Futuclass Science Education
VR Review ★★★★☆
PCVR Quest Education Comfortable Roomscale
Futuclass offers professionally polished 8th grade science class modules, presented in virtual reality and utilizing fun gaming mechanics to help students learn and recall. Three modules are available on Quest (Atom Structure, Reaction Balancing, Salts) and five can be bought through the Steam Store for PCVR (also Hydrogen & Oxygen and Oxygen Escape Room). There are even more modules, though they appear to be available only to schools at this time.
The first module we played - sorry, learned about - was the balance of protons, neutrons and electrons in atoms and how elements are represented in groups and periods on the periodic table. Progressive levels of the Atom Structure game taught us about each subatomic particle in turn, building our knowledge and quizzing us on the way.
Reaction Balancing stationed us in front of a table and a collection of elements, requiring us to complete a balancing equation by grasping different quantities of elements until they matched. The Salts module took us to a moving baggage carousel where we had to equalize anions and cations within a time constraint. These two modules both begin with simple color coded tasks which increase in complexity and colors are removed, and identification by elemental symbols becomes necessary.
Matching pairs of ions in the Salts module.
Fire particles at the target in the Atom Structure game.
We completed all three modules on the Meta Quest and found them to be very instructive and entertaining, with the visual representations of subject matter and progressive challenges making learning easier. Each module took around 20-25 minutes to complete and we came away with deeper understandings of the subjects in all cases. A wide roomscale is required to allow students to reach to their sides to grasp objects, and it should be noted that although viewers can reset their viewing position they cannot adjust the height in any way, which we found to be a bit low for teenage children. Each module also comes with a lesson plan, which can be found on their website.
Improvements? We would have liked it if the repetitive background music could have been turned off. Utilizing a 'proton gun' in the Atom Structure module might have been an unfortunate choice of tools & wording, as such imagery doesn't sit well, particularly with American schools. The time constraints were a too tight for us on the Salts module - a few more seconds would have helped, as would a pause to reflect on a correction when we got something wrong. We also note that some of the questions on the between level quizzes utilized terms that hadn't been stressed by the app earlier in the module, and some of the wording of the quiz questions aren't as clear as they could have been.
Futuclass modules are well designed and polished products that are easy to recommend. We'd love to see these more frequently in schools, but encouraging the same apps in home use is sure to help students who are struggling with a subject. Repeat use of these games are also likely to appeal to students, only reinforcing their understanding of the subjects.
Summary:
⬤ Highly polished and presented.
⬤ Well designed gamified app with progressive learning.
⬤ Good enough to play more than once.
⬤ Need wide playspace - can't easily be used at a desk.
Supported Languages:
English Estonian
External Links:
YouTube:Trailer
Product Links:
