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

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

My six year old daughter has recently decided she's going to be a fashion designer when she grows up. She means business too - from drawing sketches of dresses to using her junior sewing machine to sew pieces of material together to make herself a skirt (which she then wanted to go to the shops in!) I originally showed her the Quiver Fashion app last year and she enjoyed testing it out but with her budding interest in fashion, it seemed like a great time to remind her of the

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

When ARKit was announced at Apple's WWDC event, I must admit my first thought was "but I've been using AR on my iPad for the last five years." It wasn't until I watched the full video from the event and dug into the logistics a little more that I came to realise that this really could be the next evolution of augmented reality. Apps like Snapchat, MSQRD and Pokemon Go have brought the basics of AR to the masses. People get AR now and understand the power and potential of it.

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

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

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

Having been a fan of all this augmented reality for some years now, the AR flashcards from Octagon Studio caught my eye late last year. At the time, I couldn’t source any (cheaply) in Dubai but after seeming them for myself at BETT Middle East (courtesy of Denaster) I managed to get my hands on three sets of these awesome cards. These flashcards do what all AR does, in that you scan them with the relevant app and digital content comes to life from them on the screen, and t

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

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