Revolutionising education with VR and intelligent platforms
It’s undeniable, we are moving towards a new era in media consumption. No longer content with traditional methods, consumers are driving demand for more. Virtual reality is central to this shift as consumers begin to shun the traditional in favour of the new – multi-sensory, engaging and immersive experiences.
VR is now breaking through, and the numbers are finally on its side to prove it. Between 2018 and 2022, it is estimated that demand for standalone VR devices will grow 16 times, culminating in a $209 billion market worth. With over 14 million AR and VR devices expected to be sold in 2019 alone, the immersive experiences XR can offer are finally starting to live up to their early promises.
The rate of adoption has been a slow process but going beyond reality is now becoming feasible for more and more people. In the years gone by, the barrier of entry was set significantly higher than it is today. VR headsets, for example, now only cost a fraction of the price that earlier models demanded, meaning more people can now take home this technology and, perhaps more importantly, it’s becoming affordable in the classroom.
The recent growth of VR is driven predominantly by gaming, with revenue for games in the VR space tipped to break $15 billion this year. But, while gaming is undeniably the backbone of the surging popularity of mixed reality, some companies have been eager to explore its applicability and potential in education, and they’re finding that the demand for immersive education is just as strong as it is for immersive gaming.
Founded in 2013, Dev Clever has since developed a raft of innovative, intuitive and immersive experiences for educators, students and businesses. The British based company develops state-of-the-art platforms and experiences for businesses, gamifying workplace learning or offering AR and VR solutions for marketing, but their sights are also fixed firmly on the education sector.
Revolutionising education with VR and intelligent platforms
In 2014, Dev Clever pioneered the first-ever fully-interactive prospectus, which offered a way for students to receive course information for further education.
Chris Jeffries, CEO & Founder of Dev Clever, said that the roll-out of CleverFLIP was when the company “saw the opportunity to develop something really intuitive for a young person, to help them understand what aspirations they could have, rather than just looking at what courses are available.”
Instead of simply sending out a printed prospectus containing an overwhelming amount of information, Dev Clever’s interactive prospectus can be tailored specifically to suit the interests of the students and distributed through various social media channels, allowing educational institutions to increase their uptake in learners but, more importantly, place learners in the education stream that best suits them.
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“For four and half years we’ve been developing in collaboration with colleges, employers, apprenticeship providers, schools and students, a revolutionary platform which helps young people who don’t necessarily know what they want to be in the future,” Jeffries says.
If a young person is considering working with cars, for instance, Dev Clever’s Launchpad can pinpoint particular courses of interest in the sector, providing information on career routes and course content.
Launchpad “helps [students] go on a journey of discovery which identifies what their personality type is and it highlights industries where their personality type flourishes.”
Linking prospective students and their interests, Dev Clever’s careers engine Launchpad can help them explore the areas in which they’d like to work. Whether they want to work in technology, travelling or the outdoors, the intelligent platform shows the young person the sectors relevant to their interests, aligning with their personality type, which is revealed through a series of questions.
Not content with stopping there, Dev Clever then integrated the LaunchPad careers engine into a virtual reality product called VICTAR (Virtual Interactive Careers Training and Apprenticeship Robot).
VICTAR breaks down the sometimes off-putting authority of traditional careers guidance by using virtual reality. Backed by credible governing bodies like the Career Development Institute and World Skills, Dev Clever are now embarking on a full-scale roll out in partnership with Lenovo, the largest supplier of IT educational equipment in the world.
When a young person puts the VR headset on they enter a space, in which VICTAR presents itself and begins the program. The user can then embark on a personality test.
“All of our personality types are matched to animals, a little bit like a star sign,” VICTAR says.
The questions eventually result in a personality type being determined. for instance, a Tawny owl carries the motto “I’ll analyse it to understand it”. VICTAR then aligns the strengths and weaknesses of that personality type to relevant sectors, like science, surveying or electronics.
Identifying one’s personality type and the sectors of best fit can only go so far, however. The true brilliance of VICTAR is that it doesn’t end there. It’s not unusual for young people to be mired in uncertainty when it comes to their future. They might have a sense of what they want, but the roadmap to achieving that is often uncertain. From finding the best location in which to study a chosen field to the precise course information, and application to interview, VICTAR, along with the LaunchPad careers engine, lays a track down for the young person to follow.
Dev Clever’s suite of platforms culminates in what is the world’s first virtual reality careers guidance experience. Melding this range of intelligent platforms, Dev Clever offers a unique, immersive experience which young people can utilise to ensure that they’re embarking on the right track to fulfil their aspirations.
Visit devclever.co.uk for more information.
