Have you heard about the educational benefits of virtual reality? Whether VR learning takes place in the classroom, in the workplace, or at home, highly immersive games have the power to transport anyone anywhere – building empathy, future-facing skills, and more. And we didn’t forget about augmented reality! Both technologies offer unique learning experiences that can level up your lesson plan or training module.
Make out-of-this-world experiences part of your reality with the following educational VR and AR titles. Be sure to let us know what your favorite VR and AR experiences are on Facebook and Twitter!
VR
Who doesn’t love a good Rube Goldberg machine? This physics-based VR puzzle game allows players to solve and create their chain reactions “ without any rules but the rules of physics.” Launch, bump, twist, and turn your way into solutions and engineer intricate puzzles of your own. With community features and over 100 unique gadgets, this game fosters creativity, problem-solving, and an appreciation for the movement of matter through space and time! Pick up Gadgeteer on the Meta Quest store here.
Did someone say engineering? If you’re a long-time reader of the blog, you’re already familiar with our upcoming sandbox robotics game, but in case you’re new here, let me break it down for you! In a warehouse full of squishy humans, build not-so-squishy robots to complete a variety of tasks, from delivering coffee and sandwiches to sawing logs and busting open pinatas. This STEM-lover’s dream is packed with gears, motors, and more. RoboCo is inspired by real-life robotics organizations, and allows players to tap into their creativity and problem-solving skills! The game is going to be available both on PC and in VR. Follow the RoboCo devblog for development updates, wishlist RoboCo on Steam today, and stay tuned…
The Book of Distance is an interactive VR film created by artist Randall Okita. Recounting his grandfather Yonezo Okita’s experiences after he immigrated from Japan to Canada in 1935, players follow Yonezo’s story by traveling through the Okita family archives, encountering state-sanctioned racism and other violence, as the experience gradually recovers what is lost of a family’s history through digital recreation and storytelling. The Book of Distance covers a range of topics from political to familial, and playing the game is an opportunity for older students to learn about how history – personal, national, and otherwise – is pieced together, and why it’s important to consider the sources of our historical understandings. You can download and play the game for free on Steam.
While VR is often branded as futuristic, it can also offer us a visceral look at the way things were in the past! Like The Book of Distance, Immersive VR Education’s Apollo 11 allows players to set foot back in time. Experience the first moon landing through a combination of original, archive audio and video along with accurate recreations of the spacecraft and locations. Through this cinematic, interactive experience, players learn all about the ins and outs of NASA in the 1960s, and what it took to make the dream of landing on the moon come to fruition. You can purchase Apollo 11 through the Meta Quest store here.
In Breaking Boundaries, you can celebrate groundbreaking women in STEM, learning all about their lives and work along the way. Breaking Boundaries offers players a biographical experience like no other, featuring Grace Hopper, Marie Curie, and Jane Goodall. Explore each scientist’s work environments, personal artifacts, and achievements while learning history, STEM concepts, and more! Breaking Boundaries was developed with our friends at Meta (formerly known as Oculus!), and you can download it for the Meta Gear VR and Go here.
Looking to take your students on a field trip to space? You’re in luck! Developed for our client Publications International, VR Explorations includes over 15 different 3D environments, from space to inside the human body to Antarctic waters. This game is for Android and iOS devices and includes six accompanying hardcover Encyclopedia Britannica books to further contextualize the explorable environments. Travel in and out of this world with VR Explorations, a unique learning experience combining textbooks and VR!
AR
via Educational Alliance Finland
It’s difficult to describe 3DBear, an educational augmented reality app, concisely – and that’s because it is so versatile, it could fit into a large variety of lessons on all different subjects! 3DBear allows students to hone their reading, writing, digital literacy skills, and more. The app contains a myriad of tools for visual and written storytelling, allows users to learn by doing, and includes other features that make STEAM learning engaging and fun. 3D Bear is a tool that fosters student creativity, curiosity, and content creation, and you can download it on the Google Play Store and App Store.
If you’re struggling to find the motivation to practice piano – this is the AR experience for you! Like the upcoming game Rocksmith+, PianoVision takes a more gamified approach to practicing an instrument. If you’ve found you’re more of a RockBand or Guitar Hero enthusiast than the next Beethoven or Chopin, an app like PianoVision can combine the best of both worlds and make a musician of you yet! Currently available in Early Access for the Meta Quest, the app overlays notes onto your real-life piano, and tracks your hands and fingers over the instrument, providing feedback along the way.
We’ve covered why game-based learning can be a great tool for medical professionals – and so can AR! Human Anatomy Atlas is an app that allows the user to see the complete human body in 3D – like an interactive, more immersive textbook. Medical students (or anyone interested in learning more about anatomy) can study in a more engaging way with over 10,000 anatomical models. These models contain descriptions available in 7 different languages, including English and Spanish! You can download the 2021 version of the app for $0.99 from the App Store, or access the 2022+ version of the app as a part of the Visible Body Web Suite here.
These are some pretty innovative games, right? If you’re ready to create your own immersive learning experience, let us know. We would be honored to help bring your VR or AR dreams to life. We understand the educational value of XR, and we have the portfolio to prove it!
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