Hong Kong University of Science and Technology creates a metaverse campus – Bits Media

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology has announced the start of work to create a Hong Kong and Guangzhou student campus in the metaverse to promote immersive learning..

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) ranks second in the top 50 universities ranking QS Asian University. HKUST Senate, supreme body of the university, responsible for the development and control of academic policy, announced, that the launch of the first mixed reality classroom program is planned for September, as well as the grand opening of the HKUST virtual campus in the metaverse.

“Many guests may be abroad and unable to attend the opening, поэтому мы проведем мероприятие в виртуальной реальности. Это первый опыт MetaHKUST — области обучения в метавселенной, которая соединит кампус университета в Гонконге с кампусом в Гуанчжоу, which will allow students to take lessons without geographical restrictions", - explained Pan Hui, head of the Department of Computational Media and Art at the Guangzhou campus (Pan Hui).

Vice President for Institutional Development at HKUST Wang Yang (Wang Yang) noted, that despite the skepticism present in the university management towards the new concept of education, a modern university cannot afford to miss such an opportunity.

“Last year the buzzword was NFT. IN 2022 this is the metaverse. We understand, that it will become part of reality in the future and we can imagine life in the metaverse in the near future. Like a university, we must be thought leaders and should not wait, while others do something, and we will be forced to follow their example", - Wang Yang said.

In the initial stages, work to create a campus in the metaverse will focus on building infrastructure in the real world, such as virtual reality classes, dynamic sensors, cameras and visualization tools. Subsequently, the digital space, created for two campuses, will allow students to attend the same lecture at the same time in two parallel spaces.

In addition to lectures and seminars, in the virtual world it is planned to gather an audience for public events, eg, open days, student parties or graduations, and distribute diplomas or lecture transcripts as NFTs.

At the end of July, the Japanese Todai University reported
about the start of teaching a series of programs on the development of metaverses in the new academic year. The educational project must solve the problem of the lack of qualified personnel to work on digital technologies.