The current coronavirus pandemic has massively influenced the way everyone lives their lives, with those who can, working from home while others can’t work at all. It’s the same for the education system, with parents now having to ensure their kids stay up to date thanks to schools creating at home syllabuses. To aid in this endeavour, US-based VictoryXR which creates virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) content for schools has teamed up with VR Education to help provide remote learning services.
VictoryXR will be utilising VR Education’s ENGAGE platform – the same one HTC Vive used for its Vive Ecosystem Conference (HTC 2020 VEC) last month – to help distribute its science curriculum content and virtual animal dissections to schoolchildren across the US. Currently, VictoryXR has built over 240 VR and AR learning experiences covering 50 different learning units. The virtual programme will see qualified educators running live classes via ENGAGE with VictoryXR producing additional content to replay.
“VictoryXR is taking school inside virtual reality with ENGAGE. Students will learn with the best teachers and have the best learning labs, all in an interactive virtual world,” said Steve Grubbs, CEO of VictoryXR in a statement. “We view ENGAGE as the platform, much like the iPhone is the platform for world of apps. VictoryXR will build a VR school curriculum app on top of this platform which gives every school and every student access to the best equipment, the best teachers and the most effective learning.”
“We are delighted to be working with Steve and his team at VictoryXR. They have a wealth of experience and the content they have already produced is aligned with the US school curriculum built by world class qualified educators. Having a platform like ENGAGE to deliver this content and provide easy-to-use content tools allows VictoryXR to develop and deploy similar high quality content quickly and easily at a much lower development cost,” adds David Whelan, CEO of VR Education.
“Even before the impact of COVID-19, the US home school market was quite significant with over 2.5 million home school students1. As a result of this world changing event, we believe that this number is likely to accelerate quickly as students and parents become familiar with working online at home. At a difficult time for education across the globe, ENGAGE provides a fantastic solution for distance learning and through this partnership with VictoryXR we are now able to provide services and content that go beyond anything previously offered within traditional educational programmes, not only in the US but globally.”
VR Education is best known for its own selection of educational products which include Titanic VR, Apollo 11 HD, 1943: Berlin Blitz and many more. As further details regarding VR Education’s latest products are released, VRFocus will let you know.
There have been a multitude of events around the world cancelled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) and with countries continuing to report more cases that trend is likely to continue. HTC usually hosts its Vive Ecosystem Conference (HTC 2020 VEC) in Shenzhen, China but due to the current climate will entirely host the event in virtual reality (VR).
HTC Vive will be conducting the conference using VR Education’s ENGAGE platform, the first industry event to ever switch to a fully VR format. Speakers will attend virtually from across the world, from countries including China, Taiwan, France, the UK and the US, holding their various presentations using VR avatars. HTC 2020 VEC will also be used by teams from other cancelled or postponed events such as GSMA (Global System for Mobile Communications), Game Developers Conference (GDC), ESL (English as a Second Language) and GPU Technology Conference (GTC).
Panels will include members of HTC senior management including CEO, Yves Maitre, and HTC China President, Alvin Graylin. Confirmed external speakers include Peter Diamandis, founder and Chairman of The X PRIZE Foundation and Hugo Swart, Qualcomm’s VP and General Manager of XR.
“We have a close working relationship with HTC and so when they asked if we could assist in hosting HTC 2020 VEC via ENGAGE, we were delighted to help out. Coronavirus continues to impact us all and we feel that by hosting this conference virtually we can mitigate some of the disruption that it has and continues to cause businesses globally,” said David Whelan, CEO of VR Education, in a statement.
“Whilst there is no monetary value to this agreement, we believe that it marks the first time an official physical industry event is fully replaced by VR. It also provides us with an excellent opportunity to showcase the exciting capabilities of our ENGAGE platform to a truly global technology-led audience. We hope that this might, in turn, lead to further commercial opportunities for the Group going forward.”
HTC 2020 VEC will take place on 19th March 2020 at 1:30 am GMT (6:30 pm PT) with official registrations opening tomorrow on the ENGAGE website. For further updates keep reading VRFocus.
