designs to homeowners in VR, before they're built in reality.

7. Interior design

It's not just the structure of your home that's getting a makeover in VR. You can now use immersive experiences to mimic the interior design too. Companies like Flipspaces are capitalizing on this, providing users with 3D visualizations of the interior of their home or workspace - from lighting to ventilation, color schemes, and products themselves.

Platforms like this don't just help designers and homeowners visualize the look and feel of a property- they also have the potential to drive direct sales for furniture companies like Ikea.

8. Gambling

Fancy yourself as a poker pro? You can play multiplayer poker in VR with Pokerstars VR. It's just like being in a real casino where you can talk to other players and read their body language. You can plan poker, blackjack, roulette, and slots against real opponents and be in with the chance of winning money prizes.

9. Learning and development

The training industry has started to embrace the opportunities VR learning brings, with companies like Bank of America sourcing 10,000 headsets, and Walmart offering VR training to it's 1mn employees.

With VR, people can learn through experience in a risk-free space; it's consistent, affordable and scales. VirtualSpeech, for example, provides VR training for soft skills such as public speaking, active listening, and sales. They blend e-learning with practice in VR and online simulations, enabling learners to build their confidence and skills in VR environments, from meeting rooms to auditoriums.

With the experiential learning VR brings, VR training significantly increases learning retention levels PwC infamously did a study on the effectiveness of VR learning for soft skills, and found people learnt up to 4 times faster in VR.
Learn and practice communication skills with VirtualSpeech.
10. Recruitment

Lloyds Banking Group became the first organization in the UK to introduce VR exercises to assess graduates for its 2017 intake. In the future, VR could be used to assess key skills required for a job such as decision making, for job interviews, and could even replace assessment days altogether by bringing candidates together in the metaverse.

This would save both the employer and potential employee time and cost in the interview process, and even attract higher quality candidates, as Deutsche Bahn has found.

11. Entertainment

VR is being used in the entertainment industry to heighten experiences with 360 films ( Examples on YouTube) and increase emotional connection with the characters or film itself. Disney Movies VR, for example, takes the user to red carpet events and to an interview with 'The Jungle Book' cast.

VR could also revolutionize the way that media content is made, as companies like Flipside XR have shown. Flipside provides real-time animation and motion capture, enabling creators to built interactive animated shows or live stream animated performances via VR or more traditional channels YouTube, Twitch or Facebook live.

12. Education

VR could revolutionize education by enabling students to learn in an immersive, experiential way, from anywhere in the world. VR provides the opportunity to democratize education by opening up opportunities to students of all backgrounds, which may not have been possible before. For example, Victory XR has partnered with Engage to provide digital twin campuses to enable students to learn in live, interactive classes from the brightest minds in the world.

Other companies like Tech Row enable students to go on a space mission to Pluto, explore Antarctica, and experience the wonders of Machu Picchu. Field trips to the Colosseum and Ancient Rome can be completed from the classroom, and you can even be taken on a journey of the human body as a white blood cell!
Morehouse College Campus in VictoryXR.
13. Sports

The way that we watch sports is already changing, with several VR companies specializing in watching live sports events. You can now watch the NBA, NFL, and other events in VR. BT Sport broadcasted the UEFA Champions League final in 360 degree VR via YouTube and the BT VR app, all for free. You could watch the game from several viewpoints in the stadium, as if you were actually there.

Companies such as Big Screen VR enable people to watch the Superbowl together in VR, and NBC announced it will live stream the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics in VR, as well as provide highlights for some of the events in VR. You can even host a ' virtual Olympics watch party' if that's your kind of thing.

This is a great way of opening up live sports events to people who can't travel to the venue or can't afford tickets to watch the sports in person. Instead, they can get a sense of atmosphere and presence from VR.

14. Art and design

With VR, you don't just create life-size artwork - you can be in it. You can actually step into your image and come out the other side. The most well-known application for creating art in VR is Tiltbrush and it's amazing what some people have managed to paint in it. You can also draw, sculpt, create and animate virtual 3D models and sculptures with Masterpiece Studio.
One of VR artist Anna Zhilyaeva's incredible pieces of art, created with Tiltbrush.
15. Events, conferences and meetings

Since VR enables individuals to meet in places virtually, it's no surprise that the pandemic brought a rise in VR events, conferences and meetings. Platforms such as Glue, Arthur and Meeting Room can be used to hold collaborative, interactive meetings with colleagues from anywhere in the world.

You can put on your headset in London, and meet virtually with your colleagues in New York and Madrid, and connect and work with them as if you were all in the same room. With collaboration tools such as whiteboards and freehand 3D drawings, they help remote or hybrid meetings become as good as face-to-face meetings, without the time and cost needed to travel.
Glue's collaboration platform for remote workers and dispersed teams.
Some people are using VR for networking and events. Educators in VR regularly host events in VR on topics including cyberbullying, storytelling, and language learning, which are available to attend in VR or desktop. By bringing people together in VR, attendees can immerse themselves in the topic and virtual space, and build stronger connections with each other compared to events via traditional video conferencing tools.

16. Fitness

When we first wrote this article in 2017, VR fitness wasn't a thing - we originally had 21 industries using VR and fitness wasn't one of them. Now, VR fitness apps are some of the most downloaded and used VR apps available, allowing you to upgrade and socialize your home workout.

Two of the most popular VR fitness apps are Supernatural and Fit XR. With FitXR, for example, you join an immersive fitness club with new classes added each day, including boxing, dance, and HIIT. You can even take part in the classes live with your friends to make your workout even more fun, and mimic the social interaction of traditional gym classes.

17. Wellbeing

With the rise in popularity for wellness and meditation, it's not surprising that, yes you guessed it, you can now meditate in VR too. TRIPP are paving the way for calmer minds in VR with over 40 meditations, breath visualization, and visual landscapes.

