No more boring classes — virtual reality is here to bring considerable interest into traditional education to students, educators, and everyone who wants to learn something new in an immersive and exciting way, using the best virtual reality education apps available right now.
No matter what subject interests you the most — history, biology & anatomy, geography, foreign languages, or any other, you’ll definitely find the right virtual reality software programs to satisfy even the most insatiable curiosity about everything under the sun.
If you want to try the immersive technology firsthand, we have handpicked 10 best VR apps you can use to start the EdTech journey without leaving a classroom, your house, or an apartment. Let’s have a look at what educational VR apps you can use to gain hands-on experience in various school subjects.
Here are 10 top-rated VR education apps that will help you study history and literature, biology and anatomy, geography, astronomy, art, and languages.
History and Literature
Anna Frank was a Jewish girl who was hiding in a house from the Nazis and was snitched on and others hiding with her in a secret annex of the house. Before she was caught, Anne had documented her life during her hiding. The Diary of a Young Girl stirred up feelings of millions throughout the world during one of the most gruesome pages of human history.
That’s why the house has more than 1.2 million visitors per year, and the book is read and taught in many schools.
If you don’t have a chance to visit one of the most prominent World War II monuments, the house of Anne Frank in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, you have a perfect chance to do it from any part of the world with the help of this educational VR app.
Supported by Gear VR, Go
Biology and Anatomy
Do you remember Fantastic Voyage? The 1966 SCI-FI movie where a group of people shrinks themselves to get into a scientist’s body and cure it of injuries. Now, this film has become a reality except that you don’t have to shrink anyone. Anatomyou is one of the best apps to use in the classroom especially when you teach the human body.
You can teach and learn about the female reproductive tract, urinary system, circulatory system, gastrointestinal tract, nose and throat tract, and transbronchial tree.
Moreover, you can use the app without a VR headset by using the fullscreen mode in the settings of Anatomyou. Read more about Web VR technologies here.
3) A Journey into the Brain in VR by Unimersiv
Another classroom VR app that will come in handy in teaching and learning one of the most enigmatic organs of the human body, the brain, is A Journey into the Brain in VR.
Let’s be honest, no matter how hard you try to study the anatomy of the human brain, we are just not up to par.
A Journey into the Brain takes us to the bright and exciting world of the brain, which everyone can easily visualize and remember in the long run.
The app is available for Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Rift.
InMind VR 2 is an educational VR game, which is a good tool for teaching kids about the brain. If you can recollect Fantastic Voyage quite vaguely, the Pixar cartoon Inside Out definitely rings the bell.
A boy named Tim is the main character of the game and you will try to help him become an actor, a scientist, a policeman, a senator by learning how to control his emotions by shaking his head. This is a fun way to learn about the chemicals that play an important role in our lives — dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, endorphins, and others.
It’s a perfect game for both kids and adults who skipped this part of human biology at school.
Geography
5) National Geographic Explore VR
National Geographic Explore is another top education software that can be used either in class or in any other place to show users how magnificent and diverse our nature is. You can travel from one of the coldest regions of our planet — Antarctica — where the average temperature varies between 50°F and 140°F or −10°C and −60°C, which is somewhat uncomfortable for a human being, or you can visit Peru’s Machu Picchu, the famous ruins of an Inca city.
National Geographic Explore VR is virtual reality education software that allows visiting the most remote parts of the world.
The Ocean Rift virtual reality app will impress even the most demanding users. While many people visit foreign countries on the continents, not many can boast about traveling into the deep and witnessing the most regal creatures of the Earth.
Put on your glasses and plunge into the aquatic world to swim with dolphins, whales, sea lions, sea snakes, sharks, and other underwater animals without getting into much trouble. Moreover, Ocean Rift provides a perfect opportunity to find out interesting information about animals and their habitats. Explore the oceans of the Earth without getting wet.
Astronomy
No matter how old you are it’s never too late to learn more about the world. But if you are or were a diligent student, you might have already learned a lot. Still, it wouldn’t hurt anybody to set out on another journey to outer space. See all the planets of the Solar System from your spacecraft, enjoy the view of the brightest stars, and learn about planetary objects.
