EON Reality, a world leader in Augmented and Virtual Reality (AVR), the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and five other partners have signed an agreement to open the first Virtual Reality Interactive Digital Center in Morocco.
The center will be located at the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University campus in Ben Guerir, a town one hour north of Marrakech. It will include a showroom, a development lab, and a research and development hub.
On May 10, at a launch ceremony at the Sofitel in Rabat, EON Reality signed a memorandum of understanding with USAID, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, the Agency for Digital Development, Mohammed V University of Rabat, the Moroccan Ministry of Industry, Investment, Trade and Digital Economy, and the Moroccan Ministry of National Education, Vocational Training, Higher Education and Scientific Research.
EON Reality will implement the project over the next five years. The project’s purpose is to prepare students for a digital world through AVR teaching methods. For Mats Johansson, the founder of EON Reality, “knowledge is a human right.” He said part of the project’s goals is to facilitate knowledge transfer.
The center will train teachers and develop curricula in AVR, in fields such as aerospace and agronomy, as well as set up the world’s largest library of AVR material. It will train up to 100 students per year in AVR skills, and develop a 3D classroom model to benefit over 5000 students. It will also upskill workers in targeted industries. The project aims to increase the employability of Moroccan youth, and build entrepreneurship.
Morocco technology hub
At the launch, Sidi Mohammed Drissi Melyani from the Agency for Digital Development noted this project is “an unprecedented revolution,” positioning Morocco as a technology hub and accelerating the country’s digital development.
The center will be at the forefront of technological innovation and is a new concept in Morocco. “We are surfing the wave of VR,” Khalid Baddou, the chief communication officer at Mohammed VI Polytechnic, told Morocco World News.
The job landscape is changing from technology disruptions. “We are trying to anticipate changes and create a new generation of African leaders,” he added.
After taking her AVR headset off, Stephanie Miley, the US Embassy charge d’affaires explained what she saw. “You are looking at an engine turbine. You can approach it, and move around it. You can look at it from different angles, down the middle for example. It is quite amazing.”
EON Reality is a multinational virtual reality and augmented reality software developer from the US.
In 2017, EON Reality set up the H2O Maghreb Project in Morocco to improve water management practices in the country and in the rest of the Maghreb region. The program taught a water management training program which was delivered through VR tools to the Moroccan National Office for Electricity and Water.