Available for VR, and coming soon for AR as well, they claim to be a 'fitness solution for your inner self', and what's more calming then escaping reality and immersing yourself into a calmer physical space?

18. Social

VR enables people to meet in the same virtual space from anywhere in the world. Once in VR, or 'the metaverse', people can visit virtual cinemas, restaurants, beaches, concerts, and more together.

There are several big players already building social communities in the VR space, including Meta's Horizon Worlds and AltspaceVR. Horizon Worlds not only enables people to explore virtual worlds together, but they can create immersive content too, including VR spaces specifically for their friends and colleagues.
Horizon Worlds, Meta's social VR app
19. Charity

One of the best things about the rise of VR is its ability to evoke empathy. This makes it extremely valuable to charities as it can be used to increase understanding of an issue by experiencing it either in the first person or as a bystander to specific situations.

People are more likely to be moved to action when they are immersed in a situation, they would otherwise not be able to relate to, or come close to experiencing. For example, in 2015, Unicef used the video ' Clouds Over Sidra' to double their donations towards their work with the Syrian Refugee Crisis.

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20. Marketing

Marketing is becoming more and more about how companies make customers feel so utilizing the immersion of VR seems like a natural extension. From Topshop providing fashionistas with a front row at London Fashion Week with a VR headset, to Tom's shoes taking customers on a trip through Peru to show where each pair of shoes they donate goes to, the heightened sense of connection through VR is sure to make you remember and connect with these brands.

VR marketing is also becoming popular for universities to create virtual campus tours of universities. Princeton, Yale, and Columbia have all tried this out as a way for more students to be able to see their campus.

21. Recreation

Many real-life hobbies are now available in VR, and the immersive, social experience makes them all the more enjoyable and accessible. If you're a fan of cultural activities, you can visit museums such as the Natural History Museum in London or if you're into sports, you can play golf or football in VR.

If you're more of a thrill-seeker, you can head to Guizhou in China to VR Star Theme Park, where there are over 40 VR rides.
VR Star Park in Guizhou, China.
22. Law enforcement

As with the military, police forces are using AR and VR tools from companies like VirTra to train personnel in simulated scenarios complete with visual, auditory, and physical stimuli ( ranging from barking dogs and street noise to the recoil of discharging a weapon).

The technologies even enable police forces to escalate or de-escalate trainees' simulated interactions with individuals inside the virtual training environments, helping learners practice making judgment calls and critical decisions under stress.

A group of University of Alabama researchers had collaborated with law enforcement officials to measure brain waves during VR police training. One of the lead researchers said the work may "improve training of officers and positively affect the hiring process."

23. News and journalism

You can now watch news stories and documentaries in VR. The New York Times has already entered this space, and it's only a matter of time before other media outlets join them. In the NYT VR app, you can experience stories rather than just listen to them, as if you were standing opposite the journalist where the story is happening.

VR is likely to influence your workplace, hobbies and social life in the future - and that's sooner than you may think. The possibilities of VR are endless; the only things we can't replace in VR are eating and sleeping... for now.

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VR Applications: 23 Industries using Virtual Reality

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We all know virtual reality (VR) is being used for gaming but VR and XR are going to shape our future in so many more ways than gaming. From healthcare to real estate, recruitment, and education, this article covers 23 industries using VR - and this is just the start.

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Aw snap! Google Earth isn't supported on your browser. You may need to update your browser or use a different browser. Please see our system requirements for more information. Chrome is a great choice and you can download it here. Or if you're feeling adventurous, you can try Earth anyway by choosing an option below.

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Mondly: Practice Languages in VR on Oculus Quest

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Experience the most advanced way to practice languages from the comfort of your couch. Enjoy dynamic conversations with our virtual characters and boost your conversational confidence in real-life scenarios. You'll get instant feedback on your pronunciation, intelligent suggestions to enrich your vocabulary and surprises that will transform language practice into a game-like experience.

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SA Police step into simulator for firearms training

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SA Police cadets and Special Task And Rescue officers are going high-tech using virtual reality technology that creates real-life situations such as a domestic violence incident for firearms training.

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This is how Myer’s world-first virtual reality department store works

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Myer has built the world’s first virtual reality department store. And to get people inside the store, the retailer and eBay are giving away what they call “shopticals”, 15,000 virtual reality headsets made of cardboard. CEO Richard Umbers says the collaboration with eBay creates another dimension t…

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As part of her work, Corrie Ackland collects some pretty strange objects.

She has toy spiders, snakes and lizards. Her office is stocked with picture books full of images of blood and needles.

But the most important things she stockpiles are a series of immersive 360-degree videos with scenes of dogs on the beach, or pigeons in St Mark's Square in Venice.

That's because Ms Ackland is a psychologist who treats phobias - a type of fear that causes someone distress or impairment.

And she uses virtual reality - a futuristic headset displaying all-encompassing videos of crawling spiders or dizzying heights - to help people manage their anxiety and learn to live with a phobia.

In fact, virtual reality (VR) technology is increasingly being used or trialled in treating a number of conditions - from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to the depressive symptoms of dementia.

Why virtual reality?

Ms Ackland's VR phobia practice builds on exposure therapy, which has been around for decades and is the leading evidence-based treatment for anxiety disorders and phobias.

As the name suggests, it exposes someone gradually to the thing they're afraid of. If it's needles, they might first be exposed to images of needles, then practice syringing oranges, working up to getting an injection themselves.

But the limitation of traditional exposure therapy is you can't always do it in a gradual and repeated way, Ms Ackland says.

"There's a lot of [people with] needle phobia coming into the clinic at the moment with COVID," she says.

"Even if someone was able to go and get a needle, an injection takes a matter of seconds; that's not usually enough time to apply strategies and note success in that task, and it's also something that we can't repeat 20 times to see it improve."

