This VR technology enhances teaching and learning with over 100 educational apps and experiences available.
Tucked in an unassuming corner of the first floor of Elizabeth Dafoe Library is a room that could be any other classroom. But this space, UM Libraries new Extended Reality (XR) Lab, is more than a classroom or repurposed study space: it is a portal to other worlds. Students and faculty can put on a VR headset and step into space, geographic locations across the world, or the inside of a cell, without ever leaving the library.
Since its launch in December 2025, students and faculty from across the university have visited the XR Lab to try out the technology and explore possibilities for using virtual, mixed or augmented reality to enhance teaching and learning.
The XR Lab is designed to be accessible to all users, regardless of technical background. Adnan Farooq, Digital Facilities Technician at the Libraries, who runs the XR Lab, provides orientations and support on the available software and hardware. No one needs to be a tech expert to start exploring. “It is incredibly rewarding to take a complicated piece of technology and make it accessible for faculty and students to use effectively,” Farooq says.
The XR Lab includes four dedicated VR stations using either the HTC Vive Pro 2 or Meta Quest 3 headsets, plus a nine-seat teaching space equipped with a high-end desktop workstation. There are over 100 educational apps and experiences available for students and faculty to explore.
The first few months of the XR Lab have focused on introducing faculty and students to the immersive technology, as not everyone is familiar with using VR headsets, despite the technology’s growing popularity, especially in higher education. The Rady Faculty of Health Sciences already uses VR for simulated training environments, but there are opportunities to use XR for learning across disciplines.
This spring, the XR Lab hosted a Faculty Day for the School of Art, welcoming faculty, staff, and students into the space to test immersive technology, setting up demos that let users experience immersive creation tools.
“I am very excited about the new XR Lab and the possibilities it opens up for both teaching and artistic experimentation,” says Derek Brueckner, instructor with the School of Art. “It was especially enjoyable to revisit Tilt Brush after not using it for several years. Tools like this provide a compelling way for artists to explore drawing and painting in three-dimensional virtual space, and they offer a very different kind of studio art-making experience than what students typically encounter.”
Brueckner can see the vision for how the XR Lab can enhance students’ artistic practice. “It will be exciting to see how students respond to the technology and how it might open new directions in their work.”
The XR Lab provides endless potential for interdisciplinary collaboration across faculties. “Spaces like this create opportunities for artists, designers, technologists, and university researchers to explore new creative approaches together,” Brueckner says.
The Faculty of Education has also been enthusiastic about using the XR Lab to explore how extended reality can reshape modern pedagogy. Kevin Oliver, Instructional Designer with the Faculty of Education, recently taught a class in the lab, hosting sessions of 30 students at a time. The goal was to introduce students heading into their teaching practicums to XR technology to see how they can apply XR in their own classrooms.
The XR Lab provided a curated selection of apps for the class to try, giving them a broad experience with tools ranging from science and education, to creativity and design. The students were highly engaged and brainstormed incredibly unique use cases for integrating this technology into their future teaching.
Farooq would like to see more faculties plan their own dedicated days at the Lab. “We want to show the rest of the campus exactly how XR technology can benefit their specific research, teaching and student experiences.” The best way for faculty to learn about possibilities for XR use in their classes is to try it out themselves.
A number of special interest groups have used the XR Lab to introduce this technology to future university students. The goal is to show them how XR impacts not only teaching but learning in a 3D environment—moving beyond the limitations of a flat screen to true immersion. Whether it is visualizing complex data or "walking" through historical sites, the goal is to demonstrate that this technology is a viable, accessible tool for their future academic careers.
XR removes physical and geographical barriers to education. It allows students to gain experiential understanding of complex, distant, or abstract subjects through interactive environments. A class can be transported to the International Space Station or deep underwater without them ever leaving the library. This kind of immersion improves retention and engagement, offering a "learning by doing" approach that traditional lectures sometimes struggle to match.
“[The Libraries] goal is to democratize access to this technology,” says Farooq. “We want to ensure that XR isn't just seen as a niche tool for computer scientists or gamers, but as a viable research and learning aid for everyone—from English literature majors to Engineering students.”
At UM, we encourage life-long curiosity while providing tools – inside and outside the classroom – to succeed in a rapidly changing world. Empowering learners is one of the strategic themes you’ll find in MomentUM: Leading change together, the University of Manitoba’s 2024–2029 strategic plan.
It takes human-centered teaching, genuine care for students, and innovative assignments that encourage critical thinking.
Daniel Eng has done it all at Asper — from exchange, to case competitions — and he's still pining for the next adventure.
Asper School MBA students conduct a cost-benefit analysis on converting diesel school buses to electric.
Two decades of severe thunderstorms, storm chasing and field techniques
