Empowering Tomorrow’s Learners with Metaverse-Inspired Problem-Solving Education

This next-generation educational program is being carried out in conjunction with Education A³ of Fukuoka City (Representative Director: Yuichi Kusaba ) which is a Certified NPO Corporation. Education A³ is working to eliminate disparities within children’s education, particularly in the Fukuoka area, by operating alternative schools for children who are unable to attend mainstream education. The program aims to help these children nurture problem-solving abilities and ways of thinking that differ from what they would learn in mainstream classes.

It has four sessions and caters to students across a variety of age ranges, from the third grade of elementary school to high school. The first session was held at EY Digital Hub Fukuoka, facility established by EY to lead Japan’s digital transformation. Members of EY Strategy and Consulting’s Technology Consulting team provided a communication experience using the metaverse and virtual reality (VR).

The children were each provided with tablets to enter a virtual recreation of Fukuoka City’s Torikai Hachimangu shrine. They explored the shrine and its grounds using an avatar (a virtual character of themselves) which they created and took part in an information-gathering activity. They also used VR headsets to be more immersed in the virtual world, where they worked on clearing missions.

EY Japan also supported the building of the metaverse version of Torikai Hachimangu shrine that was used in the program. For c.1800 years, the shrine has been a center of faith and communication within the region so we gave thought to how to optimize the shrine in a way that would be relevant to the modern world.

EY Japan is also proposing and developing projects which unite cutting-edge technologies, including the metaverse, with our support for companies and organizations that are exploring new initiatives or are interested in merging real and digital environments. Building a metaverse version of Torikai Hachimangu shrine is just one example of our work.

The team from EY Japan used the same approach to create the metaverse experience for children as they do when giving a client demonstration in their everyday roles. Firstly, it was important that the children had a visceral experience of the metaverse by using a VR headset. Today, children are often referred to as digital natives and can quickly familiarize themselves with how to operate technology, with younger children tending to master it the fastest. One of the children at the session commented: “When I entered the metaverse, it was surprising at the start. But then it was fun, and I thought that modern technology is amazing.”