Hong Kong University to Build First Ever Metaverse Campus
by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) announced its plan of building the world’s first physical-digital twin campuses in the metaverse, called MetaHKUST.
This will give the students an immersive learning experience for its two campuses in Hong Kong and Guangzhou. Students will be able to attend classes as if they were in the same place through the mixed reality classrooms.
The metaverse campus is also expected to host the launch of Hong Kong University’s new Guangzhou campus in an immersive virtual opening event.
“A lot of guests might be overseas and can’t attend, so we will host it in the metaverse. Using Zoom feels like you’re just looking at a 2D screen. But through virtual reality, you can feel as if you’re there. I think interaction is very important for learning. How you interact with students around you will increase your learning outcome.”
Pan Hui, Professor of computational media and arts
The institution hopes to create a learning environment that virtually connects the two campuses in Hong Kong and Guangzhou through the virtual campus: MetaHKUST.
MetaHKUST long-term plan
Hong Kong University has a long-term development plan for its metaverse campus. First is installing physical infrastructures such as XR classrooms, sensors, cameras, and visualization tools. Then the university members will be invited to take part in a crowdsourced scanning of the physical campuses. This will help provide images for the virtual campus.
Afterward, members will be able to create content, such as their avatars. They will also be able to create NFTs, tokens, or digital art. This might also be incorporated with augmented reality (AR) for viewing on physical campuses.
The institution anticipates the adoption of Web3 applications in administrative procedures. One such case is through blockchain-secured diplomas or transcripts awarded as NFTs.
HKUST is just one of the many Universities around the world that have announced plans to introduce immersive learning programmed in the metaverse.
Recently, the University of Tokyo unveiled its plans to offer a wide range of engineering studies in the metaverse.