Art
You might not be a huge art admirer but it’s vital to be knowledgeable about the world’s masterpieces. And you do not have to spend a lot of money on traveling to different countries and visit museums like Prada, Louvre or any other to witness the real art. The VR Museum of Fine Art is the virtual reality education app that can help to foster a love for art.
You can see The TerraCotta Army, Mona Lisa, Michelangelo, and other masterpieces.
Languages
It’s well-known that if you want to learn a foreign language, it’s advisable to immerse oneself in the foreign-language environment ideally by moving into another country. Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done. But with the help of educational VR apps, you can master any foreign language.
Mondly: Learn Languages in VR is a tool that can teach you a variety of languages: Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Ukrainian, and many others.
The House of Languages VR is apps for elementary educators who teach languages to kids. The app supports three languages — English, German, and Spanish. Children can easily pick up a language by doing special actions like hearing word pronunciation , repeating it, and check its spelling. Thus, it helps users to memorize vocabulary related to different places — school, airport cafe, zoo, museum, etc.
What google cardboard is and what kind of google cardboard educational apps should you use?
As for now, virtual reality without special equipment is not complete and immersive. To look into the world of virtual reality, one needs to have at least a headset. Luckily, you can pick up the right set within your pricing range because there are quite a few choices available on the market.
Probably, the cheapest and the most available headset you can find at the moment is google cardboard. The headset has no straps, so you’ll have to hold it with your hands, which makes its use somewhat uncomfortable. But it’s a good way to experience virtual reality using your phone for the first time. What is more, google cardboard supports Android and iOS, so you can experience VR regardless of what mobile operating system you use.
Google Cardboard can also be used for education. Google Play Store offers a wide range of apps that can be used for this purpose. For instance, Sites in VR provides immersive traveling sightseeing throughout various countries. You can visit Paris, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the Netherlands, Morocco, Italy, France, Greece, Egypt, and many other countries throughout the world.
Here a few more picks for google cardboard education purpose that you might like:
- Astronaut VR Google Cardboard — this VR app brings you to the International Space Station where you can become an astronaut and admire the view of the third planet in the Solar System.
- VR Space — if the Earth is not enough for you, you can travel the universe with Cosmos VR app
- Jurassic VR — find out a lot about the creatures that populated the Earth 65 million years ago. There’s no need for you to re-watch Jurassic movies countless times, just use this google cardboard educational app and see dinosaurs with your own eyes.
What htc vive is and what htc vive educational software to use
If google cardboard is a VR headset that can be available to a majority of people, HTC Vive by the company is probably one of the most expensive and intricate headpieces on the market. HTC Vive goes with other accessories like controllers or adapters that help you experience the best dive into virtual reality.
You can play the best games for education using the HTC Vive headset. For instance, you can come face to face with a majestic whale in theBlue VR app, or to climb the highest mountain in the world — Everest in Everest VR.
Why do we need virtual reality software programs?
Virtual Reality or simply VR can find many applications in the real world. But education is probably one of those spheres that can benefit immensely from technology. No matter what subjects you teach or learn, you can find how to apply VR to yield the most benefits.
But if you still think that is just a craze or a fad, think about it again. Here are several reasons why it’s useful for educational purposes:
- First of all, virtual reality apps can easily deliver experiences that books and video content can’t provide.
- VR apps can visualize abstract concepts which otherwise can be difficult to understand
- Virtual reality apps are quite a resource-wise method of acquiring new experiences. For example, you can easily visit other corners of the Earth without spending a buck.
Wrapping Up
VR educational apps are becoming a new powerful tool that will probably change the way we learn and teach. With such a wide range of virtual reality applications, you can brush on different subjects, such as History, Art, pick up a new language, dive into the deep waters of our planet, or leave the Earth to visit other celestial bodies. Choose an app and set out on a journey. Otherwise, creating your VR educational product, you can become a pioneer in the EdTech industry with a brand-new concept.
Contact LITSLINK, a software developing company in the USA, and we’ll help you make your VR idea come to life.