Today, VR Education Holdings, the virtual reality (VR) company specialising in educational content such as Apollo 11 VR and Titanic VR has released its trading update for the end of 2019, with some interesting predictions for itself and the VR industry as a whole. These include a positive outlook for the company in 2020 as well as mention of a PlayStation VR successor.
Any mention of a PlayStation VR 2 is going to raise interest. Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) recently confirmed 5 million PlayStation VR’s have been sold since 2016 and the current model will support the upcoming PlayStation 5 console. The trading update says: “2020 will see Sony release the PlayStation 5 and a new version of the PlayStation VR headset (PSVR), which will further expand the high-end VR user base; the Group intends to support this device with its current suite of showcase software.”
While there have been several indications that SIE is working on a new version thanks to recent patent publications there’s been no official confirmation, only speculation. An updated design is sorely needed when comparing PlayStation VR to rivals, with the end of 2020 being the headsets’ fourth anniversary. If VR Education’s update is true then Q4 2020 will be very exciting.
The trading update expects VR Education Holdings’ revenue to be €1.02 million EUR for 2019, a 42 percent increase on 2018 but below expectations. Part of the reasoning behind this is: “the delayed launch and the lack of availability of mobile standalone headsets,” states the report. However, working closely with headset makers including Pico, Facebook and HTC with company doesn’t expect the same issue in 2020.
“While it is disappointing to not have grown revenues for FY19 at the pace previously forecasted, we have grown in the year and made significant progress which lays solid foundations for further growth in FY20,” said David Whelan, CEO of VR Education in a statement. “With VR adoption becoming more mainstream through the wider availability of new standalone VR devices, along with the improvements that 5G deployment will bring, we are confident that 2020 will see an increase in demand for immersive experiences. As a result, we believe that the Group will see continued strong growth of sales of our VR showcase experiences as well as an accelerated adoption of our ENGAGE platform for education and enterprise clients, who are working closely with major telecom companies providing 5G services for training and education.”
VR Education’s ENGAGE platform already supports Oculus Quest with clients able to test the software for several months. Due to Facebook’s push for Oculus Quest as a consumer product that has meant its Oculus for Business initiative has been pushed back, now slated for Q2 2020 as stock is replenished – currently, on Oculus’ UK website there’s a 4-week wait for the 64GB version. To enhance ENGAGE platform support VR Education is working on bringing it to Pico Neo 2, with an agreement with Pico seeing ENGAGE pre-installed.
At the end of 2019 VR Education launched Shuttle Commander exclusively for PlayStation VR. This year will see the experience arrive on Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, HTC Vive and Windows Mixed Reality. As further updates are released, VRFocus will let you know.
VR Education Holdings, the group best known for the Apollo 11 VR and the Titanic VR experiences also released a proprietary virtual reality (VR) education platform at the end of 2018 called ENGAGE. Today, the company has announced that the platform has been selected by Facebook for its Oculus Independent Software Vendors (ISV) programme.
Working with enterprise developers and software companies, the Oculus ISV programme looks to accelerate customer adoption of VR solutions built for Oculus enterprise products. In conjunction with Oculus for Business, during 2020 VR Education Holdings expects to make ENGAGE available to Oculus enterprise clients via a special portal, accessing its specialised training and education solutions.
“It is fantastic to be chosen by Facebook to help accelerate the wider adoption of VR globally. Oculus has an amazing technology platform and ENGAGE is leading the way when it comes to distance learning and remote team collaboration. I see an extremely bright future for this technology with the release of high-end mobile devices, such as the Oculus Quest and the HTC Vive Focus, as well as the release of 5G high-speed mobile internet,” said David Whelan, CEO of VR Education in a statement.
“Business and enterprise will only adopt new technology when they see compelling advantages to doing so and ENGAGE is being developed to meet these business needs providing virtual meeting rooms and training scenarios which save customers time and money. To date, adoption of VR/AR has been steady, however with Facebook, HTC, O2, Deutsche Telekom and many others all now working towards the growth of 5G and AR/VR, we believe that will see an acceleration of adoption over the next 18 to 24 months,” Whelan adds.
