Spending Virtual Time in Mandela’s Prison Cell, A Teaching Moment for the World

Johannesburg — With the world preparing to celebrate Nelson Mandela’s 100th birthday on July 18th, a new virtual reality experience will allow viewers all over the world to walk in Mandela’s footsteps.

Liliesleaf, a South African heritage site, in collaboration with VictoryVR and IQbusiness, have developed the virtual experience that takes users from his childhood to his triumph as South Africa’s first democratically elected president. The journey, created in virtual reality, enables users to spend time in the VR replica of the prison cell on Robben Island, and stand among the hills of Mandela’s childhood.

Liliesleaf itself has strong historical ties. Situated in northern Johannesburg, South Africa, the Liliesleaf was not only the secret headquarters of the African National Congress, Congress Alliance activists in the early 1960s, but is also the site where prominent African National Congress leaders were arrested on July 11, 1963.  The subsequent famous Rivonia Trial signified a crushing blow to the struggle against apartheid. Fifty-five years later, Liliesleaf is a museum and world-famous heritage site, but with the interactive VR experience, the viewer is taken back to the Liliesleaf of the 1960s.

“It has been a real pleasure and honour to work on such a dynamic, creative and erstwhile project,” said Nicholas Wolpe, CEO of Liliesleaf. “It is our best hope that this experience gives users the chance to better understand the foundations of Nelson Mandela’s life and the struggle for liberation he undertook.”

The experience will be initially released on the Oculus Go on or around July 18th. To give a broader population of people access, it will be released for the Vive Focus and Pico headsets shortly after the 100th birthday celebration.

“I’m excited that VictoryVR will have a chance to expose students around the world to the life of one of the great liberators of our time. It’s amazing that inside VR, I can sit where Mandela sat, and hold the items he held,” said Steve Grubbs, CEO of VictoryVR.

“With the launch of untethered and cost effective devices like the Oculus Go, it allows us to take the experience to everybody. It was an amazing to create the experience, and I hope that the users will be equally amazed and find themselves fully immersed in the virtual life of Madiba wherever you are” said Adi Stephan, head of learning for IQbusiness.

The experience, titled ‘Walking in Mandela’s Footsteps’ will initially be released for $1.99 so that it is affordable.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale will go to support the efforts at Liliesleaf to continue their mission of preserving the history of Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress  and his and the ANC’s life long struggle for freedom, justice and equality, which today still remain universal aspirations and desires.

by Megan Christopher

The adoption of virtual reality (VR) as a learning tool has the potential to cause a significant shift in current educational trends and is revolutionary in its potential to propel current methods of education – as we’ve said before here on Victory VR. VR learning will not be a passing fad or a niche reserved for a select few…it’s likely to be mainstreamed.

Many experts consider VR learning to be an efficient and captivating pathway for students to acquire hands-on skills, helping them thrive in their future careers. In Florida, for instance, St. Lucie’s Public Schools has been working to develop both VR and augmented reality (AR) in their Career and Technology classes. AR puts digital images on top of reality, while VR completely immerses users into digitally simulated settings. This is much more captivating to students than traditional teaching methods. For instance, instead of interpreting the instructions in a written manual, a mechanic in training can opt to dismantle and assemble machines in a safe and consequence-free digital environment. While this technology is unlikely to fully replace essential manuals, it can act as a supplement to improve learning transfer and efficiency, particularly when it comes to technical skills.

Apart from efficiency, VR-based educational tools are also providing opportunities for constructivist learning, providing students a more active role in their own learning process. According to several studies via Columbia University’s Teachers College, underperforming students have shown marked improvements after the educational use of virtual world-building simulations. Giving students the ability to create and develop interactive objects in virtual space results in:
– improvement in conceptual understanding,
– higher rates of information retention,
– and a greater flexibility in problem-solving skills.
All of these are real tools that will benefit them as they progress through their educational and professional careers.

Getting used to VR technology, on its own, provides highly practical benefits for the nation’s future workforce. This is because VR is already being utilized by several key industries in employee skills training. 

• The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration is already considering issuing a certification for VR forklift training because of its potential to reduce or eliminate workplace accidents.
• The military is using a modified version of a popular first-person shooter game to teach basic combat tactics to personnel.
• Several private and public institutions are already spending billions to develop VR-based medical training tools for med students and professionals alike.

