Professor Shafi Ahmed, who teaches using technologies such as using Google Glass, mixed reality, holograms and avatars, conducted the class with third-year medical students completely in virtual reality.
The students at Queen Mary University of London are amongst the first in the world to take a lecture in the Metaverse, participating through an Oculus headset or a VR desktop app.
The capability is seen as revolutionary for the education sector, and especially for medicine where practical elements of the course can now be replicated online.
“A 3D environment enables us to create 3D assets for example an anatomical model and interact with one another, which can be invaluable in teaching and clearly isn’t a possibility over Zoom or Teams. For example, we can simulate a real-life medical procedure in VR – which can be extremely useful technology in helping to train the doctors and surgeons of tomorrow,” said Professor Ahmed.
The implications of teaching in the metaverse mean that professors can illustrate, and students can participate, in activities that would generally be confined to the real world; experiments and practical learning are now possible with the interactive technology.
There are plans to carry out more lectures like this in the future, signalling the world’s next steps into the use of the Metaverse.