ENGAGE was developed to overcome certain limitations of online courses and traditional learning methods, allowing users to collaborate on tasks remotely, create new content and learn in VR. Since the official launch last year the ENGAGE team has gone on to secure various commercial deals in the US and Korea with educational institutions. There are also negotiations still ongoing with several large multinationals to provide enterprise solutions to their workers.
VRFocus will continue its coverage of the latest advancements in educational VR, reporting back with further updates.
A few weeks ago I had the privilege of presenting for the second year in a row alongside my good friend Paola Paulino as a part of the BETT MEA Conference in Abu Dhabi. Paola is the Founder and President of the VR/AR Association – Shenzhen Chapter, the Chief Innovation Director at XR Pioneer Ltd. And founder of #isnsVR where she launched one of world’s first virtual reality (VR) pilots in IB World Education. It’s always great to work with people who exude energy and passion for what they do and that is definitely Paola!
This was a one-off presentation that won’t be repeated so Paola and I thought it would be nice to share some of the content and ideas from it here on VRFocus. We’re going to take a look at 10 Marvel superheroes, each with distinct powers, and correlate them to virtual reality experiences that modern students have access to. So let’s dive in…
Captain Marvel
Power: Flight
App: Google Earth VR
STEVE: Pretty much every kid wishes they could fly and virtual reality can give them this experience. Using Google Earth VR students can fly around the planet and visit thousands of locations that they may never get the chance to visit in real life. The flight mechanic within Google Earth VR can take a little getting used to but students will quickly learn to swoop and soar across the Australian outback, the streets of Manhattan and any other location that draws their attention or relates to an area of study. If you’re looking for a jaw-dropping way to welcome learners to the world of VR, this is it!
At JESS Dubai I recently used it as a part of an Explorers unit with Year 3 students. They had “flying lessons” first to acclimatise to the UI and then got to visit the destination of their choice. It was definitely an experience that they won’t forget in a hurry.
Nightcrawler
Power: Teleportation
App: The Lab by Valve
PAOLA: Beam me up Scotty! Imagine the capability to instantly transport from one location to another. In room scale VR, the most common locomotion is the superpower of Teleportation. Recently, we introduced students to room scale VR using The Lab by Valve at a recent visit to the American International School of Guangzhou in collaboration with our XR learning partners and tech innovation team – Diana Beabout, Dave Navis and Robert Bauer. Students found the locomotion mechanic to teleport from location to location very intuitive. Students explored half a dozen mini-VR experiences teleporting around an Icelandic wilderness, a lava cave, and even a town square in Venice. Later we showed them Victory XR’s Frog Dissection Class, where the students could use teleportation to jump around the virtual science classroom.
Dr Strange
Power: Time Manipulation
App: Timelooper
STEVE: Being able to manipulate space is pretty well established as key power that VR boasts but the manipulation of time is also incredibly exciting for educators. For the first time ever we have the technology to transport learners through time to engage with history in an authentic and engaging way. What better way to learn about Ancient Rome than to walk its streets and experience it first hand?
The app I often use as a touchstone for this concept is the brilliant Timelooper which works on mobile VR devices. Cleverly blending CGI and re-enactment footage, Timelooper lets students step back in time to witness dozens of key events from US and European history play out around them. What makes this app particularly potent is its use of modern day 360 video footage at the start of experiences to contextualise the location before the world melts away to reveal the place’s significant moment in history.
In the clip below you can see some Year 2 students from JESS Dubai using Timelooper with me to kick off a topic on The Great Fire of London.