In the world of software development and engineering, VR learning is not being used to train, but it’s giving engineers-in-training plenty of job opportunities after graduation. The increasing use of VR, both in education and work environments are creating a demand for professional software design. In fact, statistics via Maryville University reveal that 1.1 million computing-related job openings will be available to duly-trained software designers by 2024. This further illustrates the vast and exciting world of opportunities in VR, not to mention its wide array of educational applications and the diversity of users who stand to learn from it. It also means that we can expect much more from the world of VR in the years to come.

All of this points to the fact that VR has a near-limitless potential to prepare students for full-time employment. Conversely, it also reveals VR’s potential to prepare the workforce for today’s students. While old versions of VR proved to be clunky and ultimately inconsequential, today’s VR technology has evolved into a fun, engaging, and practical tool that can actually help our students to fare better in this infinitely-changing world.

Article prepared by Megan Christopher
Especially for VictoryVR.biz

A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Maryland points to virtual reality (VR) education being an improvement over tablet-based or traditional computer-based learning. The study found that people remember information better and have a higher recall when that info is presented in VR compared to a two-dimensional personal computer. The overall average recall performance of participants in VR was 8.8% higher compared to those using traditional displays. Even more, the median recall accuracy was almost 12% higher in VR (90.48% vs. 78.57% on the desktop).

Amitabh Varshney, dean of the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at UMD, stated that the “data is exciting in that it suggests that immersive environments could offer new pathways for improved outcomes in education and high-proficiency training”.

• Desktop participants used a mouse to change their viewpoint, while VR users turned their heads from side to side and looked up and down.

• The study was based on image location recall featuring images of well-known figures such as President Abraham Lincoln, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

• The goal was to identify each face by its physical location and its relation to surrounding structures and faces–and also the location of the image relative to the user’s own body.

Thanks to the Vive Libraries Program, seven learning units from VictoryVR’s High School Science Curriculum will be available in libraries across California and Nevada. The patrons of the 110 libraries throughout the two states will have access to virtual reality experiences that allow them to learn on the surface of Mars, experiment with Newton’s Laws, fly in the Wright Brothers’ plane, swim through a coral reef, and time travel with VictoryVR’s Clock of Life.

“We are thrilled that HTC is providing the chance for so many people to experience VR…and that they chose our units to be part of this flagship program.” said Steve Grubbs, CEO of VictoryVR. “The knowledge people can gain at their libraries is almost limitless; they are a place where people of all ages can let their imaginations run free – that is what makes VR such a great addition to a library’s resources.”

The Vive Libraries program will be providing each library with an HTC Vive headset as well as 35 different immersive learning apps, including the seven from VictoryVR.

VR is entering communities that traditionally have had social, economic, or other access barriers.  What better way to democratize access to VR for all than having it free at your local library?

 – Chris Chin, Executive Director, Education VR Content at HTC VIVE

The seven learning units HTC is highlighting with this program are:

• Adventures in Space
• Ancient Adventures
• Lunar Learning & Earthly Robots
• Newton’s House of Forces
• Oceans of Wonder
• Rad Robots
• Take Flight!

These seven learning units are part of the larger 24 unit High School Science Curriculum that VictoryVR has developed. All are aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards and cover: Biology, Chemistry, Earth & Space Science, Engineering, and Physics.

Courtesy of GearBrain

Visit Mars, swim with sea otters and trek to Mt. Everest’s Base Camp

Parents and teachers eager to weave some fun into learning, might consider using virtual reality (VR) apps to deliver some educational lessons through a method that feels like play. Big brands from Discovery to the BBC are building VR content for high end devices like Oculus Go to free Google Cardboard-like headsets. Here are seven apps, some that are free, that can get students started no matter their grade in school.

Victory VR: Adventures in Space

Victory VR is known for its science curriculum which is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. Its suite of science VR experiences includes 48 VR field trips and 96 VR stories that include comics to virtual journeys students can take while still at school or home. Their high school program, “Adventures in Space: Black Holes and Beyond” is now free for anyone with an Oculus Rift or Windows Mixed Reality Headset.

See the rest of the list here.

With the recently wrap-up of our High School Curriculum, VictoryVR now has 48 total science curriculum units available for your school. They are available in our individual computer licenses or our full site licenses for both the Middle School Curriculum and the High School Curriculum.

However, you can also purchase our units à la carte. By the time the 2018/19 school year rolls around, you will be able to purchase the units directly from the Oculus Store, the Microsoft Store, and Viveport.

