The people behind the Interactive Digital Centre (IDC), recently opened in Tshwane, hit us with a statistic we didn’t entirely believe: virtual reality (VR) enabled schools experienced 100{0fab034ea82b07661647ea8532e9066bcdd529bddfd482414d4493f90063c904} higher attention levels and 30{0fab034ea82b07661647ea8532e9066bcdd529bddfd482414d4493f90063c904} higher test scores.After spending a day at the IDC, we’re far less skeptical.

A joint venture between the city of Tshwane and US-based VR specialists EON Reality, the IDC is a tried and tested facility much like others that exist in other parts of the world, such as the UK, France, Oman, Abu Dhabi and Mauritius.

Inside the IDC is an ecosystem geared towards educating students and giving them a leg up as they enter the job market.

The cycle starts with a series of planned tours for primary and high school students, in which children are taken through some pretty impressive interactive experiences.

They can step inside a VR-generated structures and environments, such as jet engine. They can virtually manipulate a neuron in real time. They can even get to grips – figuratively speaking – with the inner workings of a bathroom to see how plumbing works.

All of this is done through a mix of tech that we’re happy to see isn’t tied down to proprietary systems. One example of what this tech is capable of is the non-interactive sea animal experience, which uses a curved screen and 3D imaging very similar to IMAX theatres.

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