Virtual reality is upon us. New apps are delivered on a regular basis, and it’s available commercially for both mobile and stationary hardware. If you’ve been paying attention, it’s also easy to see that the steady stream of content isn’t just made up of games, but other applications have been found as well, including virtual reality education. Unimersiv is one company focusing on education in virtual reality, and it’s just launched an application for the Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Rift. It is, despite its name, not striving to counteract immersion.
Unimersiv, a company focusing on bringing virtual education to the masses, believes teaching and learning can be as important to the platform as entertainment. It believes that VR education can bring a revolution to education. “As research has shown, students remember 20 percent of what they hear, 30 percent of what they see, and up to 90 percent of what they do or simulate. Virtual reality yields the latter scenario impeccably — students can interact with the virtual environment in person and manipulate the various objects within it. This supports ‘learning by doing’ and also results in creativity by constructionism.”
Previously, you had to go to to Universiv’s home page to take part in its educational experiences. But with the recent app launch, these experiences are now easy to find via the default stores for both headsets.
Today the app is available free of charge via the Oculus Store. It features three different takes on virtual education. The first gives you access to the International Space Station, where you can explore its innards. The second features a detailed human body to teach you about the human anatomy. Finally there’s a history lesson in the form of Wiltshire, England, and how it looked like 4,000 years ago. That’s where you’ll see Stonehenge and what it might have looked like originally.
Unimersiv’s website says the company plans to publish new educational experiences every month.