Ms Ackland says VR allows people to access those otherwise tricky environments.

"It allows us to do it over and over and over again, so I can get a client here getting an injection 20 times in a session, and for them to actually see that it did get better over time."

Sana faces virtual cockroaches in a simulated VR therapy session(
ABC Radio National: James Bullen
)

She says the VR experience helps expose people to their phobia in a safe and controlled way, allowing them to ramp the intensity up or down, depending on how anxious they are.

Evidence supporting VR as a therapy began to emerge in the '90s, starting with an experiment that found it could successfully reduce someone's fear of heights.

But it's only been in the past decade or so with the development of more powerful tools that the use of VR therapy has really taken off.

A systematic review published two years ago looked at the comparative efficacy of VR exposure therapy to real-life exposure across nine studies.

It found both therapies worked well, and there was no major difference between them when treating most phobias.

Can you 'cure' a phobia?

Ms Ackland says phobias may develop from a "critical event" - like being attacked by a dog - but can also develop naturally over time.

The science of fear

For such a pervasive emotion, fear is little understood. Where does fear come from? Why is it that we overcome some fears as we age, while others are triggered later?

That's especially the case when it comes to things most people don't like at the best of times - like going to the dentist or getting a needle.

Steering clear of these experiences feeds into a cycle of avoidance and fear that can build into a phobia.

And while the level of anxiety when presented with the feared thing - a cockroach, for example - can reduce, it can't be eliminated entirely.

"We wouldn't expect that you would love cockroaches, or that you would even want a pet cockroach," Ms Ackland says.

"What we would want you to be able to do is feel ready in your everyday life to potentially see one and feel confident that you could manage that if you did, secure in the knowledge that they are not dangerous and you can cope and you can manage anxiety well."

VR may help to increase therapy access

At the University of Oxford, researcher Poppy Brown is using VR therapy to help people with paranoia and delusions re-enter social situations.

"For people with psychosis, just walking down a street or going into a supermarket or a café can be extremely frightening," she says.

"In VR, we can provide a safe space where we can simulate that street or that supermarket, help those people to go into that virtual world and practice overcoming their fears in a safe and controlled setting."

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Therapy can be far cheaper to deliver per person than your standard face-to-face psychological therapy, and this means far more people could have access to the therapy, Ms Brown says.

"So it's not at all to replace psychological therapists, that time with a highly trained psychological therapist will often be essential for a lot of people. But there might be some people who actually only need quite minimal contact."

Ms Brown cautions that some people will still need a specialist guiding them through therapy - but for less severe issues, treatment delivered straight to someone's VR headset at home could be an option.

"I think a safe space where you are with someone who has some sort of experience in working with these problems can be really helpful and will be important, but there are definitely certain problems or difficulties or people who will be able to just actually do these things themselves at home and find a real benefit in it," she says.

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How virtual reality is helping people to overcome their phobias

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As part of her work, Corrie Ackland collects some pretty strange objects. She has toy spiders, snakes and lizards. Her office is stocked with picture books full of images of blood and needles. But the most important things she stockpiles are a series of immersive 360-degree videos with scenes of dogs on the beach, or pigeons in St Mark's Square in Venice.

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Future directions - training nursing staff

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Future directions - training nursing staff

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The Virtual Reality Training Platform for Nursing

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Immerse your students around lifelike patients and maximize their engagement while they develop clinical reasoning, decision making and communication skills. Use our pre-built clinical scenarios or customize them to fit your needs.

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The Virtual Reality Training Platform for Nursing

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We work exclusively on nursing simulation and immersive, interactive Virtual Reality. Our focus allows us to build a platform that responds best to the unique needs of nursing educators and nursing students.

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Experience the world-famous "Secret Annex" of the Anne Frank House in a never before seen way. Travel back to the years of the Second World War and wander through the rooms of the Secret Annex, where Anne Frank, her family and four other Jews hid from Nazi persecution during WW2.

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This fun and engaging molecule builder will help you test out your chemistry knowledge. Feeling rusty? This experience helps instructors and students to: - Determine how atoms in a molecule bond - Determine the geometric shape of the molecule - Determine the polarity of the molecule

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Stock 360° Panoramic Images and Videos for VR and More | 360Cities

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360Cities is the leading source of 360° panorama / VR media for education, publishing, advertising, film, and mobile apps & games. Become a 360Cities contributor and start creating, publishing, sharing, and earning money from your 360° panoramas and videos.

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Classroom AR and VR - Curriculum - Augmented Reality - Virtual Reality

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Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality For Education

We provide classrooms, 3D VR objects, professional development, and the platform. See our anatomy, molecular biology, astronomy, paleontology, ancient history, and rooms for other immersive learning.

Over 100 learning classes in true spatial 3D. Move effortlessly around the classroom spaces and learn as if you are actually there.

Allows students and teachers to interact in an environment simultaneously (e.g., discussions, questions/answers, collaboration, etc.).

Works on:

Hosted on the ENGAGE Platform

Free professional development mini-lesson library for teachers new to VR

VXR.Direct is groundbreaking in its contents and benefits:

48 VR Units of Science for middle and high school

6 Dissection Units; Frog, Pig, Dogfish, Feline, Squid and Starfish

Triceratops Ranch - ride a triceratops while learning science

Science content is NGSS-aligned

Learning is fun with virtual comic books, games, movies, and field trips

Led by an award-winning science teacher, Wendy Martin

Simple and effective: Users download, install, and play a program all within a few clicks

VXR.Direct works with both tethered and mobile headsets

Once a user is subscribed, access is granted to the entire VictoryXR library

Works on Oculus Go, Quest, and Rift, the HTC Vive, the Lenovo Mirage, Windows Mixed Reality headsets and the Pico Goblin and G2

Augmented reality (AR) adds digital elements to a live view by using the camera on a smartphone or tablet/iPad.

