Students may soon have access to tactile as well as visual VR 
Virtual Reality (VR) use continues to grow in US schools, and a new product from HapticWave could give students the ability to “touch and feel” virtual objects; hands are placed on a circular metal plate that will send out specifically-calibrated vibrations to mimic the object being viewed. Companies such as Oculus, Curiscope, Nearpod and Schell Games are all working on a range of devices to enable students to use VR including: VR starter kits, exploring inside the human body in 3D, manipulating virtual objects, carrying out virtual chemistry experiments and pooling over VR lessons for teachers to access which can be shared with pupils via smartphones. 

Dive Brief:

Google Cardboard offers an affordable way for schools to dip their toes into the new world of virtual reality for classrooms, but a range of new apps provide additional opportunities that could become mainstays in the years to come.

EdTech: Focus on K-12 reports the Virtuali-Tee T-shirt from Curiscope gives students a 3D look at internal human anatomy simply by holding a smartphone or tablet up to a student wearing a special T-shirt, and tapping an area lets students explore even deeper.

HapticWave technology, based on work by Oculus and Facebook, could soon give students a chance to feel objects they see in virtual reality, SuperChem VR by Schell Games is a forthcoming suite of virtual chemistry experiments, and Nearpod is gathering more than 100 virtual reality lessons that are ready-to-teach and available with any smartphone.

Dive Insight:

Virtual reality has become one of the top educational technology trends in U.S. classrooms. The 2016 Horizon Report, produced by the New Media Consortium and the Consortium for School Networking, highlighted virtual reality as a development that would likely foster real changes in education within the next two to three years.

Augmented reality provides a less expensive alternative that can be engaging for students, too. Teachers have been especially creative about incorporating augmented reality in their classrooms since the Pokémon Go game was released this summer. Both strategies give students a chance to go beyond their static environment, seeing things in new ways and going places they might otherwise never be able to go.