Captain America
Power: Enhanced Strength
App: Blocks by Google
PAOLA: In the physical world sculpting takes some heavy lifting, but in Blocks by Google you can have superhuman strength! Students can easily move and sculpt material such as clay, to skyscrapers like the Burj Kalifa, or even planets. At one of our @XRpioneer learning partner schools – @ISNS_school, we collaborated with Visual Art students to explore Google Blocks in the preproduction process for an Art Exhibition. Students could lift, examine, and sculpt things to scale that helped them plan and model their pieces for the exhibition. Some students fully integrated VR in their final exhibition pieces, using both Google Blocks and Google Tilt Brush to create blended reality experiences. These students are #FutureReady
Scarlet Witch
Power: Telekinesis
App: Engage
STEVE: I’ve been using Engage for my #CPDinVR events for almost two years now and I’ve seen the platform evolve immensely in that time. One constant though has been the integrated banks of 3D IFX assets which can be inserted in the space and puppeteered using the controllers. This functionality was originally only available to the session host but since the major update to the platform in June 2018, it can be granted to anyone within the space. Being able to control and manipulate assets – be that moving them or manipulating their size – provides learners with the opportunity to use them effectively as a part of demonstrations of learning. Using Engage’s lesson editor feature you can even create recorded sessions where object movements are mapped and triggered to create an immersive learning experience.
In the clip below, you’ll see me demo some simple IFX manipulation… whilst dressed as Tony Stark!
Storm
Power: Elemental Manipulation
App: Tilt Brush
PAOLA: What if you could change the environmental climate in a matter of seconds? Or manipulate the elements? Google Tilt Brush centralizes the students’ imagination in a world where they can manipulate their environments in an instant — from a starry night to a bright snowy day. Students are presented with a variety of extraordinary virtual brushes that allow them to effectively design and manipulate the elements to recreate their dreams. In our first pilot year, XR Pioneer students used Tilt Brush across IB subjects such as MYP middle school Math, DP high school Visual Arts, Digital Media class, and DP Biology.
In Visual Art, students integrated Tilt Brush in their preproduction process to visualize their DP layouts on an exhibition focused on dreams. One student used Tilt brush to recreate a scene from their dream using a 3D spatial digital painting. A manifestation from dream to reality. The student used Tilt Brush and Blocks to construct the layout of the experience. To add a tactile component to the installation, a real physical chair was placed in the exhibition space. This chair was calibrated to match the position of a virtual chair. This provided physical and virtual means for guests to experience the student’s vision. Here, the chair could be felt in the physical world while seen in VR.
It was the first time a student integrated “blended-reality” in an IBDP Visual Arts exhibition in Asia. Check out some behind the scenes of our Visual Art (XR Pioneer) student’s Tilt Brush reflections.
STEVE: Just as VR can be used to manipulate space by transporting users to distant lands, it can also be used to manipulate the virtual traveller themselves. Just like The Ant-Man himself Scott Lang, in VR we can shrink or grow to any size to view and interact with content in ways that have never been possible before. Apps like Sharecare VR and The Body VR let students shrink down and travel inside the human body, Fantastic Voyage-style whilst The Extraordinary Honey Bee lets you experience life from the perspective of a bee.
Micro Cosmic Worlds is one of the best ways to demonstrate this virtual superpower though. It allows learners to move through a series of scenarios, getting progressively smaller – from the size of an ant to that of pollen, bacteria and ultimately you stand atop a vibrating molecule. It’s a stunning way to view the world and get a closer look at the world around us that we cannot see.
Loki
Power: Shapeshifting
App: Mindshow
PAOLA: Every student has the power of becoming—now they can in VR too! In Mindshow developed by Name Mindshow Inc, a student can shapeshift into the body of different characters and craft a fully-animated performance. Using the VR headset and controllers, the student’s body position and arm gestures are tracked and re-targeted onto a virtual puppet.
Students can take on production roles either on stage or behind-the-scenes. Onstage, students can be actors and animators by becoming the characters and performing. Backstage, they can be production designers, designing environments and importing custom models that they have created and saved on Google Poly to use as props. Students can be a camera operator, filming the action with virtual hand-held cameras within Mindshow. Teachers at the International School of Nanshan (ISNS), a learning partner of XR Pioneer, have observed that even their shiest students come out of their shell and exude confidence as they embody their Mindshow roles from onstage to backstage.