Davenport, Iowa –  VictoryVR, a leader in the virtual reality education marketplace, will make its science curriculum available for the Oculus Go this summer.

“The introduction of the Oculus Go presents us with the opportunity of 1:1 education in the classroom” said Steve Grubbs, CEO of VictoryVR. “We will utilize the Oculus Go as an initial step while we continue to develop more robust, immersive, and interactive experiences for high-end systems like the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Windows Mixed Reality.”

VictoryVR currently offers science curriculum that is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for grades 5-8 as well as high school science subject areas. Their VR science suite is currently available for the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Windows Mixed Reality. The suite contains 48 science units with 240 total VR experiences including:

• 48 virtual field trips
• 48 virtual teacher demos with Wendy Martin, national runner-up teacher of the year
• 96 virtual reality stories: comics, animations, journeys and surround experiences
• 48 interactive edutainment experiences

VictoryVR has made their introductory high school unit – Adventures in Space: Black Holes and Beyond – free for users of the Oculus Rift.

Following Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement of the Oculus Go at Facebook’s FB Developers Conference, the headset is now on the shelves of Best Buy stores and can be bought through online retailers Amazon, Best Buy, or Newegg.

VictoryVR Announces 10,000+ Downloads of its Education Titles

For immediate release
April 17, 2018

With most of the virtual reality focus on gaming titles, the steady advance of education title downloads has gone largely unnoticed. In comparison to gaming titles, education is still getting off the ground, but the announcement from VictoryVR shows there is a growing market for learning in virtual reality.

“We are happy to announce that our education titles have been downloaded and installed more than 10,000 times between the Oculus and Windows Mixed Reality stores during the last two quarters,” announced Steve Grubbs, CEO of VictoryVR. “It probably will not come as a surprise for people to learn that ‘Adventures in Space’ far outpaced ‘Chemistry in the Wonder lab.”

VictoryVR recently completed its work on middle school and high school science in virtual reality. In Q1, three of the forty-eight titles had been uploaded and accounted for the full number of downloads.

“Over the next two months, we will upload more than thirty titles to the Oculus, Windows, Vive and Steam stores so that users across platforms will have the chance to learn biology, anatomy, and chemistry in an immersive, gamified way,” said Grubbs.

Oculus and Vive have led the American market in device purchases, with Microsoft making their entry into the marketplace in late 2017.  Oculus accounted for more than 8,000 installs while Windows made a strong showing in its inaugural quarter with 2,000 installs.

VictoryVR gamifies learning for middle school and high school science while keeping all units tied to the Next Gen Science Standards. The curriculum is led by national runner-up teacher of the year, Wendy Martin, and curriculum specialist, Rene Gadelha.

In addition to gamification, there are 48 virtual field trips around the world. Students learn engineering design standing on The Great Wall of China, earth formation in Iceland and the hierarchy of living organisms in the jungles of Mexico.

By Steve Grubbs

With prices for Virtual Reality headsets plummeting in 2018, the door is finally open for 1:1 classroom learning with real VR.

2018 VR Headsets Will Impact Classroom Learning

Let’s face it, Virtual Reality is really cool, and most educators agree that at one level or another it could be beneficial to student engagement or take us back to the days when field trips were easier and less of a legal hassle.

The reality is that up to this point, the cost of Virtual Reality headsets has been prohibitive for most classrooms. Unless one is purchasing a headset that requires a phone to be dropped into it, the cost for a headset has generally started at a minimum of $300. However, that is not the expensive part. The challenge has been that it also requires a computer with a souped-up graphics card. Most in the VR industry prefer a minimum of the Nvidia 1060, but Windows Mixed Reality will run on computers with chips as low as the Nvidia 960. Because of this, Chromebooks and the vast majority of computers already in schools won’t work due to the need for the accelerated graphics card.

Let me pause here. No one should interpret my comments as disparaging the quality of the experience with this graphics card. Frankly, it’s amazing. We created an astronomy unit that lets students pilot a spaceship to black holes, the Milky Way, and other locations. The experience is so immersive, jaded adults forget they are in a classroom. The reward for me is watching the sense of wonderment on the faces of students as they pilot their ship to the farthest reaches of the universe.

The challenge is that the cost of these computers—for all practical purposes—means that a school will purchase a handful rather than one for each student. Similar to how most of us got our hands on a computer at school in the ’80’s, ’90’s, or ’00’s, when there was a computer lab and we took turns. This worked well for 30 years and will continue to for high-end Virtual Reality. Even more, public libraries, tutoring companies, and Virtual Reality arcades will adopt this higher level experience. This is a model we believe in and will continue to support due to the rich learning experience it provides students.

