Virtual Reality (VR) Market in Education Market Trends

Market Trends of Virtual Reality (VR) Industry in Education

Increasing Demand For Interactive and Personalized Learning Experience

• Increasing adoption of online education and the benefits of a virtual learning environment, such as flexible schedules, more individual accountability, mobility, student-centered learning, and others, are driving the market's growth. VR can replace physical paper models, posters, textbooks, and printed manuals. It offers less expensive and portable learning materials, making education more accessible and mobile.
• Over the past few years, the cost of deploying VR has plunged, and the technology has expanded into more general use at almost Fortune 500 corporations, where employees working in retail, logistics, and customer service are practicing with VR headsets to get better at their jobs.
• Various businesses worldwide use VR technology to provide their employees with a personalized learning experience, thus driving the market's growth. For instance, across the U.S., Walmart is training its employees to improve their skills using STRIVR technology, which has also worked for companies like Visa, Bank of America, BMW, Google, ABC, and more. The training simulators place the employee in a realistic setting, which tests their ability to handle different situations at the workplace.
• In K-12 learning, virtual and augmented reality help teachers engage students in content to assist them in retaining knowledge. By using a web-based portal, teachers can control and manage the headsets, plan lessons, and monitor student progress. Teachers can set points of interest on students' headsets to direct them to certain parts of the lesson and may view thumbnail images of what each student is seeing.

Further, as the prices of VR systems drop and more people become interested in this new technology, adoption in the education sector is expected to grow. For instance, a Perkins Coie and XR Association survey of over 160 professionals found that 63% of respondents strongly agreed that immersive technology will significantly advance education over the next five years.

North America is Expected to Hold Major Share

• The North American segment of the market studied is expected to grow significantly during the forecast period, owing to the presence of a large number of vendors, who are also investing heavily in market innovation, coupled with the dominance of the United States in the global software market.
• Globally, it is expected that the United States will be one of the most innovative VR markets. Most of the companies advancing this technology are based in the United States. High technology exposure and the ease of availability of smart devices have created a strong VR market in the region.
• Further, the region has the highest number of emerging startups focusing on bringing innovative VR technologies to various industries. According to data from Tracxn Technologies, as of September 2022, there were approximately 1,348 Virtual Reality startups in the United States.
• According to the GSMA, the number of smartphone subscribers in North America is expected to reach 328 million by 2025. Moreover, by 2025, the region may witness an increase in the penetration rates of mobile subscribers (86%) and the internet (80%), the second-highest in the world. Increased device penetration will positively impact the region's virtual reality market for education.

The telecom companies in the region are aggressively making efforts to attract customers to use their 5G network. Hence, these regional vendors are investing in and innovating the software and platform for the development of VR applications by leveraging the upcoming 5G technology. Such events are expected to boost the growth of the market in the region.