We also piloted a VR performance with ISNS’s Drama Department. Shout out to the @ISNS_school’s immersive tech integration, @MagicMrFernweh and MYP Drama teacher, @ms_wenn for the collaboration!
The minds behind Mindshow understand the value of creators sharing their work, and they’ve streamlined the process by allowing users to upload their Mindshow movies directly onto social media platforms such as YouTube. In a similar sense, students will be able to share their stories and collaborate with others as they craft their VR films from beginning to end. Check-out our XR Pioneer students at @ISNS_School thoughts and reflections.
Much has been written about VR’s power to foster empathy and whilst I don’t think it is the silver empathy bullet implied by the infamous “Ultimate empathy machine” moniker, studies have shown that the immersive, visceral nature of virtual reality really can help people to feel what it is like to walk in someone else’s shoes for a little while which in turn can have a tremendous impact on their attitude and outlook in the real world.
One app that looks to harness this power is Equal Reality which puts the user in the shoes of various groups that may experience prejudice – be it based on gender, race, age or disability. As workplace-based scenarios play out, the user has to identify moments where people are subjecting them to unconscious bias. It can even generate post-session reports and provides some telling diagnostics about both the way you were treated and the way you yourself acted (e.g. did you focus your attention on one character more than another.)
Groot
Power: Being a tree!
App: Tree VR
PAOLA: Empathy is not limited to just the human form–in Tree VR, you can become a tree-like Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy. Tree VR from New Reality Company shows off the potential of VR as a tool for empathy and education. In Tree VR, the lifecycle of a tree can be experienced, explored, and ultimately felt. The student’s arms become the branches as they grow taller and wherever they turn is Mother Nature herself.
In this immersive story, the students cannot alter their location or any objects outside of their tree self. The reason for this is clear–it prompts the student to feel the frustration of being rooted and unable to move. You could say, in this experience, the students get the opposite feeling of superpowers—that is a feeling of powerlessness.*Spoilers alert* This powerlessness feeling culminates in the end of Tree VR, as forest fires rage closer and closer to you and all the viewer can do is see it coming. Tree VR is a multi-sensory example of taking on another living thing’s perspective by experiencing life through a lens that is very different from their own.
We introduced Tree VR to students when VIVE President of China, Alvin Graylin, visited us at our partner school ISNS where he invited XRpioneer students to enter the “My VR Dream” National Youth Creative Contest in China inspired by VR for Impact. Check-out Steve Bambury’s playthrough of the entire Tree VR experience.
We rounded out the presentation by discussing the potential impact of putting all this power in the hands of students. We don’t want our students becoming the Thanos of this narrative after all. It seemed logical therefore to end with the classic Uncle Ben quote from Spiderman – “With great power comes great responsibility.” VR is a hugely powerful medium for education but it needs to be harnessed carefully and moderated by well-informed educators. If we do that, it can genuinely bring some Marvel into the classroom.
Thanks to its IPO in March which raised £6 million GBP, VR Education Holdings not only managed to fund projects like Titanic VR, but also further develop its proprietary VR education platform, ENGAGE. Today, the company has announced the launch of version 1.0 for commercial use.
This initial release of ENGAGE supports HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed Reality headsets with devices such as the Oculus Go, Vive Focus and Google DayDream to be added in the new year.
In development since 2015, ENGAGE has been designed to overcome certain aspects of online courses and traditional learning methods. The platform allows for virtual face-to-face education and training in a variety of environments regardless of the geographical location of the user, with one of its key components being the ability for educators and trainers to use the software to create their own VR lessons and presentations.
“The full release of ENGAGE is a transformational moment in our corporate history and is the result of many years of hard work, cutting-edge research and innovation,” said David Whelan, CEO of VR Education in a statement. “People today all over the world say let’s SKYPE when talking about online communications and meetings. In the future we want people to say let’s ENGAGE and enter VR to communicate in a more natural way.”
