Designing an Educational Metaverse: A Case Study of NTUniverse

Abstract

An up-and-coming concept that seeks to transform how students learn about and study complex systems, as well as how industrial workers are trained, metaverse technology is characterized in this context by its use in virtual simulation and analysis. In this work, a virtual environment is created that duplicates real-world situations and enables immersive and interactive learning in the educational metaverse. For this purpose, we built a digital twin of the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) campus as a foundation, called NTUniverse. It is designed as an educational metaverse in which various academic and analytical applications are digitized as 3D content embedded within this virtual campus. The approach to digitally twinning educational systems and embedding them within virtual campuses enables remote and collaborative learning as well as professional technical skills training. It also makes feasible the analysis of abstract concepts, complicated structures, dynamic processes, and sensitive industrial procedures virtually, which is otherwise challenging if not impossible to perform in the real world. The work offers important insights into the behaviors and interactions of systems in the metaverse by evaluating design choices and user interests. NTUniverse is an attempt to explore a novel approach that addresses remote education and training challenges. Three efforts with NTUniverse will be discussed in this work, including (1) digitalization of the NTU campus; (2) campus train modelling and simulation; and (3) science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.

Digital Twin—A Review of the Evolution from Concept to Technology and Its Analytical Perspectives on Applications in Various Fields

“…Also, in the realm of education, utilizing the Digital Twin and the NVIDIA Omniverse platform, Sim et al [96] developed three modules for NTUniverse (NTU): digitalizing the NTU campus, modeling the campus train, and virtual education. Thus, the Digital Twin contributes to the digitalization of the university campus, providing users with a realistic immersive experience by integrating detailed building components and accurately simulating railway transportation and vehicle dynamics, while also allowing students to interact in safe and interactive 3D environments.…”