#VR

vSafety: How online dangers will transpose into VR

Whatever technology students have been using in classrooms over the last several years, one thing that has remained integral within digital education is esafety. Unfortunately, we live in dangerous times and predators look to exploit the lack of awareness many children have about such dangers. The internet has become the largest city in the world and yet often our children wander its digital streets unaccompanied. There are many aspects to safety that educators and parents mu

VR for Impact: change the world through virtual reality

In January 2017, Vive announced it's VR for Impact initiative in support of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. For those that may be unfamiliar, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of 17 goals set forth by the UN to transform the world. They focus on crucial targets that humankind must strive towards in order to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure peace in all parts of the world. The goals are as such: Vive's VR for Impact program aims

Building multi-user AR/VR experiences with Eon Creator AVR

There are lots of platforms available that offer AR and VR experiences for the classroom. There are far fewer though that allow educators to actually design the learning experience by framing the content effectively. Nearpod lets you build presentations around 360s, Expeditions scaffolds their experiences with information and focal points whilst other apps will enrich their virtual content with facts and figures. Eon Creator AVR offers something quite different - the ability

Three ways to explore Ancient Egypt in VR

I've mentioned my love of Ancient Egypt as a school topic before and have shared this in VR form through one of my Nearpod Virtual Field Trip lessons (find it here). Like an archaeologist, I was scouring the App Store today looking for treasures when I cam across a real gem in the form of "Tutankhamen – Journey of Howard Carter" (aka King Tut VR 2) from Eon Reality. I'd actually tried the original King Tut VR experience early last year whilst working with Year 3 at JESS Prima

Innerspace: 5 ways to enter the human body in VR

One of my favourite films as a kid was Innerspace (showing my age here!) This comedy starring Dennis Quiad and Martin Short, released in 1987 and had the unique hook of a test pilot (Quad) being miniaturised and accidentally implanted into a bumbling clerk (Short.) For posterity, here's the original trailer: It's now 30 years later and though we aren't yet able to experience something like Innerspace for real, we can explore the insides of the human body using VR! In fact the

Why Sansar will be huge for VR in education

14 years ago, a company called Linden Labs created something unique: a virtual world that thousands of users across the globe could enter simultaneously to socialise. It was called Second Life - I'm sure many of you have heard of it. With close to a million active users, Second Life has been one of the most consistently popular digital spaces for over a decade and was even adopted by educational institutions as a platform for learning. (read more about that here) Second Life

Mindmapping in VR with Noda

I've always been a big fan of mindmapping in the classroom. Mindmapping and other kinds of data visualisations can really help students grasp a concept, order their thoughts, sequence ideas and so much more. Over the years my experiences with mindmapping has encompassed different forms and media - from large sugar paper sheets to apps like Popplet and Simple Minds on the iPad. Once I even had staff create a giant mindmap across a huge Idea Paint wall: So when I heard that a

Expeditions across the Curriculum

Upon its launch, Google Expeditions quickly became one of the leading applications for easily implementing VR in classrooms via iOS and Android devices. About a year later and Expeditions is still one of the apps I recommend to educators looking to explore VR in the classroom for the first time. Why? It’s free It’s very easy to pick up and master It allows the educator to guide the focal point of the students enjoying the experience Each session comes with an on-screen script

Getting to grips with HistoryView VR

HistoryView VR is one of my favourite new platforms for grassroots level VR in the classroom. It offers an ever growing set of 360 tours of historical sites and museums, produced using the stunning Matterport camera to map the spaces in 3D. It's one of those tools that ticks the three key boxes educators are often looking for: 1. It's free. ( Donations are welcomed) 2. It works on any device (a VR headset is optional but improves the experience.) 3. It's easy enough for any e

Digital Storytelling in VR using Mindshow

I am fortunate enough to be a part of the alpha testing group for a new VR app called Mindshow. Really fortunate - because Mindshow is one of the most exciting VR apps I've used so far on the Vive. Mindshow allows users to create scenes from a growing range of detailed worlds, engaging characters and interactive props. You start by selecting a scene and the choices here include everything from an alien planet to the Wild West to more down-to-earth locations like a news room

