Meta’s launching a VR education program with a bunch of universities—think big names like Imperial College London, University of Glasgow, and University of Leeds. This “Meta for Education” beta gives these schools early access to VR apps and tools so students can dive into experiences that are normally too expensive or tough to get in real life.
The goal? Let teachers try out these VR and XR tools in real classrooms, then give feedback so Meta can fine-tune before the full launch. As Monica Arés from Imperial’s IDEA Lab puts it, “This is bigger than just one school or company—VR’s letting us mix the digital and real worlds, creating some seriously exciting tools for learning.”
On top of the beta, Meta’s building virtual “metaversities” in Europe. Leeds, Basque Country, and Hannover now have digital twins, basically virtual versions of their campuses, where students can hang out, explore, and take live classes from anywhere. Leeds is already using it for theater classes, Basque will start up next year with anatomy and physio classes, and Hannover’s jumping in soon too.
Meta’s also backing more resources for teachers. They’re funding an English guide on immersive tech for French educators and supporting the Netherlands’ Immersive Learning Academy, which focuses on creating solid VR content and teacher training.
Meta’s VR division, Reality Labs, is losing serious cash, with a $4.4 billion hit just in the latest quarter. That’s not an unusual thing for them lately; they’ve been seeing billions in losses every quarter throughout the year. While revenue from VR gear like Quest headsets has grown (up 29% in Q3 to around $270 million), that bump is nowhere near enough to offset the massive expenses Reality Labs racks up from things like R&D, infrastructure, and staffing.
Despite the losses, Meta is pushing forward, betting that once the tech matures and the whole metaverse concept becomes clearer, they’ll be in the lead. They’re also probably hoping Apple’s Vision Pro headset will get more people into VR, which could help make Meta’s VR/AR tech feel more like a mainstream thing.
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