Meta trials educational VR tech with US and UK universities

The Meta for Education beta program will be run at over a dozen universities including Imperial College London, the University of Glasgow and the University of Leeds, providing them with early access to a range of apps and features “that bring students closer to otherwise expensive or out of reach educational experiences,” says the release.

It’s also been working with VictoryXR to develop digital twin ‘metaversities’ in Europe. Students at the University of Leeds in the UK, University of the Basque Country in Spain, and University of Hannover in Germany will be able to jump into classes remotely within an “immersive environment that mirrors their physical campuses.”

These digital twins offer new immersive ways for educators and students to engage and interact, says Meta. At the University of Leeds, immersive classes began in September, and focus on performance and theatre, in February 2025, University of the Basque Country will host classes in Physiotherapy and Anatomy, while in Hannover, Clausthal University of Technology, Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences, and the University of Göttingen will also begin offering immersive courses in the next academic semester.

“This moment is greater than any one institution or one company. We need to come together in collaboration across the creators, the developers, educational institutions, research organizations, and tech companies to build this new learning ecosystem because it’s going to benefit every individual and industry,” said Monica Arés, Executive Director of Imperial IDEA Lab, Imperial College London. “We’re finally at a place where we have a way to combine the digital and physical worlds, and it’s unlocking this entirely new set of tools, which is what makes all of this so exciting.”

The release cites a 2021 study by PwC which claims 40% of VR learners are more confident in applying what they’ve been taught and 150% more engaged during classes, and a survey by XR Association (XRA) and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) which said 77% of educators believe these technologies ‘ignite curiosity’ and improve engagement in class.  

It feels like the wind has been somewhat taken out of the sails of the metaverse concept of late, after an awful lot of hype and bluster a couple of years ago in which it held up as some sort of society altering milestone technology. Perhaps it will be something like that one day, and while the mainstream seems to be largely unconvinced at the present moment, who knows what project or application might change that in the future.