The Greek philosopher, Aristotle allegedly said – “Give me a child until the age of seven and I will show you the man”.  This quote probably was based on the assumption that in Ancient Greece, by the age of seven, education would have prepared the child for adulthood.  Whether or not this was the case, what is clear is that the youthful mind, untainted by the pressures of the adult world, is able to range freely, think the seemingly impossible and view the world in a very different way to the mind of the adult.  As society increasingly embraces the digital, virtual world, created by the Internet, social media and the exponential growth of gaming technology, then I would argue that learning in the virtual world, where risk is minimal and opportunities limitless, increasingly will become a key part of any educational or training programme, whether in the formal educational system or in the work place.

Harnessing the imagination of youth

The lifestyle of young people is shaped by the virtual world. It conditions how they think and act, where nothing is impossible and experimentation can be carried out fearlessly.  Furthermore, they are not afraid of change – change is the norm. Our young people view the world differently – they tend to look at the digital world before the real world, to see what the digital world is doing and how the real world then reacts.  It is about experience – not the physical object. Young people measure life by experiences and are shaped by it. It is is how that shaping occurs which determines how people develop and grow.

Application of Experience

The technology employed to integrate and visualise data across the Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE platform can form the backbone of education and training in the virtual world. Our scientific approach should be directed at taking Dassault Systèmes’ involvement in academia beyond the use of technology products to providing the means to stimulate learning and research, and to train the mind to think and imagine beyond the boundaries of education as currently perceived. This is now underway with some universities but we are only just on the threshold of a true, immersive, educational experience.

For example, the training of engineers in complex tasks is greatly simplified in the virtual world where rich, immersive experiences make such learning absorbing and enjoyable, with training carried out at the pace of the individual, enabling the rapid assimilation of knowledge in a cost effective and time saving manner. The virtual experience encourages the mind to imagine alternative options and solutions, and to think without constraint. Similar approaches have a significant range of possibilities in the medical world, where exploring the virtual human body and the life sciences which support it could lead to life sustaining techniques unheard of today and revolutionise the way people live in the sustainable cities and communities of the future. The ground-breaking Living Heart Project, made possible by Dassault Systèmes’ application of science, is but a step in that revolutionary direction.

Creating Sustainability

Exposing the rich environment of the virtual world to the wider field of general education will open up the mind to discovery and experimentation, leading to a generation of young people able to innovate and create in a way which leads to long term benefits for society as it learns to embrace the digital age of experience, exploit it and realise its value.

We have yet to understand fully the extent to which we can use the virtual world. If we can now capture the excitement created by gaming technologies and the readily available Virtual Reality consumer products, we will open the portal to a truly dynamic and revolutionary world of education, offering considerable benefits to the world in which we live as we immerse ourselves in the development and sustainm