South Florida PBS VR wizardry: igniting a love for learning
How can we motivate more young digital natives to embrace traditional educational subjects like art, music and health? South Florida PBS and Starmark accomplished it in three unforgettable ways, all leveraging the magic of virtual reality.
South Florida PBS, Florida’s largest public media company, serves approximately 6.3 million viewers of all ages and cultural backgrounds. Their educational content is trusted by teachers, parents, grandparents and caregivers to promote healthy child development.
The broadcasting company partnered with Starmark to create a series of virtual reality (VR) experiences that can engage children and teens in ways traditional learning can’t. The result was exciting, immersive— and made possible only by the wizardry of VR!
The Lesson Plan
Three immersive educational experiences were created for South Florida PBS traveling events and a new permanent place in the organization’s future arts and cultural center, opening in 2025. The target audience: pre teens, teens and their families, allowing for a shared VR experience with up to six people participating at once.
Starmark began by outlining educational experiences that align with current South Florida PBS programming and the organization’s educational mission. We also used a combination of AI-generated mood boards and comps to align on art style and affect with the client before any development began.
Each of the VR educational experiences were also aligned to Florida State education standards to broaden the appeal of this attraction. It allows local school systems to visit the center for field trips in a way that can be applied toward a grade and credit in the classroom.
The Curriculum
South Florida PBS Central Park
Visitors begin by entering this Welcome Pavilion floating in the sky. It’s South Florida PBS-branded with a strong regional vibe and gives users a vista of all the experiences on the horizon. Within this free-roam environment, visitors get familiar with the basic VR navigation before choosing one of the three experiences available. The hub-and-spoke design also allows for future expansion.
Virtual reality education has the power to immerse students in extraordinary ways. The more we can engage young digital natives, the greater their ability to process and retain what they learn.
— Brett Circe, Starmark Chief Digital Officer
Art Experience
Students learn about different styles from master works created by a local Cuban artist. The artist’s own daughter hosts the walking tour, sharing details about his art through the decades. This finishes with an interactive 3D experience: visitors get to draw in the style of the artist.
Health Experience
Sleep is critical to physical and mental health. To learn why, guests are thrust into a human brain and instructed to create gentle brain waves across a pool of cerebrospinal fluid to flush debris out of the brain. They must clear out as much as possible before their human awakens the next morning.
Music Experience
Music rocks when you learn by doing! Guests are greeted by a South Florida PBS music personality at the Miami Beach Bandshell to learn the basics of music education. They then are encouraged to play “Doxie” by Miles Davis and follow along as it’s performed by Young Musicians Unite in front of an audience of VR avatars.
The Report Card: A+ Results!
Since the South Florida PBS VR Educational Experience debut it continues to engage students and their families, delivering fresh, leading-edge learning adventures about traditional educational topics.