Dive Brief:

• Virtual reality STEM lab provider zSpace has revamped the learning experience provided by its all-in-one desktop workstations, which are optimized for 2:1 student pairings.
• The expanded zSpace offerings include 250 STEAM (science, technology, art and math) lesson plans that are used in conjunction with zSpace VR stations. 
• All lessons are Common Core-aligned, and the workstations allow students "to manipulate virtual, 3D objects ranging from building circuitry to experimenting with gravity and learn concepts in science, technology, engineering, and math," eSchoolNews reports.

Dive Insight:

As zSpace continues to evolve, lowering costs and making its VR stations an easier way for students to explore subjects like biology and physics with 3D models, the company reports that over 150,000 student currently use its products. “A variety of applications allow students to do everything from dissecting models of various animals or objects to experimenting with the laws of physics,” Education Dive reported from this year’s ISTE 2015 conference in Philadelphia, where zSpace showcased products. Previous versions required a special monitor, which has since been eliminated.

Although the virtual reality software can save money, for example, by utilizing virtual dissections instead of frog or cat cadavers in school biology labs, using a stylus in virtual reality obviously isn’t the same as the tactile experience of using a scalpel in real life.

Yet zSpace has compensated with new details in its latest update, with certain applications providing “multi-sensory feedback; for example, students working with a virtual heart can see it pumping, hear it, and feel it beating.”