Latest education updates from around the world

7 tips and ideas to make the eclipse engaging for students

By |March 19, 2024|

This article originally appeared on Vernier’s blog and is reposted here with permission.

On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will be visible over the United States, starting in Texas. This upcoming eclipse event is an exciting opportunity to incorporate phenomenon-based learning into your instruction and engage your students through inquiry.

Here are some tips for making the most out of this rare occasion as you study it with your students.

1. Never look directly at the sun, except if you are in the path of totality during the few minutes of totality

Look at the sun […]

HTC is Giving Devs a Big Revenue Share Boost on Its VR Platform

By |March 19, 2024|

HTC is sweetening the pot for VR developers selling content on its VIVEPORT VR storefront, on both PC VR and its standalone Vive XR Elite headset.

HTC announced today that it will be increasing the revenue share of sales made on its Viveport VR platform to 90%. That means the developer keeps 90% of the revenue from apps bought on the platform while the platform keeps only 10%.

Other major XR app stores—like Meta’s Quest store and Valve’s Steam store—generally give developers a 70% revenue share, while keeping 30% for the platform.

HTC says the new revenue split will apply starting […]

[Industry Direct] Why We Think You’ll Love Our New 4v4 VR Team Shooter ‘Strike Rush’

By |March 19, 2024|

Industry Direct by Skonec Entertainment

Industry Direct is our program for sponsors who want to speak directly to the Road to VR newsletter audience. Industry Direct posts are written by sponsors with no involvement from the Road to VR editorial team. Links to these posts appear only in our newsletter and do not intermix with our on-site editorial feed. Industry Direct sponsors help make Road to VR possible.

Today, we are thrilled to unveil an exhilarating trailer for our upcoming VR game, Strike Rush.

The official release of Strike Rush is scheduled for April. However, pre-orders are already available on the […]

What Any VR Game Can Learn From the ‘Electronauts’ Interface – Inside XR Design

By |March 19, 2024|

Our series Inside XR Design examines specific examples of great XR design. Today we’re looking at the interface of Electronauts to find out what makes it so excellently usable.

Editor’s Note: Now that we’ve rebooted our Inside XR Design series, we’re re-publishing them for those that missed our older entries.

You can find the complete video below, or continue reading for an adapted text version.

Electronauts is a music making game by developer Survivors that’s designed to make it easy to feel like a competent DJ, even if—like me—you don’t have much musical talent. It’s available on every major VR […]

Sony Reportedly Pauses PSVR 2 Production Due to Low Sales

By |March 18, 2024|

Sony has reportedly paused production of PSVR 2, as it looks to clear its backlog of inventory first before resuming.

According to a Bloomberg report, PSVR 2 sales have “slowed progressively” since its February 2023 launch. Citing people familiar with the company’s plans, Sony has produced “well over 2 million units” since launch, noting that stocks of the $550 headset are building up.

The report alleges the surplus is “throughout Sony’s supply chain,” indicating the issue isn’t confined to a single location, but is spread across different stages of Sony’s production and distribution network.

This follows news that […]

Curipod Lesson Plan

By |March 18, 2024|

This Curipod Lesson Plan is designed to help educators integrate the digital tool to support instruction

Best Headphones for Students

By |March 18, 2024|

Get the best headphones for students for in class and beyond.

8 Ways to Create AI-Proof Writing Prompts

By |March 18, 2024|

ChatGPT and other AI tools are smart but I’m smarter … okay maybe not, but these are strategies for writing AI-proof writing prompts that I’ve used effectively in my classes.

Math is not a universal language—but it can be a universal thread

By |March 18, 2024|

Key points:

Every student can be a math person—we just need the right resources

Friday 5: STEAM education in action

How this middle school teacher gets students to challenge themselves in math

For more news on math learning, visit eSN’s STEM & STEAM hub

Say what you will about the universality of numbers and symbols; I’d politely argue that it does not follow that mathematics is a universal language. The problem for many struggling math students is that often those “universal” numbers and symbols hide in surrounding contexts of unfamiliar vocabulary, settings, and narratives.

As math educators, we can help those […]

Spring Sales Bring Deep Discounts on Top Quest & PC VR Games

By |March 16, 2024|

Spring has nearly sprung, and with it come great sales on games for Quest and PC VR. Don’t miss this chance to pick up a title you’ve been waiting for!

Quest Spring Sale

Meta is offering solid discounts on Quest game bundles, and separately offering a 30% discount on select individual games through March 24th.

You can use the code SPRING30 at check-out for a 30% discount on any individual game on this page.

The bundles have their own discounts and can’t be combined with the code. Here are the bundles:

Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series Bundle – $20 (34% discount)

Vader Immortal: Episode I

‘Starship Home’ Turns Your Room into a Flying Alien Plant Sanctuary, Coming to Quest 3 This Year

By |March 16, 2024|

VR studio and label Creature announced Starship Home, a plant-filled mixed reality adventure that turns your living room into a spacecraft on a mission to save alien flora.

Coming exclusively to Quest 3 this Fall, the team dropped Starship Home’s first teaser trailer today, showing off just how the mixed reality game works.

In it, we get a look at the virtual windows, control panels, and other components, which are placed strategically around your room to make it feel like you’ve blasted off into space.

“Travel from planet to planet collecting plant clippings, and decorate your home with weird and wonderful […]

Educator Edtech Review: Slooh

By |March 15, 2024|

Slooh offers Next Generation Science Standards-aligned content and access to control telescopes at some of the best locations on the planet.

Why “Embodiment” is More Important Than “Immersion” – Inside XR Design

By |March 15, 2024|

Our series Inside XR Design examines specific examples of great XR design. Today we’re looking at the game Synapse and exploring the concept of embodiment and what makes it important to VR games.