Objects 'magically' rise from the cards, books, posters, and human torso when you hover with our FREE augmented reality mobile apps for iPhone or Android.

GUIDED, STANDARDS-ALIGNED LEARNING: Aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) each Augmented Reality Product features guidance from Wendy the Science Teacher, a national award-winning teacher with 20 years of experience in the classroom.

VictoryXR Augmented Reality Products Include:

Space and Planets AR Playing Cards

Mel and Gerdy Cellular Biology Playing Cards

Victor the Torso in 4D

Victor the Torso in 2D Banner

Living in the Land of Dinosaurs AR Book

Human Anatomy AR Book-Student and Teacher Editions Available

Bring Journey for Civil Rights to Life with Augmented Reality!

Inspire a love of history with this augmented reality exhibit for Civil Rights. Students engage in facts with famous Civil Rights Activists from the 1700's-1900's through augmented reality (AR).

Put this exhibit of 12 luminaries throughout your school.
Dred Scott, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, George Washington Carver, Madam CJ Walker, Jesse Owens, Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King Jr, and Ruby Bridges.

App downloads are FREE.

Use your school tablet or personal cell phone

Hardware for Virtual Reality Education

Next Level Hardware

Redesigned Controllers

PC VR Compatible

Easy Set Up

Cinematic Sound

Headset Casting

Works on Oculus Go, Quest, Quest 2, and Rift, the HP Reverb-Powered by Intel, the HTC Vive, the Lenovo Mirage, Windows Mixed Reality headsets and the Pico Goblin, Pico G2 and the Pico Neo 2.

Have a Question? Contact Us

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Classroom AR and VR - Curriculum - Augmented Reality - Virtual Reality

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality For Education We provide classrooms, 3D VR objects, professional development, and the platform. See our anatomy, molecular biology, astronomy, paleontology, ancient history, and rooms for other immersive learning. Over 100 learning classes in true spatial 3D. Move effortlessly around the classroom spaces and learn as if you are actually there.

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Ride and spacewalk through a holographic miniature Solar System in this thrilling and family-friendly guided tour. Now with full hand-tracking support! ☆ Rated 5/5 by UploadVR • “This project ... comes with the highest recommendation I’ve ever given VR software.” You can: ★ Ride among the plan…

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We care about your students' privacy. CoSpaces Edu takes student privacy very seriously and is COPPA and FERPA-compliant.

We have several measures in place to make sure that the data that you and your students store in CoSpaces Edu is always kept safe.

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CoSpaces Edu for kid-friendly 3D creation and coding

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Boost your kids' learning experience by letting them invent, build and code their own creations. Runs on mobile, tablet and desktop, including Chromebooks.

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At Lumination, we recognise technology is constantly evolving, redefining the way we teach, learn and work. Our team of engineers, educators, designers and software developers are on a mission to fundamentally change the landscape of learning in the classroom and workplace. We work with Government, Education, Defence, and Industry to build and implement advanced immersive learning technology, improving workplace capabilities and preparing learners for jobs of the future.

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Immersive technology solutions for education and enterprise - Lumination

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At Lumination, we recognise technology is constantly evolving, redefining the way we teach, learn and work. Our team of engineers, educators, designers and software developers are on a mission to fundamentally change the landscape of learning in the classroom and workplace.

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Virtual tours - coming soon with Expeditions Pro

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Virtual tours - coming soon with Expeditions Pro

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Virtual Reality Tour Maker, for Expeditions, Teaching, Learning and Fun

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The ThingLink team is excited to share a series of 10 new layouts with creators to engage their audience with interactive content.

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ImmerseMe - Using virtual reality to learn languages

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ImmerseMe - Using virtual reality to learn languages

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Harnessing the power of virtual reality to immerse users in language learning scenarios. ImmerseMe is filmed all around the world to give travellers, students and business people a broad range of content to learn.

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Enjoy VR like never before by having full control of your hands and fingers to interact physically with your environment and many different objects and experiences!

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Create sprawling, brilliant worlds and explore them with your friends! Invite your friends to an online game, then race to the finish with hang-gliders, or switch to climbing mode for even more fun! SculptrVR makes it easy to create, explore, and share incredible sculptures with friends.

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Tilt Brush lets you paint in 3D space with virtual reality. Unleash your creativity with three-dimensional brush strokes, stars, light, and even fire. Your room is your canvas. Your palette is your imagination. The possibilities are endless.

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Creating amazing street art would be much more fun without the jail time! Kingspray is a battle-tested VR Graffiti Simulator, with realistic spray, colors, drips, metallics, and more!

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Future directions - VR and learn to drive

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Future directions - VR and learn to drive

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Is virtual reality the future of driving lessons?

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Virtual reality technology is helping teenagers with disabilities to learn skills like steering, navigating traffic and driving in wet conditions to prepare for their driver’s licence tests.

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We will be introducing new kits in the near future, and expanding our support to later year levels and we are interested in your feedback on what additional kits you would like to see available. You can help us by completing our survey on lending library preferences.

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We will be introducing new kits in the near future, and expanding our support to later year levels and we are interested in your feedback on what additional kits you would like to see available. You can help us by completing our survey on lending library preferences.

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Gleeson College, in South Australia was one of the first to borrow a CSER Virtual Reality Oculus Quest Kit from the CSER AI, AR and VR National Lending Library. They grabbed this opportunity with gusto and have been able to use the kit across multiple year levels and subject areas. Despite the pandemic, Gleeson students were able to experience virtual travel and connection with international students via their engagement in VR. Melissa O'Loughlin from Gleeson has documented their experience for us to share with the CSER community.

