AR & VR The Game-Changer in Education Industry | TechXR

Education has become an evergreen sector in the global market which continues to grow perennially. With advancement in technology, the education sector never fails to embrace the recent developments of the tech world. Now the technology which is on the verge of creating a surge in the global market is AR and VR.

Globle Virtual Reality In Education Market Share

According to a Fortune BI report, the globle augmented and virtual reality in education market size stood at 656.6million USD in 2018 and in projected to reach 13,098.2 million USD by 2026, with an annual rate of 42.9%.

Source : www.fortunebusinessinsights.com

The AR-VR technology is mostly used in the field of gaming and entertainment. But the wonders this technology can create in the field of education is still unexplored. This technology has long held promise as a tool to enhance education with immersive and interactive experiences in disciplines ranging from science and engineering to foreign languages and social sciences. Now the advent of this technology and the proliferation of smart phones has opened incredible opportunities for improving the way we learn as we can now experience the topics that we want to learn. Use of virtual reality technology has been shown Minto increase student engagement and focus, while the immersive and interactive environment encourages one to become an active learner.

The ability to visualize abstract concepts or simulate and experience rare or dangerous situations greatly intensifies the possibilities that one can explore while learning.

Here Are Some Stats To Prove !

1. In a 2017 joint report from digital and VR content companies and the DigiLitEY academic network, 70 percent of U.S. children ages 8 to 15 and 64 percent of parents expressed interest in VR experiences.
2. In a 2018 study from Common Sense Media, 62 percent of parents overall—and 84 percent of parents who had used it themselves—believed VR could provide their children with educational experiences
3. Another 2018 survey finds that just under 50 percent of higher education institutions have either partially or fully engaged in VR deployment.
4. In a 2020 survey from Perkins Coie and the XR Association, respondents named education as the second most likely sector to be disrupted by immersive technologies in the near future.

AR-VR In K-12 Learning

AR-VR in education includes the ability to inspire students’ creativity and spark their imaginations. And this can motivate them to explore new academic interests. With an interactive and immersive environment, the AR-VR technology provides an opportunity to experience the subject up and front. As such, this kind of experience is much more compelling and effective in delivering knowledge than a traditional lecture. Students can have a better understanding and deep insights of even the most complex topics, as this technology elevates simple learning to a highly simulated experience. Education becomes highly valuable when it is turned into a practical experience. For example, you can experience first-hand the life of an Egyptian farmer or participate in the Battle of Waterloo alongside Napoleon. You can also virtually travel to various countries instead of just looking at the map and finding the small dot that is Fiji.

AR-VR in Highter Education

AR-VR Technology Helps Even The Most Complex Models By Making Them Experienceable.

For instance, in March 2021, Fisk University, HTC VIVE, T-Mobile, and VictoryXR partnered to launch the first-ever interactive 5G enabled VR human cadaver lab for learning delivery to pre-med and biology-related majors. Virtual reality can assist in practical learning by simulating real-world environments. Some jobs and professions require many hours of training to achieve proficiency. Nevertheless, real-world practice is often expensive or dangerous. For example, it’s crucial that surgeons and pilots are given realistic and detailed training. Besides headsets and software, virtual reality makes use of haptic (touch-based) devices, resembling real-world objects, that can provide real-time feedback. Using VR, students get inspired to discover knowledge for themselves regardless of any operational limits.

Here are some more instances of the user of AR-VR technology
in Higher Education with images below :

Using Holo Anatomy software and MR headsets, medical and life sciences students can view and manipulate anatomical models in real time.

Students in Professor Danny Milisavljevic’s astronomy class investigate 3D models of astronomical objects alongside their peers in a virtual environment.

Edtech provider zSpace uses a combination of digital screens, glasses, and stylus controls to allow students to interact with and manipulate 3D renderings of physical objects.

AR-VR Learning and its Benefits

The use of VR and AR helps address some of the fundamental issues in modern education. These include the shift from fact retention methods of teaching towards more interactive ones and the search for novice methods to engage students.

Student Engagements

With the immersive environment students are engaged better to learn with zeal which prevents one from getting distracted.

Concept Understanding

The simulated environments are completely capable of portraying a complicated model as it is through which students can inspect and explore to have a better learning experience which is not possible in traditional or even the e-learning system these days.

Practical Learning

When one performs an experiment or inspects a model on his own, then the learning gets much enhanced. This is not possible in all cases with the current system of education. But using AR-VR technology one can dissect cadavers, inspect the volcanoes and even launch spaceships.

Enhanced Creativity

With the realistic environment this technology provides, one can enhance his creativity in all directions as it provides scope to think in multiple directionsn

Emotional Reactions

Emotional simulation is one of the important factors in experiencing this technology that enhances learning. As one experiences learning as reality, it can also enhance emotional creativity.

AR-VR Implementation and its Challenges

Cost Effectiveness

While an AR-VR education platform can be a great help in the learning process, the cost-effectiveness of implementing AR-VR technologies is the question that arises most often. The devices that are used to implement this technology are very costly, which is one of the prime reasons why this technology is not reaching the masses, especially in a country like India. Though devices like Google Cardboard are cost-effective, but are not interactive enough.

Contact Development

One of the biggest roadblocks for the wide implementation of VR and AR solutions in the educational process is purely practical – it takes a lot of effort on both developers and educators sides to create quality AR-VR content that will cover the needs of the educational programs.

How to start with AR and VR Development?

Learn AR-VR Development in 6 Weeks

The 6 weeks Boot Camp program provides students, engineers and developers an overview of AR-VR app development cycle.

The program provides Basic training to get familiar with Unity 3D development environment, basic C# scripting, 3D environment creation, image target based and markerless AR development, 360 degree trackable AR development, 6 Degrees of Freedom (DoF) interactable VR application / game development. With this course, students can develop high quality interactive XR experience and learn app development on smartphones without having costly hardware. In the end students / developers can create interactive MVP/ Project for exciting career opportunities in AR-VR metaverse domain.

Conclusion

Implementing this technology in a cost effective manner and creating awareness amongst the masses is the only solution to use this wonderful technological boon. Many startups have emerged to make AR-VR technology accessible to the common man and are also working to create pocket friendly interactive AR-VR devices which shall be very helpful in the field of education especially. One of them is TechXR Innovations which has created devices like the TechXR developers’ Cube which is a cost effective cardboard device which helps to study 3D models in augmented reality, and the TechXR sense which is a pocket friendly six degree freedom controller. The company also provides i-HUB IIT Rourkee certified courses in AR-VR development at affordable rates through which one can learn working in this technology. Learn more about the AR-VR courses by TechXR here.