You can find the complete video below, or continue reading for an adapted text version.

Defining Embodiment

Welcome back to another episode of Inside XR design. Today I’m going to talk about Synapse (2023), a PSVR 2 exclusive game from developer nDreams. But specifically we’re gonna to look at the game through the lens of a concept called embodiment.

So what the hell is embodiment and why am I […]

Additional Languages Found in Vision Pro Suggest It May Launch Where Meta Can’t

By |March 15, 2024|

Since its February 2nd launch, Vision Pro has been a US-only device, which means it only supports the US keyboard layout and emoji. According to code found by MacRumors, Apple may be soon preparing for Vision Pro’s much-awaited international launch, as 12 new languages are about to be added, one of which is simplified Chinese.

Like every other Apple device, Vision Pro needs to support a wide array of local languages if it plans to have to sort of broad international launch the Cupertino tech giant is known for.

As indicated by MacRumors, code found in Vision Pro’s 1.1 visionOS […]

After Building One of VR’s Most Successful Games, ‘Beat Saber’ Founder Plans to Take a Break from VR

By |March 14, 2024|

Jan ‘Split’ Ilavsky, founder of Beat Games and creator behind VR’s favorite block-slashing rhythm game Beat Saber (2018), left the studio late last month, stepping down from his position as the game’s Creative Director. Now, Ilavsky tells Road to VR he’s taking an extended break from VR altogether.

After creating one of VR’s most successful games financially to date, which generated over $100 million in revenue in 2021 alone, it’s safe to say Ilavsky deserves a break.

Jan ‘Split’ Ilavsky

Speaking to Road to VR, Ilavsky says he doesn’t have “any big plans ready now,” saying […]

‘Moon Player’ Unlocks YouTube’s Immersive Video Library on Vision Pro

By |March 14, 2024|

YouTube has a ton of videos created for immersive viewing, but without an official YouTube app on Vision Pro, it’s a bit of a song and dance to get them to play. Moon Player however launched a Vision Pro app that, with significantly less hassle, not only unlocks YouTube’s library of VR video, but lets you play basically any video format regardless of origin. Yes. Even those.

Admittedly, the paid Moon Player app isn’t exactly a one-click solution, since pulling up a VR video from YouTube requires you to select the correct format first, i.e. […]

Pi Day Lessons & Activities

By |March 14, 2024|

These Pi Day lessons and activities can help provide infinite learning opportunities.

Meta Issues Voluntary Recall of Early Quest 3 Elite Battery Straps Due to Charging Fault

By |March 14, 2024|

A widespread charging fault with Meta’s $130 Elite Battery Strap for Quest 3 forced the company to pause shipments back in December and start replacing units on a case-by-case basis. Now, it seems Meta has zeroed in on just which units could potentially be defective, and issuing what it calls “voluntary replacements”—but only if they contact you first.

Meta sent out an email recently to contact customers of its Elite Strap with Battery for Quest 3. Here’s one such email, courtesy X user @ezreeszy:

Image courtesy @ezreeszy

The charging fault, which rendered the battery […]

Virtuix Omni One VR Treadmill Nabs Support for Some Big VR Games

By |March 13, 2024|

Virtuix, the creator of the Omni One VR treadmill, announced it now has a lineup of 35 games ready for the device’s broader launch later this year, including some big ones.

Omni One was originally pitched in a crowd-based investment campaign in 2020, but is now slated to arrive to customers sometime in Q2 2024, bringing the at-home version of its VR treadmill to non-investor enthusiasts for the first time.

We say ‘at-home’ version and not consumer version because the unit costs $2,595 (plus shipping). This admittedly comes with a fully-inclusive, full-body VR experience thanks […]

Vision Pro Games Are Starting to Blend 3D with Flatscreen-native Gameplay

By |March 13, 2024|

Apple announced that Vision Pro-native versions of two popular iOS games are coming to Apple Arcade next month, Crossy Road Castle and Solitaire Stories, both of which put an immersive spin on inherently flatscreen gameplay.

Coming to Vision Pro on April 25th, Crossy Road Castle and Solitaire Stories seem to highlight how the company is directly supporting development of games on its first XR headset. First, a look at the games for the uninitiated:

Crossy Road Castle, created by Hipster Whale, tasks players with platforming their way through an endlessly spinning tower. Collect Everything. Unlock Crossy Chicken and friends. […]

VR Horror ‘HappyFunland’ Coming to PSVR 2 & SteamVR This Month, Trailer Here

By |March 13, 2024|

Perp Games and Spectral Illusions announced the VR horror title HappyFunland is coming to PSVR 2 and SteamVR headsets this month, letting you explore the abandoned remains of a theme park that promises some darkly comedic frights.

Here’s how the studios describes it:

You had never heard of HappyFunland theme park, or it’s tragic tale, when you agreed to meet a total stranger, named Larry, in the middle of a South Florida swamp. Perhaps if you would have known about the grisly events that happened there, you wouldn’t have agreed to the job!

In addition to a swath of spooky rides, the VR […]

The Sequel to One of Quest’s Best-rated Games is Now Available, Trailer Here

By |March 13, 2024|

SWARM (2021), the high-flying arcade shooter from Greensky Games, is one of the best-rated paid games on Quest, serving up fast-paced, arcade-style grapple shooting action as you battle against the titular Swarm. Now you can get your hands on the sequel, SWARM 2 (2024).

Announced late last year, single-player game Swarm 2 brings back more electrifying action in a rogue-like shooter package, including new environments, rogue-like progression, and globally competitive leaderboards.

In it, you play as Marv, the last surviving ‘grapple commando’, who uses their trusty pistol and grappling hook to battle back the Swarm and save Earth. Following the original Swarm, […]