VictoryXR inks deal to spread its virtual field trips globally

VictoryXR has reached a deal with a leading XR headset provider that will help expand the Quad Cities company’s reach and introduce its virtual global field trips to students around the world.  VictoryXR, a global leader in immersive education with headquarters in west Davenport, has signed an agreement with HTC VIVE to offer a bundle […]

VictoryXR has reached a deal with a leading XR headset provider that will help expand the Quad Cities company’s reach and introduce its virtual global field trips to students around the world.  VictoryXR, a global leader in immersive education with headquarters in west Davenport, has signed an agreement with HTC VIVE to offer a bundle of virtual field trips through the VIVE Flow headsets. The new partnership will help students discover some of the world’s most spectacular sites – virtually – ranging from The Great Wall of China to the Redwood Forests of California, volcanoes in Iceland and 127 more locations.  “Teachers and students want to experience global travel in virtual reality,” said VictoryXR co-founder and CEO Steve Grubbs. “We developed a library of field trips that combine amazing travel with fun educational lessons on science and history.” 

Mr. Grubbs told the QCBJ in an email that the recently inked deal marks his company’s first global distribution deal with a headset supplier, although it has had similar agreements with North American headset dealers.  The latest pact will span North America, Europe, Australia (ASEAN) and the Middle East initially. VictoryXR’s VXR Global Traveler app will be pre-loaded onto VIVE Flow headsets prior to shipping which results in giving both parents and teachers a new powerful teaching tool.  Students will be able to watch the trips on their headset and hear the dialogues in English or they can read subtitles in Arabic, French, German or Spanish.  “As the technology reshapes the learning experience, it’s critical to offer solutions that inspire and empower students in an engaging and accessible way,” Daniel O’Brien, GM Americas at HTC VIVE, said in a joint news release announcing the new partnership. HTC VIVE’s North American headquarters are in Bellevue, Washington.  Mr. Grubbs said his company hopes to sell between 5,000 and 10,000 VXR Global Travellers in the first year.  Each month, VictoryXR will be adding more global field trips – as they are produced – which will be automatically loaded into the VXR Global Traveller platform.  The virtual educational trips initially began with a field trip in 2016 at Nahant Marsh in west Davenport – and not far from the doors of VictoryXR’s headquarters. Since then, Mr. Grubbs and his team have traveled to places such as China, Iceland, Germany, Singapore and 100 other locations to create new virtual education offerings.  VictoryXR also is the leader behind the creation of metacampuses – a digital twin of an actual campus in the immersive world of Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality (VR/AR). In a partnership announced last year with social media giant Meta (formerly Facebook), the two companies announced a list of 10 American colleges they were partnering with to develop metaversities. VictoryXR is building 10 digital campuses. Meta, which partially funded the build outs by VictoryXR, was providing students with its own virtual reality headsets. 

Since that development, VictoryXR has announced other collaborations with Davenport, Iowa-based St. Ambrose University and the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business to provide new VR/AR educational experiences.  “Every college and university in the world will have a metaversity in the next five to seven years and currently we’re leading that space” as builders of metacampuses worldwide, Mr. Grubbs told the QCBJ in an earlier interview.  As for the VictoryXR global VR trips his company produces, Mr. Grubbs said the majority of the trips have been led by veteran science teacher Wendy Martin. The Davenport Assumption High School educator was a finalist for National Teacher of the Year. In fact, she was in Colorado earlier this month shooting four new field trips for VictoryXR.  “I’ve loved filming these field trips in 360 VR (virtual reality) because it gives students a chance to stand in some of the most important places in the world for science,” Ms. Martin said in the release. “We’ve visited Yellowstone National Park, the Rocky Mountains and more than 30 other locations as we’ve created the world’s greatest learning library in 360 VR,” she added.  HTC’s Mr. O’Brien said the new collaboration “brings science and history to life on the compact and comfortable VIVE Flow headset, enabling students to travel around the globe and expand their worldview in a fun and immersive virtual environment.”  For more information, visit VictoryXR.com/flow-traveler.