Two Vocational Training Centres in Granollers and Bilbao innovate in Education by betting on Virtual Reality

GRANOLLERS and BILBAO, Spain, June 15, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The CIFP Txurdinaga LHII and the IES Carles Vallbona, reference centres for vocational training in Bilbao and Granollers respectively, have announced a strategic commitment to promote innovation through Virtual Reality (VR) in their educational processes. This includes the adoption of the VIROO platform, developed by Virtualware.

The initiative, funded by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training and the European Union – Next Generation EU, aims to harness the benefits of VR technologies for more participatory, collaborative and experiential learning. It aims to bridge the gap between theoretical learning and its application in the real world.

As a result of this collaboration, the installation and commissioning of the first two wireless Virtual Reality Rooms will allow virtual reality learning resources and activities to be deployed on a full-scale, and also remotely.

The new VR rooms, which have been leased until the end of the project, are equipped with Wifi 6 connectivity and HTC Vive Focus 3 viewers with wireless technology. This, combined with the VIROO^® platform, provides users with a much more comfortable and fluid collaborative streaming experience, eliminating the need for the backpack PCs that are more common in this type of environment, known as LBE (local based entertainment).

The CIFP Txurdinaga LHII and the IES Carles Vallbona have long been advocates of innovation in their educational work and are firmly committed to the potential of immersive technology to radically transform education and prepare students for the jobs of the future.

“Our ambition is to experiment with this type of space as a training tool for our students, knowing that these technologies will be used in the productive sector. The 4.0 and 5.0 environments will take advantage of these technologies to simulate and train different productive processes and services,” explained Jaime Corrales, Director of Innovation at CIFP Txurdinaga LHII.

Another aspect of the technology is the ability to create and deploy learning resources and activities in virtual reality autonomously. Thanks to the ease of use of the VIROO platform, teachers and students do not need extensive programming skills (low-coding).

According to Miquel Altayó, project manager at the Carles Vallbona Institute, “this project has opened a door to the world of virtual reality that will undoubtedly benefit our students and serve as a base camp for future achievements.”

This type of initiative promotes the quality of inter-professional training on a real scale, regardless of the geographical location, and encourages the methodological evolution of the vocational training centres.

CIFP Txurdinaga LHII

Located in the Bilbao neighbourhood that gives it its name, the CIFP Txurdinaga LHII is becoming a reference in Vocational Training, not only in Bilbao but also in Bizkaia and the whole of the Basque Autonomous Community. Pioneers in methodological innovation (Ethazi or High Performance Cycles), over the last few years it has continued its commitment to innovation with truly successful results that have placed this institute among the most innovative in Basque Vocational Training; for the academic year 2023-24 it will be working on different projects related to Virtual Reality, Artificial Vision, Cloud Computing and Big Data, Mixed Reality applied to students with special needs, Internet of Senses and Quantum Computing, with teachers and students from the departments of Chemistry, Computer Science, Social Integration and Commerce participating in these projects.

IES Carles Vallbona

Located in Granollers, since 2009, it has been recognised as a primary school for the practice of sports in the studies of Baccalaureate and High School. In addition to its great commitment to the linguistic plan, it offers studies in Compulsory Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, Intermediate Level Training Cycles and Higher Level Training Cycles in Administration, Computer Science and Commerce.

VIRTUALWARE

Virtualware is a pioneering global technology firm specializing in virtual reality solutions. Since its establishment in 2004, the company has executed over 500 projects across 33 countries. Its innovative Virtual Reality as a Service (VRaaS) platform, VIROO, is aimed at making virtual reality accessible to businesses of all sizes and sectors. It started trading at Euronext Paris last April, with a market valuation of over 27 million euros.

VIROO is already used by more than 40 companies and institutions worldwide, including GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Ontario Power Generation, Gestamp, ADIF, the Spanish Ministry of Defence, El Retoño University of Technology and EAN University.

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