Science centers and similar institutions around the world are increasingly turning to sophisticated technologies to offer fun and meaningful experiences for their audiences. Among these, Virtual Reality (VR) has become an effective resource for its significance in providing immersive gamified experiences for visitors.

However, while VR has conventionally been designed around individuals’ space, its potential for social learning and shared exploration remains untapped. This provides an important discourse as to how VR based immersive environments can be leveraged effectively to encourage ‘shared exploration’ and enable skills like teamwork, particularly among young audiences i.e., children and teens.

In this session, ilmi Science Discovery and Innovation Center will share insights from ‘Mission: Red Sea’, a multi-user social VR experience designed for children and families to take them on an 11-minute underwater journey of the Red Sea. Primarily designed for children aged 6-16 years old, the social VR experience integrates Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Arts, and mathematics (STREAM) principles to offer learning in a gamified exploratory environment. Through a collaborative journey, the participants engage in discovery, earn badges, and explore marine life together. Besides the experience significance for offering fun, it aims to foster key skills among participants such as collaboration, communication, and problem-solving.

The presentation will also highlight some key evidence-based insights to demonstrate the impact of Red Sea experience on children and teens such as building empathy and awareness for the environment.