With an aim to develop a collaborative infrastructure for conducting interdisciplinary research to impact education, PolyU and The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish Hong Kong’s first Research Centre for Immersive Learning and Metaverse in Education (CILME).

CILME will specifically focus on how immersive experiences, including those from virtual reality and the metaverse in general, can enhance students’ cognitive processing, attention, memory, brain function and ultimately learning outcomes.

Combining the strengths and expertise of PolyU and EdUHK in cross-disciplinary research, learning sciences and pedagogical innovation, CILME will nurture researchers, incubate technology-based innovations in education, and facilitate knowledge transfer in teaching and curriculum design at both institutions and for the benefit of the community at large.

CILME Co-Director Prof. Li Ping, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Sin Wai Kin Professor in Humanities and Technology at PolyU, sees a trend in recent years marked by the education sector actively using digital technologies including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and metaverse technologies to bring real-world experiences to learners and improve learning effectiveness. He believes that with the launch of CILME, researchers and educators will work closely together to develop technological applications and solutions for immersive and active learning.

Under this agreement, the two universities will conduct both basic and applied research in metaverse and immersive technologies, develop practical guidelines to shape the educational values of these technologies for students, and promote immersive learning among teachers and educators through regular workshops, seminars and conferences.