Receives 25 Meta Quest 2 headsets free plus initial training and classrooms as part of start-up Victory XR Corporation’s effort to obtain clients for its “Metaversity”
In a February 1, 2023 news release, Yavapai Community College said that it received 25 Meta Quest 2 headsets to be used by students and instructors. The Community College will also have ten branded classrooms at VictoryXR’s Virtual Academy and faculty and staff will receive training from VictoryXR. You may read the entire press release by clicking here.
Although not mentioned in the press release, the free headsets are mostly likely a part of the marketing strategy of VictoryXR to obtain customers as it continues to experiment and develop its platform for delivering educational training via the use of the Quest headsets.
College President Dr. Lisa Rhine appears to be a very strong advocate of virtual reality teaching and learning. She is quoted in the February 1 Community College press release as follows: “Yavapai College is poised to bring the future of education to our students and communities. Virtual and augmented reality is going to change almost every industry, including education, and YC plans to be on the cutting edge of that change.”
She added: “I participated in classes at the VictoryXR Virtual Academy, and it is an incredible way to teach and learn. We must change the mindset that technology will eliminate the need for people to work or learn. It is not, but it will change how people work and learn.”
A January story from Northern Illinois University provides some insight into how it is being used. NIU is one of 10 pilot institutions as of January 2023 working with VictoryXR. Jason Rhode, Associate Vice Provost for Teaching, Learning, and Digital Education, explained that when using the headset he found “[i]t’s not the full campus — there’s still lots of open cyberspace. But, it includes a virtual version of Altgeld Hall, among a few other campus buildings. You can even go inside of the student center. The technology isn’t perfect. It’s not photorealistic — it looks more like high-end Nintendo Wii graphics. And, as I learned myself, a shaky WiFi connection or network error can boot you from a session.” NIU intends to continue developing classes using the technology. (Click here for full NIU story.)
Yavapai anticipates having its first virtual reality classes in the fall 2023.
Note a recent posting on the internet claimed the following: VictoryXR was founded in 2016 by Steve Grubbs. The company began in Davenport, Iowa and has since opened a second office in Austin, Texas. The company began with three employees, and has since grown to over 25.
If you are interested in learning a little bit more about virtual reality education, you can click on some of the sites below for more information.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4bDOgjLIks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qtTbCOrlaE
https://www.victoryxr.com/healthcare-health-sciences/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTdOU0vcEyk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF6BhJDeWtg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocqg5TDOm-c
HOME SCHOOL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLjU7Z54iGo