Metaverse

Imagine you are enjoying your coffee outside the Starbucks facing the sundial, the sun suddenly disappeared and the day turned dark. A terrible storm hits, soil and gigantic rocks rolling down the hill and destroying everything in the area. Suddenly, you are back in a classroom surrounded by whiteboards and populated with movable chairs. Today, as the metaverse infrastructure is still under construction, researchers, educators, policymakers, and digital designers have a chance to lead the way rather than get caught in the undertow. To leverage the potential of the metaverse as a 3D, global, interconnected, immersive, and real-time online space, we need new ways to connect the physical world with augmented and virtual reality (VR) experiences.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the popularity of virtual classrooms, but they are often less engaging than traditional in-person classes. To address this challenge, we have developed a virtual classroom and a virtual lab as our leading key components in the concept of MetaHKUST that leverages the power of the Metaverse to create more engaging and immersive learning experiences. In this talk, we will describe the technical architecture of MetaHKUST, which combines augmented reality, virtual reality, and social networking technologies to create a seamless and interactive Phygital environment. We will also discuss the pedagogical design of the platform, which incorporates principles of active learning and social constructivism to promote student engagement and collaboration. Finally, we will discuss the implications of our research for the future of education and the potential of Metaverse technologies in creating more engaging and immersive learning experiences. We will also highlight the challenges and opportunities of using Metaverse technologies in education and suggest directions for future research.