META, formerly Facebook, is opening 10 virtual university campuses in the US as part of its Immersive Learning project which aims to bring education to the metaverse.
The initiative will allow universities to offer virtual reality classes through a VR headset.
Meta is partnering up with VictoryXR, an Iowa-based virtual reality education startup, with Mark Zuckerberg’s tech company investing $150 million.
Universities have long considered virtual reality teaching spaces but have been reluctant to adopt the technology because of the bulky headsets and costs.
But the coronavirus pandemic forced them to consider virtual and augmented reality.
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This initiative is just a pilot for now.
All participating universities said they would loan the VR headset to students.
For the University of Maryland, which doesn’t have a physical campus but enrols more than 45,000 undergraduates, VictoryXR has created a virtual campus with buildings, a lawn, and a pond.
Students at Maryland, can put on a headset and enter an administration building, where they can chat with the financial aid avatar.
Five metaverse courses are being offered at the university, including courses in biology and astronomy.
At Morehouse College in Atlanta, biology students will be able to step inside a human heart, build giant molecules and visit the Egyptian pyramids without stepping outside their dorms.
Muhsinah Morris, principal investigator of the Morehouse in the Metaverse project, said: “Teaching in the metaverse is like being able to leave your physical reality and immerse yourself in a complete, digitally simulated environment. It can be anywhere in the world, in any timeline.”
While at one nursing school, the Immersive Learning project will allow students to interact with patients instead of using one mannequin.
Courses at other universities will include chemistry, anatomy, history and English.
VictoryXR is optimistic about the future of virtual universities and hopes to have 100 digital universities designed in one year, each costing the real institution about $50,000.