“We’ve been using VR technology to teach soccer to our students, and keep track of their fitness levels using the fitness management system,” said principal Ko Young-gyu. (image: ETRI)
SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – Seoul’s Oksu Elementary School became the first in the country to establish a “virtual reality gym class”, allowing students to engage in sports activities using VR technology.
According to a school official, the ETRI (Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute) helped remodel one of the classrooms at Oksu Elementary in June to turn it into a “VR Sports Room.” The institute has since been following up on its use and feedback from students and educators for further development of VR education content and future application of the technology.
The VR Sports Room uses high-tech sensors and VR technology that enables students to partake in activities such as ball throwing or kicking at virtual objects that appear on the screen. Students have been learning soccer using the new platform, with a format similar to indoor golf simulators.
The biggest advantage, of course, is that students are no longer bound to outside weather, in addition to the underlying potential of the technology to be further expanded into a wider variety of school subjects.
(image: ETRI)
The school has also installed a NFC (near-field communication) Fitness Management System, which allows tracking of each student’s exercise level – based on location information – every time a student comes in contact with various checkpoints around the school.
“We’ve been using VR technology to teach soccer to our students, and keep track of their fitness levels using the fitness management system,” said principal Ko Young-gyu. “We’ve had some good feedback.”
To further improve and expand the use of the system, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education will sign a business agreement with ETRI on Wednesday at Oksu Elementary, and will demonstrate other potential uses of the system, such as for history and geography education, during the event.
“Gym classes have lost ground with Korea’s education system emphasizing exams and college entrance. So we expect such VR sports facilities to help students of the digital era engage in physical activity with more interest,” said an official from Seoul’s education office.
By Joseph Shin (jss539@koreabizwire.com)
