Launching Calgary students into outer space with VR field trips

Picture it: You’re in sixth grade and learning about the solar system.

But instead of making dioramas using fruit, as many students did in the past, you and your classmates are transported into outer space in a rocket ship.

You’re able to fly up to each planet and study its movements, moons, and rings.

While we may not be able to do that in real life, a Calgary company is making it possible virtually.

VRCORE Education has developed the world’s first in-school virtual reality (VR) field trips.

“Virtual reality technology has unlimited educational potential,” says VRCORE owner and CEO Jason Van Hierden.

With this technology, Van Hierden says school gymnasiums can be transformed into a portal to any time or place in history.

Launching into outer space

Van Hierden and his team are launching the VRCORE Education program at the Calgary City Teachers’ Convention this week.

It’s exciting, Van Hierden says, because it has taken a lot of work to get to this point.

VRCORE started with a virtual reality arcade in Lethbridge and now has five more locations—three in Calgary and two in BC.

For the past five years, educational summer camps have been held at the arcades, covering a variety of subjects including engineering and history.

Van Hierden says VRCORE tried hosting field trips at the arcades, but logistically it wasn’t ideal, so he decided to bring VR field trips into schools. He put together a business model in early 2022, then started reaching out to developers.

“To see if what we're trying to do is even possible, because it's pretty outlandish,” Van Hierden says.

“Nobody's ever done anything like this before.”

Working out the kinks

There were some bumps along the way as the program was developed.

“The biggest hurdle that we had was keeping the virtual version of a student perfectly aligned with the real version of the student,” Van Hierden says.

“When you put the VR headset on, we'll be able to see each other virtually, but I can't see the real version of you. And so if the virtual version of you is off by six inches, I could run into you. And if you get 30 to 40 students in a gymnasium, they're going to run into each other.”

Van Hierden says thanks to partners from all over the world, computer vision, and technology developed by in-house team members, they were able to solve that problem.

Then the team started developing an educational world for the students to experience, consulting with teachers about what content would be the most impactful.

They decided to start with a VR field trip into outer space where students can learn about the solar system.

“The easiest way to explain it is we take The Magic School Bus and we put it in schools. So these students can go through the human body, they can go through the solar system, they can go to these wild and outlandish places,” Van Hierden says.

Endless ideas for expansion

Three Calgary schools have already booked VR field trips starting in May.

Right now, the program is targeting grades six and nine because the solar system is part of the curriculum, but there are plans in the future to expand to other grades and tailor the experience to fit what is being taught.

Van Hierden says he has plenty of ideas for additional modules if the first proves successful.

“We've got to make sure that this one works, it provides value to schools, that the business model is cash flow positive. And then, when and if it is, we definitely want to build more modules,” he says, adding one idea is to have a Second World War module where students are transported to Normandy.

Immersing students into a virtual world can help them connect with the material they are learning and retain it better, Van Hierden says.

"How a student learns has drastically evolved over the years,” he says, adding that statistics show VR training has a retention rate of 75 per cent, while audio-visual learning is 20 per cent, reading is 10 per cent, and lectures are five per cent.

To learn more about the VR in-school field trips, visit the VRCORE Education website.