Signs MOU with Smobler Studios and Multiverse Labs to democratise graduate and executive education
SINGAPORE, May 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Aventis Graduate School, an award-winning graduate school and corporate training provider headquartered in Singapore, today unveiled its metaverse roadmap to become Asia's first graduate school to enter the open metaverse. This initiative is done in collaboration with Multiverse Labs, a leading pioneer in the metaverse space, and Smobler Studios as its digital campus architect.
Called Aventis Metaverse, Aventis strives to make graduate and executive education affordable and accessible across Southeast Asia, which is the world's fastest growing region with a population of more than 700 million.
Adopting a phygital (a combination of physical and digital) approach enables professionals and executives in Southeast Asia to enjoy education in a hybrid of the physical and metaverse realms through networking, conferences and global executive or advanced management programmes.
With a virtual reality headset, graduate students and senior executives will be able to participate in the school's programmes without geographical constraints. They can learn, engage and interact with lecturers and course mates like never before virtually – taking the education experience to a whole new level. Embedding video technology such as Zoom on the metaverse will offer learners a more immersive and interactive education journey. Leveraging a groundbreaking EduFi Learn to Earn model, Aventis aims to make graduate education more affordable and accessible for all.
"By focusing on phygital, senior executives and professionals in Southeast Asia can enjoy both metaverse and physical through hybrid networking and global executive conferences. We aim to have the first Asean Conference in September to align with the return of the F1 Night Race in Singapore," said Samuel Teo, General Manager of Aventis Graduate School, which has more than 60,000 learners from around the world.
Towards a photorealistic campus
To kick off its revolutionary plan, the graduate school has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Smobler Studios and Multiverse Labs. The MOU will leverage Aventis' network of senior executives and renowned university brands, Smobler Studios' expertise in design and Multiverse Labs' photorealistic technology in the open metaverse.
Smobler Studios is a leading virtual architecture and creative agency known for their exceptional capabilities in 3D modelling and metaverse development for The Sandbox. Through its Cobbleland built on The Sandbox, it offers a multi-experience social hub, theme park and exposition that showcases companies, brands, products, services, and intellectual property. The studio will lead in the creation of the exterior and interior designs of Aventis Digital Campus' classrooms.
"Having been an educator for over two decades, it pains me to see how unaffordable higher education has become. This impacts upward social mobility of the middle class and improvement of lifestyles across the region. I am heartened to know that we are now able to democractise education through the use of technology to make it accessible to all who want to learn. Through our groundbreaking tripartite collaboration, we will be able to offer value, quality and accessibility across geographical, economic and social boundaries. This, to me, is what education should be about – making all our lives better as a collective," said Dr Loretta Chen, Co-founder of Smobler Studios and a professor who is passionate about changing the landscape of future education.
Multiverse Labs is a leading open metaverse platform that aims to allow promising individuals and groups to become leaders in the metaverse so that they can impact their local or global community. Under the MOU, its role is to plan for and allocate the amount of land needed to co-create and build a photorealistic university campus.
"We are thrilled to be partnering with Aventis and Smobler Studios, who share the same vision as us for what the future should be. Education is one of the pillars of our platform because we believe it is key to opening opportunities. It should not be exclusive and limited to a few but should be shared and accessible to anyone anywhere. Through this partnership, we hope to democratise graduate and executive education across Southeast Asia using our learn-play-earn model." said John Cheng, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Multiverse Labs.
Coming this year
Aventis Metaverse is expected to begin beta testing with the onboarding of existing students and alumni in the third quarter of this year.
"This is an exciting new chapter for us and we are extremely grateful to the support from our partners and alumni network. Let's redefine the future of graduate education together. We are actively seeking partners, educators, collaborators, and learners to join us in this exciting journey. Contact us or join our Discord or Twitter community," said Teo.
About Aventis Graduate School
Founded since 2007, Aventis is a graduate school headquartered in Singapore that champions human capital development. With more than 60,000 learners, five esteemed university partners across USA and the UK and over 3,000 successful graduates, we aim to be the leading graduate school for professionals in Asia.
