VREducation

Roadmap Overview

Virtual Reality (VR) in education offers an immersive, interactive, and engaging environment, revolutionizing traditional education and teaching methods. By simulating real-world experiences, VR promotes experiential learning, allowing students to visualize complex concepts, explore inaccessible locales, and engage in realistic scenarios. VR technology fosters better comprehension, retention, and enthusiasm for subjects ranging from history to science to training in skilled labour industries and beyond. In classrooms, VR can transport students to ancient civilizations, distant planets, or even inside human cells. For skills training, such as medical or technical fields, VR provides safe, repeatable environments for practice, reducing risks and resource costs. Moreover, VR caters to diverse learning styles, accommodating visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners. With the potential for global virtual classrooms, students from varied geographies and backgrounds can interact, democratizing education access. While challenges remain, including technological equity and motion sickness, the transformative potential of VR in education is undeniable.

Our technology roadmap identifies the importance of the integration between hardware technical capabilities – including the VR headset and hand-held devices – along with the educational content and curriculum. Getting both “right” is integral to the future utilization and success of using VR as an immersive learning tool. Our roadmap demonstrates that VR for education is still in the “Rapid Progress” phase of the traditional “S Curve” and countless additional / supplementary innovations are still forthcoming such as utilizing AI for bespoke / custom learning opportunities for students / trainees around the world. Our technology roadmap lives at the epicenter of three key aspects as outlined in Figure I below. This graphical representation integrates well with the Mixed Reality technology roadmap outlined in (https://roadmaps.mit.edu/index.php/Mixed_Reality_(Augmented_%26_Virtual)#Roadmap_Overview). The key difference is the extended and deliberate engagement of educational content and curriculum into our roadmap.

• Human Operator. This includes both the trainee and the instructor that may (or may not) be involved in the training and educational experience. Some of the hands-on technical training using VR may still leverage the opportunity for an in-person instructor such as training in hazardous situations or medical environments.

• Content / Curriculum and Learning Environment. Student / trainee educational outcomes are rooted in the development and deployment of the “right” educational content and curriculum in the VR immersive experience.

• VR Hardware / Computer Systems. The quality, cost, and user experience with the VR hardware and supporting computer systems will be integral to the success of our VR for Education technology development and deployment. Significant investments and progress has been made and continue to position VR to transform the global education market.

Object Process Model