Thought Leaders in Online Education: David Lord, CEO of JumpStart (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: Talk to be me about the state of the union as far as virtual reality games are concerned.

David Lord: It’s an interesting time. The promise of virtual reality is infinite and yet the delivery is still three to six months in. That three to six months was a little bit more exciting than I think anybody had anticipated. Now, we’re at a time when we can start to evaluate new games in an entirely new light. To take the leadership in virtual reality for education, you have to first use virtual reality to understand its capabilities.

Secondly, you have to understand that content will drive the adoption. The killer app will be the driver of the technology adoption along with price reductions and inexpensive alternatives for schools that can just be bolted on to current platforms and yet offer significant advantages in learning.

Sramana Mitra: I’m with you on the promise of virtual reality games especially in learning. My question is what is the state of union in virtual reality games in learning. Is there any virtual reality game that is in the market today and that is being played actively?

David Lord: No, I don’t think there are. Our games which will launch in 30 to 45 days will be the first ones. We’ve been fortunate enough to invest in a platform to deliver these learning games. I agree with you. We’re at the beginning of what is going to be a very long cycle.

Sramana Mitra: This game that you are bringing out, what is going to be the price point?

David Lord: It’s going to be free-to-play.

Sramana Mitra: What equipment do people need on their end to be able to play this?

David Lord: It will work on all of the big ones. It’s really about having ubiquity. We’ve always ben a cross-platform play.

Sramana Mitra: Do these children have virtual reality equipment like Oculus? The equipment has been adopted more by the core gaming segment and the geek segment. It’s not in the small children’s hands that that equipment rests today.

David Lord: I completely agree. There’s not doubt that there’s going to be an adoption phase. It will start in the older ages as opposed to the younger ages. There’s no doubt about that. On the state of the union, we’re at day two. Adaptive learning is here and now. While the rest of it is not trending right now, the mobile platforms and mobile gaming are significant markets and opportunities in their own right.

Sramana Mitra: It sounds like the space that is ripe for innovation is virtual reality gaming, learning games as it pertains to virtual reality. If you’re an entrepreneur doing a learning game for virtual reality for the small children segment, you really have a very serious adoption curve ahead of you.

David Lord: Absolutely. If you’re a young entrepreneur working on the younger kids, you really want to be thinking of a forward-looking engine that’s going to give you that capability when and if you need it.

Sramana Mitra: Thank you for your time.

This segment is part 3 in the series : Thought Leaders in Online Education: David Lord, CEO of JumpStart
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