Announcing the beta version of GOOCUS360, a VR-specific general-purpose LMS that enables group experiential education in a virtual environment.

 Announcing the beta version of GOOCUS360, a VR-specific general-purpose LMS that enables group experiential education in a virtual environment.

Specialized for use in the 360°VR Theater Installed in the Faculty of Engineering at Hokkaido University, All kinds of VR videos can be provided as educational and learning VR experiences without the need for specialized technology.

Castalia Co., Ltd. (CEO: Satoshi Yamawaki, Head office: Shiojiri, Nagano, Japan; Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo) announced GOOCUS360 (beta version), a general-purpose LMS that enables learning in a virtual environment, at a regular Hokkaido University press conference on March 16, 2012. GOOCUS360 allows users to add text, quizzes, etc. to any VR video without the need for specialized VR video software or editing techniques. GOOCUS360 aims to make it easy for anyone to realize new learning experiences in the near future.
GOOCUS360 is based on the company's mobile learning platform GOOCUS, optimized for use in a VR environment, and was developed in collaboration with Professor Yohei Kawamura and the Resource Management Laboratory of the Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University.

Castalia CEO Satoshi Yamawaki (left) and co-development partner Yohei Kawamura, Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University (right)

Demonstration in the 360°VR Theater. Introducing the reality of child labor in Ethiopia.

■Background of GOOCUS360 Development
GOOCUS360 is a virtual experience-based learning system developed by Castalia in collaboration with Professor Yohei Kawamura of Hokkaido University's Faculty of Engineering. Castalia's mobile learning platform GOOCUS is optimized for use in a 360-degree VR theater developed by Professor Kawamura. The main feature of this system is that it does not require conventional VR glasses, so it can be used by elementary school students, etc. It is a group experience, just like a classroom, and also promotes understanding by displaying quizzes and texts using GOOCUS360. The experience of answering quizzes together with all participants will allow children in particular to experience various social issues in the world as if they were in the field, and aims to lead to learning through experience.
The 360°VR Theater of the Faculty of Engineering at Hokkaido University is not currently open to the public, but we plan to offer experiences for use on limited dates and times in the future.
In the future, we plan to expand the use of the theater to a VR environment with HMD.

■360°VR Theater: Japan's first VR theater for field science experience

The 360°VR Theater of the Faculty of Engineering at Hokkaido University is a cylindrical theater with a diameter of 8m and a height of 2.4m, enabling many people to simultaneously experience immersive 3D stereoscopic field science.
Field science is conducted in underground (mines), underwater, outer space, forests, etc., which are not easy to experience. Hokkaido University, which has strengths in these fields, has been searching for a methodology that allows students to experience these sites as part of their education. As a first step, we have tested a virtual experience using a head-mounted display (HMD), but the limitation of personal use prevented us from achieving sufficient educational effects. In other words, the role of the guide who explains the situation on site is extremely important. This led to the design and construction of the newly released 360°VR Theater. The theater frees the user from individual limitations and allows groups (up to 10 people) to share the experience. This is the first time in Japan that a group of people can experience field science in a 360° stereoscopic view.


Project 360° images on the screen from six projectors located on the top. Three-dimensional images can be projected for a more immersive VR experience.

Resource Management Laboratory
Resource Management Laboratory team, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, who co-developed the project.


■About GOOCUS
This is a mobile learning platform developed by Castalia. With "continuity of learning" centered on smartphones as the main axis of development, we are researching how we can make learning an everyday experience by pursuing the three key elements of "social learning," "visualization of learning," and "gamification.

■About CASTALIA
Castalia Corporation is a technology company specializing in the education business. We develop and provide learning tools using cutting-edge technology to help individuals and organizations learn more efficiently in a complex and diverse changing society.