Classroom and Business Applications of Virtual Reality

The opening line to the article Virtual Reality in the Classroom quotes XQ Super Classrooms and suggests that while the world has gone from simple to simply amazing, classrooms have been ‘frozen in time.’  As the daughter of an Idaho teacher, and parent of two school aged children, I would disagree.  Although resources might limit some districts from supplying the type of classrooms they would dream about, most have made valiant efforts to ‘keep up with the times.’

How many of us had a ‘whiteboard’ you could touch and have it take you to the internet … wait did we have internet back then either?

Virtual reality might seem like a ‘new’ technology.  But it has been around for decades.  How many people remember ‘virtual simulators’ used to train pilots? But the true advancement has gone from taking a technology that was fairly boring and 2 dimensional, to quite literally allowing the user to ‘feel’ like the are part of the scene they are seeing. One of the hottest Christmas presents this year, but one that has many more applications than just gaming and relaxing, is virtual reality, or more specifically, virtual reality headsets or viewers.

But what might that popular Christmas gift be used for outside of personal use? What applications might virtual reality have in the classroom and in business?

It’s being used to train teachers. (Virtual Classrooms: A Vision of the Future of Teacher Training)

Students can not only see historical and geographical sites they are studying, but be immersed in the experience.

Imagine an art class going on a field trip, not to the local museum, but the Louvre Museum

Imagine the possibilities for homeschoolers and students in remote areas!

In business the possibilities are just as exciting.  As mentioned in “6 amazing uses for virtual reality in business” how about training employees by recording complex trainings that allow new employees to be part of the office without walking them around and showing them where everything is.  What about previewing new office locations, job sites, construction projects from miles away. Can you image how this could change real estate for both the seller and buyer?

Imagine the possibilities as more and more applications become available for VR devices.  Many are already being developed. Let West Valley Technical Services help you find the products and services to make virtual reality a true reality in your office.