NOVA (www.novavirtualworld.com), the Ai avatar educational platform, is designed to reignite the passion for education and bring it up to date with our digital world. The metaverse solution offers a new era of education and more personalized learning with 3D, game-like, immersive classes, with AI avatars that complement and support live teachers. NOVA’s mission is to get students excited and motivated about education once again. The virtual classes that take place nowadays in a boring Zoom environment will be replaced by a new world of immersive learning and entertainment.
NOVA’s founding team is professor Jean Arnaud, Michaela Jamelska, and Patricia Jamelska—serial entrepreneurs and industry professionals who are building the educational platform of the future. The idea of Nova was formed before the pandemic a few years ago to bring the world’s first immersive meta school and its development continues. The NOVA is developing a product that targets the real problems in education. Many EdTech startups’ pitfalls lay in their lack of both real-life understanding of the educational industry and teaching expertise. While they may have top-notch engineers, industry expertise is what makes a difference.
“I have been always passionate about education but lacked a modern aspect to it. I sometimes found it hard to pay attention during the class and drifted away in my thoughts. Since then I wanted to find a more interesting way to study,“ Michaela says. “A few years back, I mentioned in my research thesis term – virtuality – which was my own invented word at that time for a completely new world, that will exist outside material space with endless possibilities since our real-world has a lot of limitations, “ Michaela continues.
Nova’s implementation strategy relies not only on the innovative capabilities of the software platform but equally on valuable front-row experiences and the lessons the team learned in the industry.
“One of the problems with mass education today is a lack of personalization and the fact that education has not changed for many years,“ says founder, Jean Arnaud. “We create an innovative digital solution that will accelerate the emergence of meta-schools and provide advanced capabilities to enable meta-learning in a safe, creative, and immersive environment, capable of individualizing teaching and achieving the ideal that every school should aim for. NOVA solution will help students to reach their full potential,” says Professor Jean Arnaud.
The team describes that for students, entering into a NOVA classroom will be like stepping into Narnia from the comfort of their own space. The AI avatars will support students during their studies, and teachers will have expanded possibilities with digital tools that make each class a unique experience. Students will have their avatars in the 3D environments and interact with each other and their teachers despite being miles away in real life.
“NOVA brings new possibilities to students and their learning experience. We are empowering students to create the educational world that fits their needs and guides them through their educational as well as personal development,“ Patricia says.
The world is facing what the World Bank has called the “worst education crisis in a century,” in that younger generations are progressively losing interest in education. What’s more, the education industry is lagging behind other sectors in many aspects of innovation, although education is undoubtedly a key driver for future innovation. COVID-19 uncovered the current educational system’s several weaknesses, and our unpreparedness, as well as our educational faculty and staff’s lack of skills in working with digital tools, resulted in failure to track homework and effectively adjust to the new normal. This time, a virus disrupted school life, but we need to rethink our preparedness in light of climate change threats and the fast deployment of technologies as well. Next time, we must be ready.
