New extended reality studios to expand research into learning

The Open University (OU) has received £5.8M from the Office for Students to develop extended reality studios to expand its teaching and learning with augmented and virtual reality.

Open XR Studios will feature state-of-the-art equipment to capture, reproduce and render 4D imagery. It will deliver immersive and reality-embedded learning to students in their homes, which will enable the OU to create authentic contexts for skills development.

The studio will also serve as a research platform to better understand how to engage students across a range of extended reality learning scenarios. This will create partnership opportunities with the wider higher education sector, placing the OU at the forefront of utilising these technologies in a responsible and equitable manner.

Tim Blackman, Vice-Chancellor at the OU, commented: “The Open XR Studios and reality-based learning are the next logical place for The Open University to take digital education. This is a very exciting and innovative venture for us, and we hope it will lead to significant collaboration opportunities within the education sector and more widely with public and private sectors.”