VR Education has already partnered with Nokia Corporation and Shenandoah University, with them testing the pre-release versions of the ENGAGE platform before signing up to commercial agreements. Intel is currently promoting the ENGAGE platform throughout the US as part of the Tech Learning Lab initiative which will be touring Europe and the UK soon.
“Although significant revenues are not expected to be generated from the ENGAGE platform until general adoption of VR and AR increases over the next two to three years, I am nonetheless delighted that both Nokia and Shenandoah University have signed commercial agreements. Being aligned to global leaders like these institutions demonstrates the potential and need for the platform,” Whelan adds.
And thanks to partnerships with the BBC, the University of Bristol, the University of Oxford and the University of New Haven, the content VR Education has helped create will immediately be available on the platform.
You can check out VR Education’s VR projects at home by downloading Titanic VRor Apollo 11 VR HD. For any further updates, keep reading VRFocus.
Das Unternehmen Immersive VR Education (bekannt für die edukative VR-Erfahrung Apollo 11 VR) arbeitet zukünftig mit der amerikanischen Universität von Shenandoah zusammen, damit die Studenten und Studentinnen mit der VR-Lernplattform Engage immersive VR-Trainingserfahrungen für echte Kunden entwickeln können. Die Kollaboration wurde im Rahmen des ersten, bundesstaatlichen Studiengangs AR/VR Design (B.A. & B.Sc.) geschlossen.
Immersive VR Education & Universität von Shenandoah – Entwicklung neuer VR-Trainingsprogramme mit Engage
Eine neue Partnerschaft zwischen Immersive VR Education und der amerikanischen Universität von Shenandoah sorgt zukünftig für die bessere Ausbildung in der Lernfakultät. Mit der VR-Lernplattform Engage sollen die Studenten und Studentinnen immersive VR-Trainingsprogramme entwickeln, um diese für wirtschaftliche Unternehmen sowie Non-Profit-Organisationen zur Verfügung zu stellen.
So schreibt die Universität im eigenen Blog:
“Durch Engage können die StudentInnen von Shenandoah virtuelle Welten und Szenen entwickeln zur Simulation von Lebenserfahrungen. Das Ergebnis sind fünf-minütige, immersive Trainingserfahrungen für Kunden aus der Praxis. Diese Schulungsvideos helfen Unternehmen, Strafverfolgungsbehörden und Rettungsdiensten in diversen Bereichen, von Selbstmordverhütung bis hin zu Simulationen für die Kommunikation mit Patienten mit Demenz. Die Shenandoah-StudentInnen werden nicht nur virtuelle Szenarien entwickeln, sondern auch in der Lage sein, selbst in der Erfahrung mitzuwirken.“
Auch David Whelan, CEO und Co-Gründer von Immersive VR Education freut sich über die zukünftige Zusammenarbeit:
“Wir sind stets vorsichtig bei der Wahl solcher Partnerschaften, denn wir müssen sicher sein, dass unsere Partner die gleiche Vision für die Zukunft der VR-Ausbildung teilen, die wir haben. Aber der besondere Einsatz sowie die Innovationskraft, die Shenandoah für die Zukunft seiner StudentenInnen gezeigt hat, war von Anfang an spürbar. Und da wussten wir sofort, dass diese Universität und ihre Studenten perfekt zu dem passen, was unser Unternehmen vermitteln möchte.”
Engage ist eine soziale Multi-User-Plattform zur Entwicklung von Lernumgebungen in einem virtuellen Umfeld. Dafür stehen den Nutzer-/innen verschiedene 3D-Assets, -Effekte sowie Orte zur Verfügung:
Die VR-Lernplattform ist weltweit bereits an verschiedenen Hochschulen im Einsatz. Dazu zählt unter anderem die Oxford-Universität.
Virginia’s Shenandoah University is the first in the state to offer a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science in AR/VR design. To further round out the department’s facilities, the university announced it’s partnering with Immersive VR Education, the company behind VR experiences such as Apollo 11 VR (2016)and the VR learning platform Engage.