Build Your Own Virtual Reality Maze

About six months ago I managed to get hold of something really unique - Maze by Seedling. It's unlike anything else I've seen before or since in the way that it integrates VR with physical building and design (hello STEM fans!) The kit comprises of a wooden frame for a traditional marble maze. These are built by sticking small wooden "walls" to the cardboard floor. Holes can then be poked in the floor to make the maze more difficult. Have you ever built a maze? It's surprisin

#CPDinVR - Behind the Scenes

There's been a lot of interest in the CPD sessions that I have been hosting inside the Engage platform and educators have been asking me how it works. The team at Immersive VR Education have created a phenomenal platform with Engage and it allows me to do some quite astounding things when I'm inside it hosting sessions. I was recently chatting to Corey Engstrom from Teach in VR about it and offered to produce a little screencast from the host's perspective. You can find the

A Guide to the Lifeliqe VR Museum

We are currently running a pilot of Lifeliqe in JESS Dubai and whilst the app version is being used on iPads and Surface Pro devices by students in the Secondary Science department, I was given access to the VR app to trial with my Vive. The Lifeliqe VR Museum app offers the same broad range of 3D models available in AR via the regular app but you can interact with them in full VR. It has some other treats too including some immersive experiences that utiilise the models in d

The Titanic VR Experience

When I wandered into the Year 5 area of one of the primary schools I work in, shortly after Spring Break, I was stunned to spot an amazing Titanic display on the wall. It turned out that they had adopted a new topic... and I had just the thing to enrich it: Titanic VR. I coordinated a series of sessions with the teachers where all 66 students came to me (in small groups) to experience this amazing VR app on the HTC Vive. Students stood on a fishing boat as the Titanic passed

Edorble VR offers social learning experiences

I came across Edorble last May and tested a beta desktop build. Edorble offers virtual worlds where educators and students can gather for lessons, discussions or meetings. It has a lot of cool features including voice chat that is activated when you get close to another user and the ability to import URLs for playback on built in screens. The auditorium space offers a particularly huge screen - Here's a short overview of the platform which shows it in action: It was pretty im

The VirtualiTee - AR you can wear

In the lead up to our VR presentation at BETT Middle East in April, my colleague and co-presenter Ronan MacNicholl managed to get his hands on a couple of the VirtualiTee shirts from Curiscope. I have to admit -when I first heard about this product (during their Kickstarter campaign) I was skeptical. It seemed gimmicky to me and I wasn't sure how well it would work or if it would be worth the investment. Turns out - yes, it works incredibly well and is definitely worth the i

The Psychology of walking The Plank

Pretty much my go to app whenever I am showing someone the Vive for the first time is Richie's Plank Experience. It's just too much fun to watch how different people react to being immersed in a world where you ride an elevator to the top floor of a tower block only to have the door open and a sole plank set out before you. I have found that around 50% of the adults that I have shown this too actually can't do it! Those that do often exhibit fear, lack of balance and anxiety.

Tilt Brush in the hands of an Art student

When I first saw an advert for Google Tilt Brush in May 2016, I knew I would have to get an HTC Vive. It blew my mind and for the first time in a long time gave me the feeling of seeing something genuinely groundbreaking in action. Here is that promo clip- When I got my Vive in January 2017, Tilt Brush was the first app I downloaded. The second I painted my first line of light, my breath held and I was in absolute awe. This really was a new level in VR - true creation INSIDE

Nearpod Virtual Field Trips

In late 2015 Nearpod integrated VR filed trips into their amazing presentation platform. As one of the original Nearpod Pionears, I was invited to contribute content to the launch of this new venture. Here are some details of about the three lessons I published for them: The Burj Khalifa The tallest building in the world and the one that Tom Cruise loves to dangle from. The Burj Khalifa was a perfect subject for my first virtual trip. I did consider several other locations he

iTunes U course - a Virtual World Tour

In November 2014 I got my first VR headset from a company in the USA. It was a foam build variation on the Google Cardboard and I was immediately in awe of the possibilities it offered. It was a great little headset (even though I had to wedge in my iPhone 4 with some blutack) and I still have it in my office today. A couple of months after this I integrated it into the classroom for the first time. Working with some Year 2 classes on a World Explorers project, I harnessed Th