RnD-Africa: Episode 1 (Virtual Reality System – All Nations University)

Welcome to RnD-Africa on AAU TV,

the voice of higher education in Africa.

RnD is a show that puts the spotlight

on Africa's
rich inventions and innovations.

This episode features an innovation
on a virtual reality system,

coming in from the All Nations University
in Koforidua

in the eastern region of Ghana.

♪ (music) ♪

The All Nations University in Ghana,

an institution endowed
with numerous innovations and inventions

has once again turned once again

what most people would use
for recreational purposes

into an educational component,

using the virtual reality system gadget.

The All Nations University
Space Systems technology laboratory

started this virtual reality project in 2020

when we had the idea to establish

the National Center
for Virtual Industrial Tour.

That is when we had the ambition

to integrate virtual reality
into education in Ghana.

Virtual reality and simulations
may seem modern to us,

but the science
and the history behind them

are centuries old.

The science behind virtual reality
was first explored in a practical sense

as far back as the 1800s,

but some could argue that it goes
all the way back to Leonardo da Vinci

and the first explorations of perspectives
and paintings of the era.

Today, virtual reality
is taking off in education

with an increasing number of schools
adapting the technology.

The virtual reality gadget
serves as an interactive content

which enables the viewer to explore
the entire 360 degrees of a scene

and allow students to experience
destinations from across the world

without ever having
to leave the classroom.

Even if the classroom is closed,
learning is still happening,

and that's when my colleagues
decided to use

different industrial sites in Ghana.

So naturally, when you're in high school,

you may go to the dam

or you may go to like
a bottling processing factory

to kind of understand
industrial technologies, engineering, etc.

And our mission
was to capture these places

and allow the students
to be able to be immersed into them.

And now we have the VR industries tour.

We're actually here in the center,
so students do come,

and they're able to experience
these different sites

from all over the country.

The innovation part of what we are doing
is to be able to develop the models.

It is an open source technology,

but then the innovator
has to innovate models

to integrate it
into that existing technology

to be applicable to a specific user.

So what the All Nations University
is doing

is that we are on the project
to develop models for education in Ghana.

Here in the university's bed
to enhance teaching and learning

and give these a practical touch.

A group of computer
and electronic engineers

have come together to leverage
existing virtual reality system

to design integrated educative models

customized to suit the needs
of the academic discipline.

Then we know the things
that they are teaching.

Then we develop the models for them

and integrate it on the system
for the use for the students.

Africa is ripe,

not only with natural resources,
but intellectual resources.

And if we're able to harness
the power of our minds

and really put our minds together,

I believe we can become innovators
and world leaders in a lot of these areas.

One area that is near and dear
to development, in my opinion,

is STEM.

And simple applications of STEM
can solve our everyday problems.

Here at ANU, for example, the air quality,
but they make real lasting impacts.

Right, things that a lot of times
people outside of Africa look down on us

and thinking we're not as advanced
or developed.

But when we come together,

we can definitely achieve
great things together.

Medical students, for instance,

can mentally image themselves
into performing surgery

and have a hand-on experiments

prior to physically threatening
the operating theater

to have a real-life experience.

For our technology, we have two brands.

We have Industrial Tool
and then we have the Virtual Learning.

For the Industrial Tool
or the process enters

going into the industrial site
with our special cameras

to take the coverage.

So for a single shoot, for a single factory,

we are looking at a process of a week

to come up with an output
for a particular factory.

Now, for the Virtual Learning,

it has to do with developing of the models,

and that takes up to two weeks to develop a specific model for the learning.

These models created by the university give students a pre-industrial exposure

by providing an opportunity to learn through experience

in contrast to the traditional method of reading and writing.

The evolution of VR in interactive learning

goes a long way to influence modern technology.

Our students at the ANU are enthusiastic to explore more

into experiential learning techniques.

The system has enhanced my learning experience immensely.

Usually, we just go into classes learning a few practicals,

but with the system, you can go far into learning what exactly you want.

Like you have more experience and a broad view of what you want to learn.

All Nations University has taken a bold step

in the world of invention and innovation

and is on the path of massive technological innovation for Africa.

It calls on all universities,

especially those in deprived communities with limited access to resources,

to partner in developing tailor-made virtual reality models

to build the skill set of their students.

Nothing like this existed in Ghana prior to this scale.

So, a lot of times VR has a lot of gaming applications,

so you might see a lot of people using it for recreational purposes.

But here at SSTL ANU, with the innovation that is kind of our backbone,

the challenge was kind of put out:

how can we utilize this technology to really extend the learning experience?

This happened during COVID,

and so what happened was students all over the world were basically shut in.

They couldn't go anywhere, right?

Learning that is effective must be hands-on and immersive.

Our Nation's University has been able to strike a balance

between the good old learning that we all are used to

and the future of education that we all need.

You have easy access to learning, you are presented with fun opportunities

as you saw with the VR display,

and also you have unlimited access to information.

Universities in Africa are assuming their proper roles

in leading the continent's socio-economic development.

It has started with the All Nations University.

The nest can be yours. Look out for your niche areas

and promote research, development, and innovations in Africa.

In most African countries,

you'll notice that the industries are centralized

either at the capitals or in a particular region,

and then we have students traveling from other regions

over hundreds of miles to this place

to experience industrial training.

So what we are actually doing

is that we are simulating the factories and the industries on this virtual reality technology

and rather taking it to the students.

So, the students do not have to travel to the factory,

but we are rather bringing the factory to the students.

The student puts the headset on,

and they have the feeling as though they are working in the industry

with explanations and everything,

just as you would have had if you had visited the industry.

This has been an interesting educative and revealing episode

on the R&D Africa program on AAU TV, and I hope you had a great show.

Follow AAU TV on Facebook and on YouTube

at the Association of African Universities for more content and programs.

My name is Lydia Mi, and until next time, it's a wrap. Bye!