However, many schools now start by thinking of a 1:1 experience due to the rapid advance of the Chromebook into classrooms. In 2016 and 2017, this was not a possibility in Virtual Reality. By the time classes begin in the fall of 2018, it will be. That is because Oculus, HTC, Google/Lenovo, and Pico have all released untethered, standalone headsets. For the most part, they will cost less than $500, with the Oculus Go starting at $200. Microsoft, which released its Windows Mixed Reality VR system in the fall of ’17 will more than likely be along with their own version sometime in the next 12 months (this is me guessing with no inside knowledge).

With all-in-one VR headsets now available for the price of an expensive meal at a nice restaurant, suddenly the game has changed for the consideration of 1:1 learning. My guess is that you are asking yourself what you give up with the lower cost headset because, of course, nothing in this world is free.

4 Main Differences Between Google Lenovo Headset And More Expensive Systems

Well, for the most part, few people have had their hands on one of these, but I did get to test the Google Lenovo headset at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas in January of this year. This is what I can tell you: overall, it is a good experience, even considering the comparison to the more expensive systems. I can identify 4 primary differences:

• The less expensive systems use the Qualcomm Snapdragon Chipset, rather than the more robust Nvidia chipset. This is a mobile phone chip and generally speaking, does a good enough job.

• Rather than using what is referred to in the industry as 6DOF (6 degrees of freedom), it has 3DOF (three degrees of freedom). The bottom line is that there is a lesser ability to move around in the virtual space but still, significant movement. This article you can read here explains it better.

• Untethered. Having Virtual Reality without a wire is a significant benefit in the world of VR. With the best VR, which is tethered by a cord to a high-end computer, when you lose yourself in the virtual experience the cord is always there to remind you that there is a real world. Maybe that’s good, but universally users look forward to the day when they won’t be burdened with a cord.

• Less storage space on the device to hold programs, videos, and information. When the cost is lower, RAM is one of the pieces that is sacrificed. It seems likely that many of these will be able to stream some limited content through a WiFi connection to make up for this. Oculus Go will be offering 2 versions, each with different amounts of RAM. Think of this in terms of your mobile phone. It’s always tempting to get the 16mb storage version and save money, but ultimately, you are deleting photos, videos, or apps, to make room for the new stuff. This is the challenge with the less expensive devices.

The reason 2018 will be the year of VR in the classroom is that the lower cost gives schools a gateway into Virtual Reality. Not only that, but the standards-based curriculum is now available as a supplemental learning tool, and companies are working hard to create great learning experiences. It’s almost certain that while some schools will outfit their STEM labs with high-end systems, others will outfit a classroom with 1:1 VR learning for about $5,000 for a classroom of 25 students.

What that means is pretty simple: students will learn engineering design while standing on The Great Wall of China, photosynthesis in the Redwood Forests of Northern California and earth formation in Iceland. It means that students will get to take apart the human head and understand why they need to protect theirs with helmets. It means chemistry will finally be fun…yes, I said fun!

In 1980, The Learning Company revolutionized learning with titles like Reader Rabbit at the dawn of the personal computer. We stand at a similar point in time. It’s hard to say how fast the adoption rate will be for Virtual Reality headsets, but with this new crop of headsets in 2018, it will certainly be a lot faster than before.

Steve Grubbs is the founder and CEO of VictoryVR, a virtual reality curriculum company focused on bringing standards-based learning to schools around the world. You may reach him at steve@victoryvr.biz.

Let’s face it, we need to try something different with American education. I’m sure the same can be said of many other countries, but I am intimately familiar with the education system in the United States and we could use some change.

One of those solutions is virtual reality. It’s not a gimmick and it’s not ‘like 3D TV.’ If you read on, I’ll tell you why 2018 is the year that VR education takes hold; but first let’s look briefly at what is not the problem.

I formerly served as the Chair of the Education Committee in the Iowa Legislature. That was a while ago, but the issues haven’t changed much. We passed the largest technology funding bill up to that point to try and solve problems. It got schools connected to the Internet, but that alone was not enough.

Despite what news headlines tell you, the amount of money spent on education is not the problem. Even after adjusting for inflation, more is spent on schools than ever. Some Republicans would like to blame unions and some Democrats would like to blame funding, but the reality is, students who want to learn, figure out how to succeed. This is something almost every teacher will agree with (and my father was a public school teacher for 30 years).

