VR giants are moving into education (GOOGL, FB)

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Google and Oculus are making a concerted effort to expand the use cases for their VR platforms to widen their addressable audiences — and they've recently moved toward transforming the tech into an educational resource.

FORECAST: Global VR Headset Shipments

Broadening the scope of use cases for VR is important as there's plenty of room for the ecosystem to grow. For instance, today’s VR users primarily use their devices for gaming — 90% of daily VR headset users play games at least three hours each week or spend over $5 per month on games, according to Greenlight Insights.

Here’s the latest on how Google and Oculus are transforming VR into an educational tool:

Oculus launched three new VR experiences to bring awareness and understanding to the challenges people face across the globe. The VR experiences unveiled last week are part of Oculus’ VR for Good initiative, which partners with nonprofits and filmmakers to drive positive social change. And they leverage immersive storytelling to inform users on important social issues, including transgender military enrollment, white supremacy, and gender identity.
Google is creating 30 virtual science labs for the Daydream VR platform. Last week Google released an app with the science education company Labster that allows students with access to the Daydream View and Lenovo Mirage Solo VR headsets to engage in virtual labs where they can conduct virtual science experiences. Already, the app is integrated into Arizona State University’s online biology program, allowing students to complete lab hour requirements in simulated environments.

Google’s and Oculus’s moves to expand their VR platforms’ content portfolios will pave the way for broader adoption of VR headsets. As VR reaches into new areas like education, the potential for the tech to appeal to a wider audience increases. Business Insider Intelligence expects VR headset shipments to jump 155% by 2023 to reach 34.4 million units, up from just 13.5 million units in 2018.

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