Four VR/AR tech tools for education

Virtual reality has long been a favorite topic of science fiction writers and has always seemed like a tool used only in some far-off distant future. Major technology advances over the last couple of decades has enabled virtual reality tools to become accessible to students and put the next evolution directly in their hands. Since virtual reality and augmented reality are relatively new tools to the general public, the technology is still in its infancy but will grow exponentially within our lifetime. The uses of VR and AR will certainly be used for entertainment purposes like eSports, but they will also be critical tools for current and future professions. Medical students will be able to get more hands training performing surgeries when they have unlimited virtual cadavers to practice on, an aspiring pilot will be able to hop inside a virtual cockpit and fly above her city to get more experience, and an architect presenting to his client will be able to take his two dimensional blueprint and bring it to life in augmented reality.

STEMfinity has put together this selection of recommended VR and AR tools to help educators reduce the time that they spend researching new resources, and to enable them solve all of their STEM needs in a single location. If you are interested in learning more about any of these VR/AR brands or have questions about how these resources will fit in your learning environment, please contact us for a STEM consultation and let our in-house experts help you find the right fit for your budget and students.

 

HADO USA

  • Featured Resources:
  • About This Brand: HADO combines traditional sports with AR (augmented reality) and is the world’s first physical eSport. HADO is a non-contact sport that can be played indoors by up to 6 players at a time (3 players per team) and is designed to cross the boundary between sports and gaming to encourage fitness in an exciting new way. STEMfinity offers a HADO Academy Bundle that has everything needed to successfully play the game including instructional guides, setup and tech support, operating license, hardware, and all related arena equipment. HADO is perfect for students in grades 3-12 in learning environments like physical education classes, afterschool enrichment programs, summer camps, and eSports clubs.

 

ClassVR

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  • Educational Standards: NGSS
  • About This Brand: ClassVR is the most awarded virtual reality and augmented reality solution for classrooms and comes with everything needed to make VR a reality at your school. ClassVR enables students to take virtual field trips and explore historical landmarks, interact with complex scientific concepts, and so much more using their open portal that allows students and educators to upload and share their own content. The ClassVR portal is a huge library of standards-aligned content and resources including structured lesson plans, engaging videos, 3D models, and other explorable VR content. The ClassVR Hand Controllers are a worthwhile add-on tool that enables an extra level of immersion using a joystick to move throughout virtual and augmented environments but are not required. The ClassVR Premium Headset is available in sets of 8 and 30. The ClassVR Premium Set of 8 comes with a heavy duty portable storage case that has internal foam padding to keep your headsets secure and allow students to easily and safely move them from one classroom to another. The ClassVR Premium Set of 30 comes with a new all-steel wheeled cart that provides both safety and an extra layer of security for a classroom set.

 

Vive / HTC

  • Featured Resources:
  • Educational Standards: NGSS, TEKS, CPALMS
  • About This Brand: VIVE offers several VR headsets meant for their own purpose, but their VIVE FOCUS PLUS for Education was specifically designed for the classroom and comes pre-loaded with 30 science-based secondary education experiences and standards-aligned lesson plans. These lesson plans are flexible and customizable, and you can add new content at any time. The popular education experiences include a rainforest field trip, piloting a Mars rover, and a virtual frog dissection. The pre-loaded content has no annual recurring subscription fees and allows educators to easily incorporate immersive virtual learning experiences coupled with NGSS, TEKS, and CPALMS certified content to ensure students are engaged and having fun.

 

RobotLAB

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  • About This Brand: RobotLAB offers turnkey solutions for educators looking to integrate virtual reality into their classroom or learning environment. RobotLAB’s brings the world to your classroom using their Expeditions 2.0 platform that is specifically tailored for teachers and includes content created through a unique partnership with Encyclopedia Britannica to provide high-quality educational content along with student handouts and educator resources. Over 700 virtual field trips are available and annotated with educational details, points of interest, and questions that make the expeditions easier to integrate into existing curriculum. Each of RobotLAB’s virtual reality kits are available in packages of 10, 20, or 30 devices, and will include a transport case or charging cart depending on the quantity you order. The biggest difference between the RobotLAB Standard Kits and the Advanced Kits is that the Advanced Kits have over 950 virtual reality field trips, and their headsets are not tethered by a cable allowing greater mobility.
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