It’s likely there are many solutions but here are five reasons why virtual reality is the breakout solution in the 2018-19 school year:

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING IS SUPERIOR: A ‘study of studies’ by the American Association of Colleges and Universities came to the conclusion most of us already know: students who experience what they learn, develop deep critical thinking and an increased ability to engage in lifelong learning. Imagine if a chef tried to learn from reading a recipe book rather than experiencing what it means to cook. Yet most learning in schools comes from reading because it’s more affordable than traveling the world to learn first-hand. Yet virtual reality provides this opportunity. Students can learn about engineering design in a desk or by virtually standing on The Great Wall of China while hearing about the history of invasions and the need to develop a solution. It’s clear which one is more interesting, engaging and memorable.

VIRTUAL REALITY LEARNING LEADS TO DRAMATICALLY GREATER RETENTION: A 2016 test in China reinforced virtual reality’s effectiveness as a supplemental teaching aide and learning tool. In the study, the passing rate for the groups that engaged with the subject matter in VR were 90 percent while the pass rate for the non-VR group – studying the same material – was only 40 percent. Even more, In 2006, a study published in the Journal of Cases on Information Technology showed that students using virtual reality as a learning tool increased their mean test scores by 14 percent.That same year, a study by the Queensland University of Technology states that “using VR technology is…an effective method of delivering knowledge in the classroom” and that the “integration of VR technology not only enhances learning, but it also provides participants with real life experience that they can relate to.”

THE COST PER STUDENT IS PLUMMETING THIS YEAR: Companies like Oculus, Google, HTC and Pico have all announced standalone, untethered virtual reality headsets that do not require the insertion of a phone. Many of these devices will be sold for less than $500 each, and the Oculus Go has been announced at $200. These less expensive devices are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon chip which is generally used for mobile devices. Having tried the Google Lenovo headset, I can tell you these devices are robust considering their more limited graphics capabilities. They won’t have the same power and ability to create amazing advanced VR worlds like those using the Nvidia and Intel chips powered through PC’s, but they will provide a strong entry level device for 1 to 1 classroom use.

AMAZING CONTENT IS BEING ROLLED OUT BY STARTUPS SPECIFICALLY FOR USE IN CLASSROOMS:Companies like ours, VictoryVR, and Lifelique, have had the time to develop professional content for use in the classroom by teachers, tutoring companies and homeschool parents. The content goes beyond anything ever created. Lifelique has models that students can examine, manipulate, take a part and learn about in a very detailed way. It is the ultimate in experiential learning. Our content at VictoryVR combines virtual field trips, lessons by Wendy the Science Teacher, games, comic books, movies and 3D models to teach science-based lessons. Just ask yourself, would you rather learn about photosynthesis reading a paragraph in a book, or standing in a Redwood Forest looking up at the largest living organisms on earth.

THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE CHANGED DRIVING, HEALTH CARE, SHOPPING AND COMMUNICATIONS ARE READY TO DO THE SAME FOR EDUCATION: If you were fortunate enough to be at CES (the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas) this year, you saw that the biggest tech players in the world showed their commitment to virtual reality. Microsoft, Oculus/Facebook, Google, HTC, Acer, Intel and many others either rolled out new hardware, gave speeches or engaged in the advancement of virtual reality. Some specifically addressed education, while others rolled out affordable hardware. But the bottom line is pretty simple, these companies -along with their vast resources – are committed to bringing virtual reality to the masses. Last September, Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, committed to getting 1 billion people into virtual reality.

I get the challenges. I recall my father coming home bemoaning some new theory of teaching the school was rolling out. Sometimes new is bad, but sometimes new is good. The best evidence of that is not the studies, or the big companies or people like me saying it.

The best evidence is the sheer joy, wonderment and fascination that kids have when they get to put on a virtual reality headset and learn science. Yes, I said they love to learn science. I have given demos to kids all over the United States and around the world. Sure, teachers are fascinated, but students are carried away from their school and immersed into a world of learning that gives them a special joy.

How do we solve the problems we have in education? It really comes down to what we already know: when we love something, we engage with it. Love fishing? Cooking Fixing cars? Gaming? When kids love learning, they will learn. It’s that simple.

Steve Grubbs is the founder and CEO of VictoryVR, a virtual reality curriculum company focused on bringing standards-based learning to schools around the world. You may reach him at steve@victoryvr.biz.