Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


Ed Dept. Launches $680,000 Augmented and Virtual Reality Challenge

The United States Department of Education (ED) has formally kicked off a new competition designed to encourage the development of virtual and augmented reality concepts for education.

Dubbed the EdSim Challenge, the competition is aimed squarely at developing students' career and technical skills — it's funded through the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 — and calls on developers and ed tech organizations to develop concepts for "computer-generated virtual and augmented reality educational experiences that combine existing and future technologies with skill-building content and assessment. Collaboration is encouraged among the developer community to make aspects of simulations available through open source licenses and low-cost shareable components. ED is most interested in simulations that pair the engagement of commercial games with educational content that transfers academic, technical, and employability skills."

The competition seeks concepts from individuals and teams and will award all five finalists prizes of $50,000 to help them further develop their concepts. Finalists will also receive access to expert mentors to help with the process, along with gear and development tools, including Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge,  Galaxy Tab S2 9.7″,  Gear S3 watch and Gear VR headset, as well as an Oculus Mobile software developer kit. ED noted that other prizes may also be added later.

The submission deadline will be Jan. 17, and finalists will be announced during the winter of 2017. A "demo day" will be held in the summer, showcasing progress on the work, and a single grand prize winner will be announced soon after.

The grand prize winning project will receive $430,000.

Criteria for finalists include:

  • Learning outcomes, including clearly stated outcomes for academic or career/technical training objectives, among other things;
  • Engaging learning experience;
  • Commitment (the ability of the participant to develop the concept in the timeframe of the competition);
  • Implementation strategy for schools, taking into account challenges schools might face in implementing the concept; and
  • Scalability and expansion.

All participants must be at least 18 years old, and at least one member of each team must be a U.S. citizen. Participants must also register on the Luminary Lightbox platform. (Registration is free.)

Complete rules can be found at edsimchallenge.com/terms.

About the Author

David Nagel is the former editorial director of 1105 Media's Education Group and editor-in-chief of THE Journal, STEAM Universe, and Spaces4Learning. A 30-year publishing veteran, Nagel has led or contributed to dozens of technology, art, marketing, media, and business publications.

He can be reached at [email protected]. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrnagel/ .


Featured

  • digital brain integrating legal regulation and security interface

    Agentic AI Moves from Pilot Phase to Production, Bringing Governance to the Forefront

    New research from Caylent, an AI-focused Amazon Web Services Premier Tier Services Partner, found that enterprises are already moving agentic AI beyond pilots and into production environments. At the same time, organizations are putting strict conditions around autonomy, making governance and control the next major challenge for enterprise AI adoption.

  • Silhouettes of business professionals stand against a blurred futuristic city skyline at night, with a glowing digital network data connection

    It's Time for Higher Ed to Get Serious About AI Strategy

    Without a coordinated strategy that involves multiple academic and administrative units across the entire campus, colleges risk wasting resources, duplicating efforts, and ultimately failing to deliver on the promise of deploying technology to improve learning and operations.

  • cloud computing circuit board background

    Report: Cloud Crime on the Rise as Attackers Exploit Trust

    CrowdStrike's 2026 Threat Hunting Report traces a multiyear shift from conventional intrusions toward attacks that exploit trusted identities, cloud services, AI systems and software dependencies.

  • abstract converging light streams and particles

    Nvidia Releases Nemotron 3.5 Lightning Open AI Model

    Nvidia has introduced Nemotron 3.5 Lightning, a new open AI model designed less as an all-purpose answer engine than as a fast workhorse inside long-running AI agent systems.