Making Connections using Virtual Reality at Gleeson College

Gleeson College is a Catholic Co-Educational Secondary College located in the north eastern suburbs of Adelaide. Our school of approximately 800 students recently took part in a trial using a virtual reality kit borrowed from The University of Adelaide, Computer Science Education Research Group (CSER). This cutting-edge technology includes Oculus Quest virtual reality headsets, hand controllers, iPad and Insta 360 One X cameras used across the school to create vivid new experiences. Our students have benefited in immeasurable ways from the immersive activities, and interactive content delivered.

Virtual reality provides a fun way to learn, which is highly engaging. The ability to visit any place on the globe during a pandemic was a golden moment for our students. Virtual excursions provided dynamic learning experiences and gave them a sense of a different place and time. Our language students actively toured the globe, and thanks to the feeling of presence virtual reality provide, they learnt by living the experience. The emotional reactions to their experiences helped form strong memories. Italian students, for example, were thrilled to experience Florence, Pisa, Rome and Venice all in one magical day while Japanese students rode around the backstreets of Japan, scaled the Tokyo Tower and were part of an audience watching sumo wrestlers in action; all virtually of course.

The Oculus Quest units came as untethered, ready to use systems loaded with usable software. National Geographic Explore VR allowed students to experience kayaking along the icy waters of Antarctica, navigate icebergs in a kayak then climb a towering ice sheet using the hand controllers as ice picks. The headset audio complemented each experience, and when students used virtual reality across our subjects such as Science, STEM or HASS, it allowed for a curious exploration of new information.

YouTube 360-degree videos played on the headsets was a game-changer. There's an abundance of free educational videos available which provides clear, immersive explanations of the studied subjects. Students are part of real-life scenes and cultures; senior tourism students used this platform to explore sustainable tourism. It sparked new ideas through the sensory-based platform, and we could see they were invested in their learning and gained greater empathy through this engaging experience. Although virtual reality will never replace real excursions, it was used as a powerful tool to allow experiences to happen that would have otherwise been impossible, especially during a pandemic.

Gleeson College used the virtual reality kit to deliver new experiences, but more importantly, we created new content. Our students explored numerous applications such as Google Tour Creator, Tilt Brush and Co Spaces to bring three-dimensional work to life. Year 10 Japanese students connected with our international school in Japan by using the Insta 360 One X cameras to take photos around the school. These images were uploaded to Google Tour Creator, and students added short audio files of themselves narrating the scene in Japanese. This innovative 360-degree virtual tour of Gleeson College showed a student perspective of a day in the life at school. We were able to prepare visually impressive, personalised content for students who could not participate in our annual International Study Exchange Program. Connecting this bridge during a time when parts of the world were in lockdown gave our connected school in Japan a rich experience and feeling of being at Gleeson College.

The visually impressive nature of virtual reality also lends itself to numerous artistic applications. CSER representative Ben Jucius initially led us to create a new 3D Marvel superhero costume using Tilt Brush. Students eagerly created stunning designs, and each headsets vision could be shared by casting the unit to our interactive whiteboard for the class to see. Inspired by this lesson, students challenged themselves further and created expressive life-sized virtual art. The immersive experience allowed the viewer to be part of the art, moving around and within the masterpiece from all angles. A dragon breathing fire curled in space, and Van Gogh inspired Starry Nights showed the unique possibilities of virtual art and gave a new dimension for student expression.

There's no doubt that virtual reality is a great tool to support education. Student engagement was high, an inquisitive approach to learning suited our students, and the flexibility of taking part in virtual excursions with no lag time of travel allowed us to increase the number and types of adaptable experiences. We could share information in a new way and shift our students from being simply consumers of technology to being the creators. Virtual reality provides an innovative platform of artistic creativity and multi-sensory experiences to compliment the delivery of the curriculum.

We thank The University of Adelaide, CSER Team for allowing us to be the first school in South Australia to borrow the Oculus Quest Kit. Through direct experiences, virtual reality has engaged our 21st-century thinkers in authentic learning activities allowing them to make deeper connections as empathic global citizens.

Thank you Melissa for sharing your story and highlighting the educational benefits of accessing new technology through the library.

CSER would like to thank the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment for funding the CSER National Lending Library.

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School Story: Virtual Reality at Gleeson College, South Australia

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Gleeson College, in South Australia was one of the first to borrow a CSER Virtual Reality Oculus Quest Kit from the CSER AI, AR and VR National Lending Library. They grabbed this opportunity with gusto and have been able to use the kit across multiple year levels and subject areas.

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ARVRedtech.com | AR & VR Education Technology

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How to Utilize the Benefits of VR in Education

Technology advancement has seen many technologies being adopted by the education sector, and one of them is Virtual Reality (VR). VR education technology is an evolving concept that entails student-friendly features that allow or accommodate unique learning experiences.

"Children are mirrors; they reflect back to us all we say and do," says Pam Leo. And because of this, students can absorb better and more information in a 3D environment than through explanations and pictures. This is simply because using virtual reality as an education medium is more fun, exhilarating, and pleasant than using the other traditional ways.

As we all know, education is the base of development in society, which is why educators try to find more advance and effective ways to transfer information to students. Combining these reasons with the fact that we are in a digital era full of digital devices and advancement, VR and AR are now the next natural evolution of education.

Before looking into resources, benefits, and tips of utilizing VR and AR technology, let's first define and differentiate these two terms for easy understanding.

1. Augmented reality (AR) differs from VR, but both are used in smart devices. AR is used to provide students with interactive and meaningful learning experiences through smart devices. AR projects computer-generated educational contents on tops of users surrounding.

2. Virtual Reality (VR), on the other hand, provides students with an immersive user experience that feels real by creating a 360-degree digital learning environment. It comprises of computer-generated content.

AR and VR in Education: Resources

Before we look at tips to utilizing these technologies in education, we should first address the puzzle's resources.

Setting up your AR and VR for education is not expensive as most of us think or are led to believe. You don't have to break the bank to land these devices. There are several budget-friendly devices and platforms to use nowadays, and they work well as the expensive ones.

