The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) revealed in a news release that it will launch the first physical-digital twin campuses in the Metaverse in September.
On a virtual campus, the students can take classes, connect with peers, and attend open days using visualization tools, virtual reality (VR) headsets, cameras, and sensors.
The institution’s academics Wang Yang, the Project Lead of MetaHKUST, and Pan Hui, the director of the Computational Creativity and Center for Metaverse and, are collaborating on an extended-reality classroom project where students from Hong Kong and Guangzhou can attend classes concurrently.
In XR classrooms, specialized teaching and learning tools like VR headsets and sensors will be deployed during the initial testing phase so that faculty and students can participate in a communal scanning of the actual campuses.
Additionally, the institution employees and participants will create their own virtual content, avatars, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for usage in MetaHKUST.
The institution was among the first universities to introduce interdisciplinary teaching and e-learning in addition to pioneering educational metaverse applications.
“MetaHKUST is yet another key endeavor of HKUST to enhance holistic learning and engage students and research programs across diverse geographical areas,” according to the university website.
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