Three Ways VR And Gaming Are Driving Modern Edutainment

VR & AR lead the way for a new generation of immersive education

Merge VR

Over the past year there have been varying levels of learning options for students ranging from in-person learning, hybrid learning or a mix of in-person and remote online learning and remote distance learning, online from the home. For kids who are spending the majority of their time at home, VR edutainment gets kids learning, exploring and gamifying their learning experience, fun first of course.

By the Numbers

Edutainment experiences or blending edutainment and gaming have been around for a while and continue to evolve as gaming increases. With the uncertainty of in-person schooling, hybrid models and distance learning modes combined with the continued growth across gaming and VR we can expect to see more ways to get kids engaged with edutainment fun. While some experiences might skew educational — those that blend entertainment and elements of gaming will win.

• The World Economic Forum listed problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity as the top three skills that children need for success.
• Newzoo states, the games market will reach $200.8 billion by the end of 2023.
• Juniper Research has found that consumer virtual reality content will bring over $7 billion in revenue in 2025, an increase of over 160% on the $3 billion it is expected to generate in 2020.
• According to Common Sense Media, “overall, 62 percent of parents believe that VR will provide educational experiences for their children, and that number is higher (84 percent) among parents whose children are already using VR.”
• Statista is predicting that by 2025, VR in education is to be a $700 million industry.

With all of this growth we wanted to showcase a few ways companies are edutaining kids and classrooms.

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Kooring VR Coding Adventure — Block Based Coding + Gaming

Kooring VR Coding Adventure takes students of all ages on an immersive block-based building coding adventure combined with deductive logic puzzle challenges.

Created by Koren XR edutainment startup Vrani, the adventure starts with our star character, Kooring an alien boy alongside his curious and quirky friends travel from planet to planet on a fun storytelling adventure to rescue his dear friend Tooring, “in the name of justice and bring back the laughter to the “Wonderland” of mysterious adventurous worlds.”

Through the power of storytelling players learn the basics of coding, creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and confidence.

Kooring is not only a captivating creative character he is also a supportive learning coach providing self-directed learning through the process building a sense of confidence and persistence throughout the gameplay.

New concepts are introduced throughout the game, the more players progress,the more challenging the experience. According to Vrani, “The best way to learn problem solving, having fun!” Kooring VR Coding Adventure is now available on Steam and Viveport.

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Merge — Kid-Friendly Ecosystem

Merge is helping shape the future of play designing an immersive ecosystem of products and experiences that are affordable and accessible that get kids engaged, learning and gaming in new ways both at home and in the classroom.

The Merge AR/VR Headset has a flexible, durable design that has a marshmallow-like comfort made of rugged foam to fit almost any face and is easy to clean.

Kids, parents and teachers alike can discover VR educational and entertainment experiences on the Merge Miniverse, a hand-picked collection of engaging VR games and virtual field trips from brands like SpaceX, BBC, NASA National Geographic, Discovery VR and more.

The Merge Cube is an award-winning STEM tool that allows kids to manipulate, inspect and hold virtual 3D objects. The Merge Cube works with 3D creation software like Paint 3D and Tinkercad. Now you can preview, play and iterate on designs before hitting print.

The Merge AR/VR Headset and Merge Cube are compatible with most modern iOS and Android smartphones.

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Spree Interactive — Exploring new worlds

Location-based entertainment and family entertainment centers may have limited openings depending on the market, location-based entertainment provider SPREE Interactive recently launched ‘Mission To Mars’ Is A Multiplayer Free-Roam VR Experience. In the game, players are tasked with working together to complete a series of challenges in an effort to survive the unforgiving surface of Mars. Each game begins with groups of up to 10 players being broken up into smaller teams and assigned specific roles for a 15 minute VR gameplay.

‘Mission To Mars’ was developed in partnership with European mass media broadcaster ProSibenSat.1, VFX studio Pixomondo, and the Forum Schwanthalerhohe mall in Munich, Germany.

We kind of wished it was available everywhere because it blends teamwork, problem solving, interplanetary adventure with science.

Looking ahead

While we are unsure what the future holds for in-person, hybrid and distanced learning we can expect to see more brands merging and mixing story play, learning and gamified experiences to keep kids learning and exploring in new ways to have the ultimate edutainment experience.

This article was originally published on VRScout January 2021.