VR and AR devices are not the only resources needed. A teacher also needs virtual reality apps for educations, such as:

TimeLooper: This is an application that allows students to visit places through a historical lens. For example, Berlin, Germany during world war II, and many other sites.

360Cities: This is another application that allows you to visit different historical places during class a session with a 360-degree environment.

These are just a few examples of available VR and AR applications out there. For educators to develop lesson plans with AR and VR technology, they will need to use specific platforms, for example, Immersive Nearpod and VR Education.

We know VR and AR technologies come with several benefits, so what are the benefits, and how can teachers maximize these benefits?

The Benefits of AR and VR in Education

AR and VR technology in education bring about an artificial computer-generated world that students can easily experience and interact with. In turn, it allows the easy and effective transfer of information to students. Furthermore, having an interactive learning experience can bring a whole new world of exciting learning opportunities. This gives students more ways to learn with potential to help enhance the learning experience.

What are the benefits of virtual reality education?

Effective Transfer of Information

Effective, efficient, pleasant, and useful information transfer to students is what every teacher looks and hopes for. Therefore, the adoption of this technology has taken time. VR is one of the most straightforward ways to create learners' efficiency to learn and gain new knowledge on a dedicated topic or subject.

A mixed-reality, which is a combination of both AR and VR technologies, proved to improve students' outcomes. This is according to research cited by EdTech and the American University School of Education.

The study showed that the students in mixed reality biology classrooms had higher scores than other students. Therefore, this proves that both VR and AR can help improve students' memory retention and recall abilities. The study also showed that VR alone could improve student memory retention but not as much as mixed reality does. The ability to leverage mixed reality is a growing trend and something that will be considered as virtual reality applications evolve.

One of the essential virtual reality education benefits is that it enhances students' engagement with their study. There are hard to understand theories for every child, but you are allowing them to see these theories from another better angle by using virtual reality. This, therefore, enhances engagement while improving their understanding and memorizing abilities.

Overall, VR and AR technologies in education has been shown to provide an active learning experience rather than just distribution of passive information. This has great potential since it can help students increase their knowledge area of expertise.

Eradicates Destruction During Study

Destruction has been, and still one of the main challenges when it comes to studying. Imagine having to teach students with ADHD and CDD that struggles with concentration problems. It will be hard to manage them, right? But if you have a virtual reality headset, then the concentration problem may help to reduce impact or help keep it minimal.

For example, using a headset like Rondaful Virtual Reality Headset with Remote Controller is ideal for solving the destruction problem.

Other advantages of VR in education include:

1. Potential to bring out student's creativity by enhancing the power of imagination.

2. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality creates a memorable visual experience.

3. The technology can enhance a quick understanding of complex topics, meaning potential for unlimited applications in education and training.

4. VR and AR also provide a platform to enhance learning fun with virtual tours and interactive game-based education.

Tips of Maximizing Virtual Reality in Education

To enhance the benefits of using virtual reality as a teacher, you may want to consider these factors:

1. Develop a Concrete Plan for VR Learning

If you leave students to learn independently, you will be limiting success since some students may veer off the topic out of curiosity. But if your spark curiosity and utilize it, the students will gain a lot. This is why educators are expected to maximize the use of VR within lesson plans by developing a well-structured program. This plan should guide students along the right path, which may also involve supervising and moderating the use of VR in the classroom.

2. Only Use VR in the Classroom When Applicable

VR should be best used as a supplemental learning tool. You should always know when to use this VR in the classroom because it shouldn't, and it can't replace human interaction.

3. Ensure You Have Ample Space

A Learner using VR does need ample space to avoid injuries since they may ignore their surroundings and blindly start wandering around. If possible, students should use VR while sitting on their desks.

Final Thought

Adopting virtual reality for education will give you a better and more advanced learning style, unlike in traditional education. VR and AR are applicable in all education levels; it can be for further studies in pre-school education, elementary schools, secondary schools, and vocational training.

This is a growing concept, and by 2021, 15 percent of students will have access to Virtual Reality classrooms in us. This is according to information published in the EdWeek report in April 2019. Therefore, teachers should prepare to leverage the benefits of Augmented and virtual reality in education.

Thank you for visiting ARVRedtech.com! If you have a story, app, or platform story for AR or VR in education that we should consider, please get in contact with our team.

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How to Utilize the Benefits of VR in Education Technology advancement has seen many technologies being adopted by the education sector, and one of them is Virtual Reality (VR). VR education technology is an evolving concept that entails student-friendly features that allow or accommodate unique learning experiences.

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Future directions - VR Music Concert, Splendour in the Grass 

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Future directions - VR Music Concert, Splendour in the Grass 

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Music Ally's team have been casting envious long-distance eyes at Australian festival Splendour In The Grass since 2017, when this YouTube video introduced us to the wonderful Confidence Man. This year, we'll get to attend - if virtually.

The festival is launching Splendour XR, an 'extended reality' edition that will be available to watch from 24-25 July. The festival organisers have booked more than 50 artists to perform "never-before-seen live sets that have been created especially for this global online event", with early bird tickets starting at A$34.99 for both days or A$19.99 for a single day, although they'll get slightly more expensive over a series of releases leading up to the event.

It's a full-on virtual world based on the real-life festival, with attendees able to create an avatar and wander around, as well as chatting to one another in the forums. It's a partnership with virtual world Sansar, and this demo video offers a taste of how it will work.

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Australian festival Splendour in the Grass launches XR edition

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Music Ally's team have been casting envious long-distance eyes at Australian festival Splendour In The Grass since 2017, when this YouTube video introduced us to the wonderful Confidence Man. This year, we'll get to attend - if virtually. The festival is launching Splendour XR, an 'extended reality' edition that will be available to watch from 24-25 July.