Engage is a full-featured social VR program that lets educators create multiuser VR training experiences and craft their own immersive lectures using a vast library of 3D assets, locations, and effects. It’s already been in use at a few colleges and universities worldwide, including University of Oxford, New Haven University, The Royal College of Surgeons, and corporations such as the BBC.
The partnership with Shenandoah is a little less about taking students on thrilling trips to the surface of Mars, or watching famous scientists give immersive lectures (both possible in Engage), and little more about letting students build virtual worlds and scenes that allow them to create simulated life experiences; the students’ ultimate goal is to create a five-minute immersive training experience for real-world clients.
Shenandoah University says in a press statement that these VR training experiences will aid businesses, law enforcement and emergency medical services “in everything from suicide prevention to simulations for communicating with patients of dementia.”
“Engage is going to move us so far beyond our brick and mortar here at Shenandoah. We’re going to have the ability to help companies and entities nationally. Rapid training and retraining of individuals is becoming essential. It’s important to be able to efficiently and cost-effectively train employees in the newest and best practices,” says Shenandoah Center for Immersive Learning (SCiL) Executive Director and Associate Professor of Theatre J.J. Ruscella, M.F.A.
Image courtesy Immersive VR Education
The Ireland-based Immersive VR Education is known for their work on everything from realistic recreations of the Titanic to the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing. The studio, which is a publicly traded company on both the London and Irish stock exchanges, also collaborated with the BBC on 1943: Berlin Blitz (2018), a World War II experience brought to life through VR.
“We are always very careful entering into partnerships of this kind because we need to be sure that whoever we team up with has the same vision for the future of VR education as we do,” says David Whelan, CEO and Co-founder of Immersive VR Education. “However, the drive and innovation Shenandoah has shown for the future of its students was palpable from the minute they reached out to us and we knew immediately this University and its students were a perfect fit for what our company has to offer.”
Engage has been in Steam Early Access since 2016, and represents an important step forward into the enterprise education space for the studio, as they intend on eventually releasing the platform for businesses, academic institutions, and singular users alike.
Steve Bambury of VirtualiTeach has welcomes Sean Gilroy, Head of Cognitive Design at the BBC to a panel discussion for CPD in VR which will be discussing the topic of empathy in virtual reality (VR).
Titles VR for Impact and Empathy, the panel will also feature David Romero, a technical specialist for HTC Vive and Dominic Eskofier, head of virtual reality for Nvidia. The panel will be hosted by Bambury and will focus on what it takes to create empathetic experiences in VR.
The event will take place inside Engage from Immersive VR Education and will be made available to educators across the globe. The Engage app, which is available for free on Steam for HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and OSVR.
Engage is a social learning platform that allows up to 30 users into a single private area to experience content such as the panel discussion from VirtualiTeach, or take students on a virtual field trip to distant locales, historical sites, or even other planets. The Engage app is compatible with OneDrive and Dropbox, so users can share files and media from within the VR environment.
Engage is still in Early Access, but its ultimate aim to to make education more interesting and intuitive.
The VR for Impact and Empathy discussion will be broadcast on the Engage app on 15th September, 5pm UK time/ 12pm EST/8pm UAE Time. The events have limited spaces, and users will need to register at the VirtualiTeach website to claim a spot.
“We are delighted to be working with Steve and his team at VictoryXR. They have a wealth of experience and the content they have already produced is aligned with the US school curriculum built by world class qualified educators. Having a platform like ENGAGE to deliver this content and provide easy-to-use content tools allows VictoryXR to develop and deploy similar high quality content quickly and easily at a much lower development cost,” adds David Whelan, CEO of VR Education.
“Whilst there is no monetary value to this agreement, we believe that it marks the first time an official physical industry event is fully replaced by VR. It also provides us with an excellent opportunity to showcase the exciting capabilities of our ENGAGE platform to a truly global technology-led audience. We hope that this might, in turn, lead to further commercial opportunities for the Group going forward.”
