Average university has fewer than two VR headsets for games students

Academic institutes around the world are keen on including VR development among the many games courses they offer, but most are unequipped to do so.

A new study by Crytek, the Germany-based firm behind the VR-optimised CryEngine, found that the average university has fewer than two headsets available to their students. This is despite overwhelming interest in the craft of virtual reality.

More than 400 universities expressed an interested in VR, according to VentureBeat, with 201 applying to be a VR First Lab, an academic initiative launched by Crytek earlier this year. 

Of those 201, around 88 per cent already offer, or are planning to introduce, a virtual reality course.

Oculus Rift represents a majority – 67 per cent – of the headsets that have actually made it to university classrooms. A further 15 per cent are Samsung’s Gear VR device, with Vive VR making up 11 per cent.

Crytek’s senior business development manager Ferhan Özkan says this needs to be improved upon if the virtual reality market is going to attract the skills it needs.

“According to our predictions, the VR industry is likely to require many more skilled development graduates than it will be producing in the next years,” he said. “At the same time our data clearly shows that universities are under-equipped to implement educational goals and satisfy the VR industry’s demand.”