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How Hilton Uses Virtual Reality for Training | Oculus for Business

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The current cultural moment is seeing many museums explore online and virtual venues in a way that they haven't before. While many museums have developed online content to some extent in past years, the remote availability and online existence of art has been made all the more urgent by necessary social distancing and physical isolation -- a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic. If every crisis is an opportunity in disguise, this one seems to present a great chance for both artists and institutions to push further into virtual space.

If art continues to expand into these spaces, how will we curate and archive it -- and will notions of archiving and longevity actually matter?

Adobe Photoshop was developed in 1987, and acquired by Adobe the following year. It's hard to believe that a program that has become so synonymous with digital art has been around for over 30 years.

Like photography in centuries past, software and the programming languages used to develop it were more of a practical consideration before people began using them for creative endeavors. In between 1988 and now, numerous tools and programs have sprung up with the intention of serving purely as canvasses or art materials.

With the internet comes art that's accessible from anywhere. Just like the early expressionists railed against the exclusivity of the academic salons, internet art is often implicitly (or explicitly) a rally against the sovereignty of the physical gallery space.

As long as net neutrality holds up, the internet will remain a relatively democratic platform -- anyone can visit just about any website, and access just about any content. With the proliferation of freely accessible digital art comes more questions about the purpose of the physical gallery, and the notions of exclusivity that it represents.

Digital media has, up until recently, still been limited by its existence as a two-dimensional medium. Sure, you can create stunningly complex paintings, writing, and other digital works, but the viewing experience has been very similar to that of traditional two-dimensional art. But with the more recent growth of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies, viewers have the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in a deliberately crafted space -- a made experience.

Digital art and virtual spaces are also changing the way that we create art.
Tilt Brush: Painting from a new perspective
Tools like Google's Tilt Brush allow creators to step into their own creations, working more in the way that an architect or engineer might, able to see their creations from every angle. In the virtual reality space, artists aren't constrained by the laws of physics that hold reality together. Sculptures can move without relying on a source of energy or momentum, and massive objects can float untethered in space. Viewers can walk right through an apparently solid sculpture, or be instantly transported to a completely different location or setting.

With this level of freedom in not only creating but setting the stage for one's artworks, where do we leave the gallery space?
The Virtual Gallery
Art can be and has been governed by aesthetics, history, social movements, and economics in turn. But perhaps more than anything else, art is governed by context. In past centuries art may have been defined by stricter rules governing media and aesthetics, but since the dawn of impressionism in the late 19th century, and the proliferation of more experimental and abstracted art forms in recent decades, the gallery space's most important function has shifted to the categorization and contextualization of objects and performances as "art." Marcel Duchamp's 1917 work Fountain still exemplifies this -- by placing a piece of what is essentially mundane junk within a gallery space, Duchamp makes the viewer aware of the gallery space as an agent of change; a physical place that serves to alter the viewer's impression and treatment of a familiar object.

Fountain (1917), Marcel Duchamp
Into Yourself, Fall (2018), film still, Anish Kapoor Expanded Virtual Spaces
So what about VR? There are already galleries popping up that specialize in showing and curating this type of modern art. Acute Art is a virtual art gallery that showcases works in VR, AR, and "mixed reality", or MR. Curator Daniel Birnbaum's previous experience includes tenures as both curator and director of the Venice Biennale. Acute's artist roster includes a wide range of artists, from well-established illustrators and designers, to younger, up-and-coming digital natives.

Works shown at Acute Art, like Anish Kapoor's Into Yourself, Fall give the viewer the opportunity to have a self-contained, deeply introspective and personal experience in a virtual context -- without the necessities of space, time, and other people that are present in similarly experiential works like Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Rooms.

Errazuriz' additions to Koons' work seen via the Snapchat app
So the gallery space may survive the transition into the world of VR, though for how long is difficult to say. Perhaps VR artists and viewers will soon opt to bypass the notion of the gallery entirely, choosing instead to contextualize individual works according to their own internal logic. Or perhaps the VR gallery space will slowly morph into something less rigid and recognizable -- something, perhaps, that is itself indistinguishable from the artworks that it showcases.

AR makeup by Ines Alpha (Photo by Alexandre Haefeli)
In 2020, the equipment for immersing oneself in a fully virtual space is commercially available to anyone, however it remains prohibitively expensive for most. A VR headset will still run you anywhere between $400 and $800USD before taxes and shipping. Galleries that can afford a suite of "public" VR headsets may monopolize the virtual space through paywalls and memberships for the privilege of using the devices. At the same time, more easily accessible internet spaces are also making use of three-dimensional AR and VR -- take, for example, panoramic photographs that allow the viewer to experience a 360-degree view by turning around with their phone, or virtual representations of real galleries that are accessible by anyone with a PC and the ability to download and run software.

@jokeryharleyproducciones / Instagram

AP Photo / Peter Dejong Rafia Shaikh / WCCF Tech
Beyond the gallery space exists a whole new realm of possibility for virtual and digital artists. Bringing art outside of the gallery also leaves it vulnerable to capitalist interests. Will corporations, instead of museums, be the future determiners of the nature of art?

In 2017, Jeff Koons worked with Snapchat to produce an artwork (or a curated art project) that allowed for his works to be seen as part of an AR filter via the Snapchat app. This project got interesting when another AR artist, Sebastien Errazuriz, "vandalized" Koons' sculpture with graffiti -- something that was made paradoxically easier by the work's virtual existence, and the veneer of free accessibility and open creativity still worn by social media apps like Snapchat.

In 2019, the New Museum in New York partnered with Apple to host augmented-reality works by artists such as Pipilotti Rist and Nick Cave in Apple stores. Though the Apple-partnered works and related workshops were free to users, it's difficult to decouple such a program from commercial interests when placed in the context of brand-specific stores and devices.

