Out of Reality: A Virtual Reality Future

My talk aims to provide a glimpse into a potential future in which we engage with students increasingly as avatars in fantastical and engaging virtual worlds. I have taught almost 300 University students over the last three years about Virtual Reality (VR), predominately from within VR – investigating the capabilities of emerging technologies to immerse students in physically and psychologically safe spaces where they have heightened agency to imagine the impossible. A particular focus of my talk will be on the positive (and negative) experiences of my students as avatars across a semester, including key themes of identity, anonymity, interaction, usability, accessibility, and so on.