Talking bout the ‘Metaverse’ seems to be very fashionable at the moment – in particular since Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined his vision of what a global ‘metaverse’ might look like. Zuckerberg is even planning to change his company name to ‘Meta.’
Two tech companies from Manchester, Credersi and 3D tech innovators PixelMax, are already working on a way to innovate the global education metaverse with their own science and tech campus, the ‘Credersi World,’ using a mixed reality platform that includes virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).
Credersi World is an immersive platform in which students – and employers who want their workforces re-skilled for careers of the future – shape their learning in a virtual campus world, complete with shops, cinemas, art galleries, wellbeing rooms and food and coffee shops by using immersive mixed reality technologies.
The concept for Credersi World was to create a virtual science and tech campus that could train and re-skill workforces of the future in an immersive and engaging way. The Covid pandemic has resulted in more people than ever before taking up training and learning with a view to re-skilling for a career of the future.
Credersi co-founders Darren Coomer and Andy Lord saw how the pandemic had impacted university students and those in further education courses. Many students were struggling to keep up with remote learning on platforms such as Zoom and Teams and maintain their engagement to learning.
At the same time, through their tech training company Credersi, they then saw employers and businesses suddenly finding a skills shortage as never before, as well as a rapid advancement of future technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI). They decided to team up with PixelMax co-founders Shay O’Carroll, Rob Hilton and Andy Sands, to see how they could revolutionise and shape the learning and education metaverse.
Credersi CEO, Andy Lord, says, “The reality is that technology is now driving businesses forward at such a rapid pace that there is simply not enough skilled workforce available to fulfil those roles, which is why we have such a massive skills shortage and demand is outstripping supply. As companies try to keep up with the rapid pace of technology as it evolves, they have realised that a large percentage of their workforce is simply not fit for purpose. That now means companies have to identify the talent from within their workforces and organisations and create the opportunity to educate and train them – and re-skill them for a career of the future.”
The Credersi World science and tech campus is an immersive experience with its own real estate. Delegates enter the concourse – much like they would at a physical university campus – and will be able to delve into different learning pods relevant to their courses. Various boulevards line the tech estate, which engages with the delegates at all levels, providing breakout rooms, libraries, shops, cinemas, art galleries, oceanic aquariums, as well as virtual banks and even wellbeing counsellors.
Andy Lord adds, “The simple question all CEOs and business leaders need to ask themselves is, ‘What do you do when demand outstrips supply? Try and find people who don’t exist?’ You simply can’t just wait and hope the workforce will come back. The pandemic has been a clarion call to the global economy. Businesses and industries must rethink how they adapt to the future after the impact of events such as Brexit and the pandemic. With the rapid advancement of technology and AI, we must now look at how we re-skill our workforces to make them future proof. Businesses also need to create a culture of continuous personal development for their staff and talent. They will find this in the education metaverse, which will future-proof their workforces with the right skills in an immersive and engaging way.”
PixelMax co-founder and tech disruptor, Shay O’Carroll, commented, “The 3D worlds we create and the solutions we offer our clients are vast. The pandemic has changed the way businesses operate and it has become clear that virtual worlds add a huge amount of value. The PixelMax technology allows our customers to deliver something truly unique. Our mission has always been to create a place where people can effectively communicate and collaborate in real-time.:”
The PixelMax technology harmonises the virtual world and the physical world to deliver an enhanced or more immersive reality for the user. Partnering with Credersi to create the science and tech campus is a great example of what can be achieved.