New Research Suggests VR Offers Exciting New Ways to Unlock Student Potential

BEIJING, Dec. 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A research report recently conducted using the Vive VR platform has found that VR-based education delivers rewarding outcomes in the classroom, offering substantial evidence to encourage the development of the technology in the academic field. "The Impact of VR on Academic Performance", published in November 2016, was jointly carried out by Beijing Bluefocus E-Commerce Co., Ltd. and Beijing iBokan Wisdom Mobile Internet Technology Training at select high schools in Beijing. Not only was VR-based education shown to improve student test scores and knowledge retention compared with traditional classroom education, but the study also provided clear confirmation that children who had tested below average in the pre-study test were able to outperform the test's top scorers after having undergone a VR-enhanced curriculum.

"Every child has the potential to be a genius, but today's teaching models have failed to realize this truth. VR unleashes children's potential by letting them learn new concepts using a multi-modal model, thereby enabling the brain to grasp new concepts in the way that's most natural to them. VR can be the best tool and platform to improve educational results, and I hope these amazing findings will encourage more academic institutions to deploy VR-based teaching methods broadly," said Alvin W. Graylin, China Regional President of Vive, HTC.

The research was performed with a pool of 40 high school students evenly distributed to account for gender and prior academic achievement (above average, average, and below average) among the VR group and the traditional education group (the control group). The classes were taught by the same teacher to control for all factors, and the VR portion of the study was conducted using HTC Vive devices and Universe Sandbox content. The study uncovered strong evidence of improved performance when VR-based teaching methods were used to supplement the classroom experience. VR content was shown to significantly boost student learning and test scores, with those who had participated in the VR-based curriculum achieving average scores of 93% on the final test versus the average 73% achieved by those who had not.

The VR-enhanced curriculum was also found to improve learning comprehension and retention. A test was given two weeks after the end of the curriculum to measure knowledge retention, and the results clearly demonstrated that students in the VR group outperformed those in the traditional learning group. Students in the VR group scored an average of 90% while those in the traditional education group scored an average of only 68%. Students in the VR group saw their scores decrease by far fewer percentage points than those in the control group, signaling that VR-based education allowed students to achieve higher learning retention.

Furthermore, VR-based students who had tested "below average" on pre-curriculum tests achieved an average score of 88% on the final test, considerably outperforming the "above average" pre-test students in the traditional learning group, who scored an average of 76% on the final test. This result offers robust evidence that traditional education models and scoring methods do not allow all children to flourish during their development years, and that their test performance may not be representative of the true potential and intelligence of each child. All children are geniuses; by giving them an opportunity to learn using all their senses and through the VR experience, children are able to learn in a more natural and experiential manner that unleashes the potential within them.

A student participant said, "I feel like I am in the middle of the universe. It's so beautiful. I hope that VR can be available in my school as soon as possible – I will be extremely interested in the VR-based subjects."

A parent of a participating student said, "Traditional ways of teaching lags behind in igniting the desire to learn among students. However, VR-based teaching inspires students to learn and presents to students the abstract content that occurs in the learning process in a vivid way, making it easier for students to understand and retain complex concepts."

To learn more about the research and the findings, please click to read the full report here.

HTC has been consistently active in promoting the robust development of the VR industry, with its global team announcing in April the landmark Vive X accelerator program. The accelerator kicked off in August of this year in Taipei, San Francisco, Beijing and Shenzhen; applications for the second round will open on December 1st. All interested teams are invited to apply on www.vivex.com.

About the Vive Virtual Reality System

Vive is a first-of-its-kind virtual reality system developed in partnership by HTC and Valve. Designed from the ground up for room-scale VR, Vive allows true-to-life interactions and experiences thanks to an adjustable headset displaying stunning graphics, two wireless controllers with HD haptic feedback and 360˚ absolute motion tracking. For a convenient and safe experience, Vive incorporates essential functionality from your phone and features a front facing camera that blends physical elements into the virtual world. Working in concert, this system immerses you visually, physically and emotionally in the virtual world. For more information on Vive, please visit www.vive.com.

About HTC

HTC Corporation aims to bring brilliance to life. As a global innovator in smart mobile and virtual reality devices and technology, HTC has produced award-winning products and industry firsts since its inception in 1997, including the critically acclaimed HTC One and HTC Desire lines of smartphones, and is now leading the VR industry with the Vive line of products. The pursuit of brilliance is at the heart of everything we do, inspiring best-in-class design and game-changing mobile and virtual reality experiences for consumers around the world. HTC is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE: 2498). www.htc.com.

SOURCE HTC Vive

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