Despite this, many independent artists have been using the AR capabilities of apps and programs like Snapchat, Instagram, and VR Chat.

One example of this is artists creating their own Instagram and Snapchat filters and allowing other users to try them out, adding the filters to their own photos and videos. Works like these rarely interact with the gallery space, but are disseminated by mass interaction and sharing. The copyright and ownership of a work created using a social media platform is a fuzzy line, one that stands as a testament to the waning importance of copyright and individual ownership over mass accessibility.

Archiving and Longevity

Age has long been a determining factor in the value and prestige of a traditional artwork. Entire professions are devoted to the idea of preserving artworks for centuries to come, and restoring works that have already made the journey through hundreds, sometimes even thousands of years, to the present.

In recent decades, archivists have come around to the idea of the digital space as a mode of storing and preserving artworks in the form of images and data. Digital media may not be able to recreate a renaissance oil painting -- yet -- but it can serve as a catalogue and an identifier. However, as the technological age wears on, a new issue has arisen. The rapid pace at which technology evolves and changes means that the technology used to photograph, store, and view these digital fragments will inevitably become obsolete, and worse, unusable.

Think of the VHS or the cassette tape. What was a cutting edge technology just a few decades ago is now difficult to use. Today the lifespan of a VHS tape stored in your home is about 5-10 years. Think back to the last time you recorded something on VHS -- it was probably at least 10 years ago. Your precious memories may soon be lost. To play a VHS now you need either specialized equipment, or to pay to have the content of the tape copied over to a more modern medium. The average home is no longer equipped to play VHS media at any given time.

The same goes for CDs, and even MP3s. Both have been replaced by faster, more compact file formats and storage systems. CDs are already going the way of VHS data. Most laptops that are available for purchase today don't come with disk drives, and it's increasingly rare for average consumers to own desktop PCs.

This rapid evolution of formats and devices means that digital art will likely have a far shorter lifespan than traditional art, unless specific measures are taken now. Countless early digital artworks have already fallen victim to the ceaseless cycle of upgrading and obsolescence.

In the first decade of the 21st century, at the beginning of the dot net era, many early pioneers of internet art produced interactive artworks using Macromedia's Flash software. This creative movement ended abruptly in 2010 when Apple announced that iOS would not support Flash on their then-new iPhone and iPad devices. Another decade later, in 2020, Flash is unsupported by most current operating systems, leaving thousands of interactive artworks unviewable, lost to history with nearly the same finality as paintings caught in a fire.

While there are existing universal standards for the archiving of photographs, paintings, and other traditional physical media, there are currently no such standards for digital art. This lack of standardized treatment can prove difficult especially when institutions are left to come up with their own methods for digital archiving -- methods which in some cases may not communicate well with those of other institutions and artists, making lending a tricky business.

Perhaps digital art archivists will take seemingly backward measures -- digital files made physical, images printed out and stored in booklets, or versions of sculptures 3-D printed for posterity.

Or perhaps an even more radical change will occur. Perhaps the notion of archiving and preservation will become less valuable.

Think about how more temporal works today are archived -- performances can be photographed and videotaped, but they can never be experienced in quite the same way as they were the first time they were staged. The same is true with works that use decaying materials or site-specific elements of nature. It's impossible to truly preserve these works in the same way that they existed when they were first made. Perhaps future art's value will no longer hinge on its provenance or age. Perhaps, like Robert Smithson's iconic work of land art, Spiral Jetty, some part of the beauty and value of the work will lie in its transience.

Whether we intend to develop methods of reliably preserving and archiving digital works, or we collectively choose to embrace the digital work's inherently short lifespan, decisions being made now by artists, archivists, and curators alike will reverberate well into the future of art.

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A New Reality for Art: The Future of Virtual Art Production and Consumption

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The current cultural moment is seeing many museums explore online and virtual venues in a way that they haven't before. While many museums have developed online content to some extent in past years, the remote availability and online existence of art has been made all the more urgent by necessary social distancing and physical isolation -- a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

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Australian Trade and Investment Commission

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Australian innovation in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) is creating training tools for healthcare professionals as well as tools to improve patient treatment and care.

Immersive reality in education and training

Continuing education is an area in which Australia has significant expertise. Vast distances and a highly urbanised population means many rural and regional healthcare professionals are a long way from centralised education centres. It is often difficult to maintain training certifications and attend conferences in person. In addition, Australia shares a global challenge - to develop a trained, digitally aware workforce, appropriately equipped with digital literacy.

AR and VR tools are increasingly providing comprehensive, interactive and engaging learning options to support skills acquisition and transfer.

For example, the University of Newcastle has developed a VR tool called Road to Birth for midwifery students. A digital headset takes users on a 3D journey through pregnancy, depicting a life-size female figure in front of them, whose gestation can be explored and observed.

Another example is SIMTICS, which provides online simulations of over 120 clinical procedures to enable clinicians to practice their techniques, including sonography, radiography and ultrasounds.

Immersive reality applications

The positive impact of immersive reality is being felt throughout the Australian healthcare system. Examples include:

AR solutions such as Plattar let clients in industries including healthcare create AR experiences for products and services.

Equal Reality has produced diversity and inclusion VR, that allows users to literally see from the point-of-view of others, including those of a different gender, race or ability-level

Image courtesy of University of Newcastle

Australia is a compelling destination to test, develop and commercialise digital health solutions.
Download the brochure (PDF)

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digital health - immersive reality for training and care

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Immersive reality: Australian innovation in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) is creating training tools for healthcare professionals as well as tools to improve patient treatment and care.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Australian innovation in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) is creating training tools for healthcare professionals as well as tools to improve patient treatment and care. Continuing education is an area in which Australia has significant expertise. Vast distances and a highly urbanised population means many rural and regional healthcare professionals are a long way from centralised education centres.

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VR Fire Trainer - Virtual Reality Fire Training Simulator