BY DAYO ADESULU
In its continued commitment to academic innovation across the continent, Honoris United Universities (www.Honoris.net) – the first and largest pan-African network of private higher education institutions – has announced the roll-out of its first pan-African augmented and virtual reality platform in partnership with California-based world leader, EON Reality.
The key verticals of engineering and IT, health sciences and architecture will be the first to benefit from the embedded XR solutions making its debut in Morocco at leading Honoris institutions Ecole Marocaine des Sciences de l’Ingénieur (EMSI) and Ecole d’Architecture de Casablanca (EAC), before its expansion across the continent. Students will have the opportunity to experience virtual field trips, undergo simulated lab exercises, emulate real-life building projects and more to enhance the learning experience and further increase job preparedness. EON Reality’s 21 years of success have affirmed the company as the de-facto standard of AR/VR education software for skills transfer to clients including Boeing, BP, GSK and Accenture delivered through partnerships with the world’s leading tech companies like Apple, Microsoft and Google.
Extended Reality (XR) is the umbrella term that covers various technologies that enhance the senses, whether by providing additional information about the actual world or creating totally unreal, simulated worlds to increase educational effectiveness. XR includes Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) technologies. As continued Covid-19 restrictions change the way in which institutions impart knowledge and skills to their students, the addition of the EON-XR infrastructure allows Honoris to provide an immersive, hands-on experience both on and off-campus.
Honoris institutions are united in developing sustainable academic models that are future-oriented and employability-focused
Commenting on the announcement, Hassan Filali, CEO of Honoris in Morocco and project lead across the Honoris network said, “Higher education is undergoing a fundamental reorganization, with a pivot towards new learning systems and technologies that accelerate and improve skills acquisition. We are delighted to partner with EON Reality. The EON-XR solutions will contribute to introducing interactive and immersive AR & VR lessons in the curricula to continuously improve the student experience. At Honoris, we are committed to investing in academic innovation and exploring new methods of delivery with a strong focus on student success.”
Honoris United Universities group CEO, Dr. Jonathan Louw, added, “Honoris institutions are united in developing sustainable academic models that are future-oriented and employability-focused. I am proud of all the efforts deployed by our faculty to develop strategic partnerships in Africa and across the globe to enhance both student experience and student outcomes. The intrinsic cross-pollination between our institutions helps foster and scale academic innovation and collectively re-imagine education to prepare world-class African talent.”
In support of its focus on employability, Honoris continually invests in reshaping the delivery of its education to match the needs of employers against the backdrop of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, preparing 21st-century African talent for a more digitized, technologically advanced world of work.
The surge in popularity that the pandemic brought to the XR company has allowed EON Reality to assist colleges and universities around the world to improve their XR offerings. “Partnering with Honoris United Universities gives us the opportunity to expand far beyond our existing markets to key educational hubs in Africa. Bringing a delivery of EON-XR to a system of universities as diverse and expansive as Honoris is truly a one-of-a-kind opportunity for us to reach as many people as possible. I look forward to seeing how this partnership continues into the future.” – Dan Lejerskar, Founder of EON Reality.
Honoris is committed to creating a transformative impact in education across Africa by remaining at the forefront of academic innovation, finding in EON Reality a perfect partner to prepare world-class African talent. Further proof lies in EON Reality’s global development network – with more than 20 locations worldwide – creating the world’s leading AR/VR library for education and industry with over 8,000 applications and over 40 million users worldwide
