Quick take:
- Hong Kong Polytechnic University has launched a metaverse postgraduate programme.
- The one-year Master of Science in Metaverse Technology programme kicks off next September.
- The programme aims to educate students about the nature of metaverses and the fundamental technology for building metaverses.
Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has launched the city’s first-ever metaverse postgraduate programme. The “Master of Science in Metaverse Technology” programme is set to begin September 2023, according to the PolyU website.
According to the course outline, the programme aims to educate students about the nature of metaverses and the fundamental technology for building metaverses.
The programme will be offered under the engineering faculty’s computing department and will run for a period of 12 months. Students will be learning among other subjects, “pursue careers in start-ups and big players in the metaverse industry” PolyU wrote on its website.
The metaverse is generally described as a 3D virtual space where people can interact with each other through gaming, virtual concerts and other experiential events. The burgeoning industry has become one of the most trending topics over the past 12 months, following the rebranding of Facebook to Meta Platforms.
Recent studies have estimated the metaverse could be worth trillions of dollars by the year 2030. This has initiated an insatiable demand from the mainstream with leading technology companies looking to pounce on the opportunity.
Hong Kong PolyU is not the first educational institution to launch a metaverse programme. Universities in the city have ramped up their programmes in a bid to prevent students from moving overseas.
In September, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) announced the Web3 Carnival, a series of online discussions set to take place in November about the sector.
Though no clear definition yet, web3 enthusiasts describe it as the next generation of the internet, built on the decentralised ledger technology to democratise the web. Its popularity is driven by the rapid adoption of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and decentralised apps.
In February, Ankara University became Turkey’s first higher education institution to offer a course on NFTs. In July, the University of Tokyo launched study programs in the metaverse under the university’s engineering department.
Earlier last month, the University of Houston launched its metaverse campaign with AI innovation Consortium, Nvidia and TechnipFMC. It is part of the university’s attempts to play a part in the industrial metaverse. Later in the month, Draper University and CEEK VR teamed up to launch a metaverse and VR hacker house.
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