Virtual and Augmented Realities Landscape in Indian Higher Education

Virtual reality is gradually changing the whole learning experience of the education world and India is not far behind in reaping its benefits. Today, the technology of Virtual Reality is transforming the entire pedagogy in schools and colleges. Through its applications, students are joyfully immersing in 3D and 7D technologies to gain a more engaging learning experience.

Global statistics for the emerging landscape of VR and AR suggest that the VR/AR market is expected to cross $100 billion in the next few years. In India, this emerging market of AR/VR technology is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 70 percent over the next few years despite the economic slowdown.

Although the Indian market is still at an early stage in the adoption of AR/VR technologies, however many start-ups in the country are presently working on finding solutions for the Indian higher education sector using VR technology. Some of the State governments in the country are also pro-actively helping AR/VR start-ups by providing mentoring support for incubation. Lots of impressive work by start-ups in the area of content development for STEM education (science, technology, engineering, maths) is being already done.

Academic experts predict that the demand for Virtual Reality solutions to make education more engaging will increase with time. The role of AR/VR in the education system, in that case, will redefine India’s teaching-learning space. This will require edu-tech companies to develop a broad range of applications in the field of AR/VR that can augment the education sector.

Landscape and Scope of Virtual and Augmented Reality and How it is going to Impact Education in India

VR and AR can make the teaching-learning process more engaging and interactive by increasing participation and involvement. VR can be used to teach lots of things, from history to human anatomy. With the help of virtual tours students, can completely immerse themselves in the subjects. As such, getting them interested in the learning process can be more effective.

Virtual or Augmented Reality is the application of technology to digitally create interactive real-world like environments and visualizations using sounds, images, text, and other informational input. In more simple terms, Virtual Reality is a technology that creates a three-dimensional, computer-generated environment of the world. Remember the popular mobile game ‘Pokémon Go’ that became an instant hit. The game ultimately became so popular that it ended up making more than two billion USD according to Forbes.

VR applications in education range from engineering to medical science to defense. So, instead of understanding typical subjects in a classroom setting, students can be taken to a virtual world to understand concepts in a better way.

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AI, VR, AR are the realities of the future education system. Classroom education is going to be drastically transformed with the advancement in these new areas of technology. Technology is already making headways that many students are benefitting from. It is one of the biggest things in recent times that is impacting the Indian education system presently with the inclusion of digital transformation in the K-12 sector as well as higher education.

In the future, the education sector in the country will experience more application of VR and AR to develop personalized learning techniques. Experiential learning will take place in a much more effective way when these tools will help in simplifying the teaching of typical concepts through gamification techniques.

Learning through simulation exercise using Virtual labs will make pedagogy more engaging. The use of Virtual Reality systems also helps to overcome challenges of physical infrastructure in teaching subjects that are application-oriented and based on experiments. At the same time, it supports teachers to deliver sessions that are activity-based and were earlier difficult to simulate in a real-world environment.

VR is therefore poised to become a lot more widespread in its usage and impact in the future. The education community in the country will witness more robust tools for improved prototyping of real-world experiences.

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) can be used to making the course curriculum more informative and engaging. Technology has completely changed the inner wiring and the mental mode of millennials. Modern-day learners are less interested in reading books. They would rather love to watch videos and visual presentations of what is being taught in the classroom through those books. They would be more interested to seek knowledge through more interactive learning experiences. And technology is a major factor that has brought this paradigm shift in education delivery.
With the growing influence of digital mediums, Indian educators have realized the critical role of technology in transforming the quality of education and making it more accessible and affordable.

Benefits of Using Virtual Reality in Modernising Education for Making it Contemporary and Relevant

Cognitive technologies can help students understand difficult theoretical concepts more easily. It can prepare them for professional careers through effective simulation techniques that keep their interests in learning alive.

With the help of innovative edu-tech companies, Institutions of higher education can start supporting the development of AR and VR tools for use in numerous disciplines. Experiments should be done to teach concepts that go beyond verbal explanations and need three-dimensional visual interventions to understand.

Virtual Reality tools can be fun to recreate experiences that could otherwise only be experienced in space and time. The Indian Education sector is poised at an interesting juncture. Achieving learning outcomes more effectively using technology is rewriting its whole narrative. Never has been the need to redesign and adapt itself to a variety of emerging media was so strongly and categorically spelled out.

What Does the Future Look Like?

Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) is an emerging area that has huge potential to impact education in a positive way. It can create deep learning experiences that enable learning by doing which ultimately enhances learning effectiveness.

Progressing further AI-driven personal tutors who can keep track of your learning preferences and behavior, monitor progress, and advice solutions to create customized learning modules may not be a distant reality. Many innovative start-ups as well as the big tech giants like Google, IBM, Apple, etc, are working on disruptive innovations in education.

Technology is going to massively revolutionize education in the fourth industrial revolution. It is already impacted every aspect of our lives. And education is an integral part of that radical change. In a nutshell, the future holds tremendous promises for the sectors that are ready to accept change and adopt the technology. The Indian education domain will be an exciting and interesting area to watch out for in the next decade. Let’s be ready and prepared, to witness this transformation that is bound to make profound changes in the country’s education environment