According to Digi-Capital’s Augmented/Virtual Reality Report, the VR and AR industries are forecasted to be worth USD $105 billion by 2022, as almost all industries will incorporate virtual and augmented reality into training programs, products or services.
This kind of projection has not escaped the eyes of governments from several countries taking note and planning for the infiltration of VR and AR across the education sector.
In the article Why Are Governments All Over The World Investing In VR And AR For Education?, Totem Learning Blog brings to our attention that China, through municipal and national governments, has been investing heavily into this industry, more so than other countries, meaning China is on-track to being the leading country in installing VR and AR in the classroom setting across the nation.
China: a most attractive market globally for AR/VR
Image credit: Digi-Capital
China Actively Exploring the Possibility of VR-based Education
VR-based lesson, studying the Solar System
Students use VR devices to learn about science and technology
in Central China's Hunan province on March 14, 2018
Image credit: China Daily
Children watch a science course at a library in Guangzhou on
June 1, 2018
Image credit: China Daily
Both Chinese companies and the Chinese
government have launched concerted efforts to become leaders in virtual and
augmented reality.
On a national level, the Ministry of Industry
and Information Technology (MIIT) established the Industry of Virtual Reality
Alliance (IVRA) to grow the ecosystem. The alliance includes over 170 partners
including private companies and academic institutions such as the Beijing
Institute of Technology. The alliance also includes non-Chinese partners, such
as Columbia University in the US.
Despite the national level, there is also
activity on a local level. Examples include the Shenzhen Municipal Government developing
the China VR Research Institute. The
Beidouwan Virtual Reality Town is also being created in the Guizhou Province backed
by the Guian government. These are 2 examples of many, and each initiative will
dedicate funding and resources to advance training and education using VR.
VR Education Market in China
Education has been a significant focus of the
Chinese government, making China one of the most attractive markets globally
for VR education.
China's VR market expanded 164 percent in 2017
to RMB 16 billion (USD $2.5 billion). The VR
education market is also growing fast. In 2016, the sum of VR education projects in public schools only (government
sourcing) was RMB 0.6 billion. In 2017, the figure was doubled to RMB 1.2
billion. It is expected it to be doubled again in 2018 to reach around RMB 2.4
billion.
Strategy Analytics and Huawei’s new white
paper, Education and Training Ignite the VR Market – A Win-Win Opportunity for
Telecom Operators and VR Players, shows how the transformative
technology of VR is having an impact by improving education and training, and
the role that operators can play in further improving the uptake of technology
for the benefit of students and trainees.
Report author, David MacQueen, said, “VR
training and education is literally changing the way people learn, by
delivering lessons and training that are either not practical or even possible
in the real world. VR improves knowledge retention by bringing personal
experience into training and education. Despite being an early stage market, VR education is showing promising signs
of market growth, including the increasing investments governments are making
in ICT in education, and particularly the Chinese government. Increased funding
from governments and other institutions in both China and abroad will continue
to grow this market in the coming few years.”
White Paper Extracts
VR provides
one of the most important aspects of learning that no other technology can
match - experience. VR education has the power to change how we
learn.
The biggest
driver for VR education market is
the education reform in Chinese public
schools. These schools are transforming their education mode from traditional
“force-feeding” to heuristic interactive teaching. In this transformation,
schools have strong demand for new technologies and solutions to provide
students new experiences.
The markets
for VR education and VR training are
very different, with a different client base, different funding and different
business models. So despite many similarities in terms of technology, the
typical pattern is that companies act as providers of either VR education or VR training, but
typically not both.
Here are two examples of VR Education providers gaining traction in China:
Focusing on K-12 and vocational education, VRSCHOOL provides a complete VR
teaching solution to schools and further education establishments in China
As well as the hardware, the company provides a
range of education software, allowing teachers to begin using VR immediately.
The software includes a VR content production engine and class management
system. The engine can help students to develop their own VR contents. The
class management system enables teachers to manage and control the learning
experience and students’ behavior. VRSCHOOL
also provides value added services, such as class development and teacher
training
Traction: Currently, the hardware generates around one third of total revenue,
and software and content contribute the remainder. The company has achieved
positive cash flow in 2017, and expects the overall market to double in 2018.
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited is a creative
force in China’s online gaming and mobile internet industries. 2016 was the
first year the company’s revenues from education overtook revenues from what
was previously its core gaming business.
Net Dragon’s focus in VR education is mainly on the VR professional education and
developer training, while they are also using VR to improve regular (K-12)
classes.
NetDragon is collaborating with
China’s Ministry of Education (MOE) for the Vocational Student VR Skill
Competition, and more than 300 vocational schools are involved. NetDragon is working with MOE to
establish VR labs in colleges for teacher’s training and support VR start-ups
by students. MOE has provided RMB 260 million funding for the VR labs, with a
target to establish 200 labs in Chinese colleges. NetDragon founded a VR
Education Alliance for the continuing education schools. The schools in the
alliance can share VR education
content to accelerate the adoption of VR
education.
Traction: NetDragon’s overall
education business (including VR but also other education technologies)
recorded revenue of RMB 2.1 billion for the year 2017, up 37.9% year-over-year.
In China, revenue increased at an even faster rate, by 82.2% year-over-year.
Released on June 29, 2018, the white paper can
be downloaded at