This company is betting big on the metaverse taking online education to the next level

Metaverse — just a proof of concept or a sure bet for the future? Depends on whom you ask. For most regular users — including yours truly — the metaverse is something that may hold potential, but has little real-world benefit right now to be too concerned with.

However, from the viewpoint of investors, tech gurus and those powering the next era of the internet — Web3 — the metaverse is a sure bet and will play a large role in our lives.

In fact, in a recent report, global consulting firm McKinsey said the metaverse will become a ubiquitous technology by 2030 that will be worth a whopping $5 trillion, up from its present value — by investment — of $120 billion.

What this has meant, is that India's tech startups are either dipping their toes in the metaverse pool, or jumping right off the diving board, head first, to become among the first to cash in on this nascent concept.

One such is Gurgaon-based Edverse, which is a metaverse-focused company that is intent on building a virtual world for educators, students, creators, et al to gain hands-on experiences with concepts that might otherwise be confined to textbooks, instructional videos or, if you're lucky, practical education.

Edverse is in the stage of polishing its offering, and going by the timeline on its official website, will move on to "beta launch, expand tokenomics, content creation for pre-primary to Grade 8" in the fourth quarter of the year.

"We have an entire school running in the metaverse. We have the pre-primary segment — content for Grades 6, 7 and 8. Soon, we will be launching a 'Classroom in the Metaverse' feature, irrespective of the grade you're in, so that any school can take this up and get a feel of how it is to take a class in the metaverse," Yuvraj Krishan Sharma, Co-Founder, Chief Product/Technical Officer, Edverse, told CNBC-TV18.

(Image: Edverse)

Edverse has made several strides towards signing up educational institutes to host classes on its metaverse. In August, Edverse had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with LM Thapar School of Management, and had earlier tied up with Panchkula Saint Soldier Divine Public School, Sainik School in Chandrapur, The Green Field School, Supreme Academy and Children's Well Academy from Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh, Mother Athena School,  and Vedaant Vidhyakulam School from Indore, MP.

And to ensure no school is left behind due to technical shortcomings, Yuvraj says Edverse is offering its metaverse feature in three ways — the widely accessible browser, a basic desktop or laptop, and more advanced features for those with higher-end equipment.

During a demo of their basic hub city in Edverse's metaverse, an avatar was made to walk into a classroom, in which a jet engine was taken apart and each of its components were visible and available for interaction, which in theory could give greater insights for someone studying aviation engineering.

Fascinating stuff, at least in that demo.

What's more, Edverse has charted out a whole map in its metaverse, with different subjects and even eras branching out from its hub city. While these features are still in development, once they're ready, students can travel forward in time to study futuristic concepts — like Web3, for instance — or even go back in time, where they could explore the legendary Nalanda University, or take a stroll around ancient Rome or see the pyramids being built. While it's easy enough to lay one's hands on a book that talks about these things, the sensation of actually being there, even if it's in the form of an avatar, could provide for an enhanced learning experience.

Imagine the wildly popular Assassins Creed games, only, this time, you're actually putting what you see, do, and experience, to some practical use to further your knowledge.

And Edverse hopes to be a part of the first wave of this technological advancement.

"Even if it's something as mainstream as learning about the human heart, if it's on a Zoom call, at best I as a teacher can show pictures or videos or presentations, and that's about it. It's practically the same in a physical class room. Ultimately, the students are passive recipients of knowledge. In the metaverse, students have the flexibility and freedom to look at the heart from all angles and even go into the heart and look at all chambers," Yuvraj says, laying out another example in which metaverse learning takes things a step further.

As Yuvraj puts it, Edverse is going all out on the metaverse as, be it communication or mathematics or social sciences or taking a field trip, metaverse is the next thing wherein education is taken to the next level in terms of students actually imbibing knowledge.

Now, whether the metaverse is truly the 'next big thing,' or becomes one of those fads that ends up being a 'has been' remains to be seen. I remain a generational sceptic where such things are concerned. However, the likes of Yuvraj have clearly seen something normal folks haven't — so let' see how things play out in the next decade or so.