CHENNAI : A proposal to establish a virtual reality classroom in one of Chennai Corporation’s schools, will be tabled at the Chennai Smart City Board meeting on Tuesday. While a similar project proposed earlier was shot down because of lack of funds, officials are hopeful that underprivileged students will finally be able to get their hands on this ‘elite’ technology, this time around.
According to officials in the civic body, the proposed virtual reality classroom will go beyond pairs of VR goggles and envisions a complete immersive environment. It is learnt that the VR setup proposed will also include chairs, state-of-the-earth goggles, headsets with motion tracking sensors and special interiors.
“Teachers will be able to ingrain concepts in students’ minds easily with this technology,” said a top corporation official, explaining experiencing how body parts work or seeing space in VR, would leave a lasting impression in students.
VR setups in the city, which are generally present in malls, are limited to gaming and cater to a very small section of society. “We want to give students this modern technology even before private schools,” said the official, claiming that the facility will be open to students from all corporation schools and can help broaden horizons.
Officials from the corporation’s Education department, also expressed confidence in the proposal’s potential to induce an affinity to technology. “Students often think that engineering courses are just about coding. A virtual reality classroom can break that stereotype even as the market for VR and augmented reality grows around the world,” said a senior official.
A Smart City official said this virtual reality classroom, inspired from the tinkering labs proposed by the Atal Innovation Mission, could be replicated across the city, based on the results and popularity of the pilot project that has been proposed.