£1million funding pledge for virtual reality classroom project

It’s hoped Scotland’s students could experience travelling inside the human body or going back in time with the launch of a project to create virtual reality classrooms.

Academics at the University of Glasgow, in collaboration with digital reality experts Sublime, have been awarded funding for their £1 million Project Mobius to build a higher education VR platform.

The three-year pilot will use the latest technology to create teaching apps or lectures which will be housed on the platform.

The university will initially build two high-tech VR labs or classrooms each with the capacity for 15 students at a time.

The aim is to translate the technology into other languages and have students and academics around the world benefit from the project, the team said.

Professor Fiona Macpherson, principal investigator and director of the centre for the study of perceptual experience, said: “We believe that Project Mobius has huge and positive implications for educators and students.

“By harnessing the positives of immersive technology we will create a teaching experience that helps students gain insights and knowledge not currently open to them without VR.”

Dr Neil McDonnell, research fellow in virtual reality and augmented reality, said: “This technology will allow students to travel inside a human body or take a visit to an important geological area from their lecture.

“The more students use the VR classrooms, the more data is generated on how students grasp and understand what they are being taught through this medium. This allows us to respond, evolve our approach and build exceptional teaching resources.”

The funding award was made by Innovate UK.

Fergus Bruce, project director for Glasgow-based Sublime, said: “Sublime are thrilled to be the recipients of such a significant innovation grant and to be collaborating with one of the world's leading universities, right on our doorstep."