![\"OLYMPUS](\"http:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2016\/11\/Assembled_Google_Cardboard_VR_mount.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Google has committed to bringing VR to over one million schoolchildren in the United Kingdom, according to the industry giant\u2019s new CEO Sundar Pichai.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s quite a statement to make on his first visit to the UK since assuming his new role at Google, but it certainly stamps the firm\u2019s authority on the VR reality market and getting the tech to the masses.<\/p>\n
Google believes VR has a number of benefits for schools, improving learning processes and bringing something different and engaging to the classroom. No one likes staring at a whiteboard for hours on end.<\/p>\n
It has already announced its free-of-charge Expeditions VR programme<\/a>, allowing teachers to take their students on virtual field trips to locations all over the world. Google\u2019s team is touring the country showing schools the benefits of embracing VR tech.<\/p>\n “Google put VR into schools Stateside last year and the arrival of the program in the UK is long overdue,” Paul Lamkin, editor of Wareable<\/a>, told the Voice of London. “Sure, it\u2019s free publicity for Google and its Cardboard and Daydream platforms but it\u2019s also a brilliant experience for kids – especially those who haven\u2019t yet had the chance to experience VR.<\/p>\n “Virtual reality, even \u2018budget\u2019 VR on mobile device gives teachers the opportunity to visualise their lessons in ways previously not possible. For a kid who grew up in the 90s, believe me when I say that VR is a far cry from wheeling in an old TV and playing a VHS tape about the Pyramids or the Amazon jungle. VR takes you to those places, letting you experience them for yourself. It\u2019s the ultimate virtual field trip.”<\/p>\n Pichai has set his sights on expanding this programme and bringing the VR world to even more people, setting the target of one million schoolchildren in the UK.<\/p>\n