Easy VR and augmented reality content creation

VORTALS™ addresses the difficulty of creating VR and augmented reality content and puts a powerful creation tool in students’ hands.

It is Australian made, Perth-based Cognetic Technologies is the group behind VORTALS™ that enables students to build immersive education experiences while developing essential tech skills.

Stella Jinman, Principal of Cecil Andrews College, the first school to pilot the platform said, “Vortals has been a highly effective STEM program that has been utilised across a range of learning areas and embraced by the students. The students have been very motivated and learned to quickly navigate with the tools, use critical thinking and creativity to experiment with innovative learning platforms in VR and AR. The students are currently incorporating the technology into a solar bench outdoor classroom with school and industry including Western Power”.

After successfully deploying the platform in several leading STEM schools throughout Australia, the Cognetic Technologies team were selected as the only WA company in the Future Minds Accelerator program. Backed by Rio Tinto, AWS and Blue Chilli, the aim of the program is to prepare Australia’s young people to thrive.

Cognetic Technologies Co-founder Russell Scott said, “Being selected in the Future Minds Accelerator program has really validated our focus on giving educators the tools to teach 21st century skills and prepare our students for jobs of the future”.

Acceptance into the program will also see leading start-up accelerator Blue Chilli joining early investors like Swinburne Ventures in supporting the rapid growth of the Cognetic Technologies business. The team are currently also in discussions with global tech giants HTC and Unity regarding an accelerated global deployment of the VORTALS™ platform.

Cognetic Technologies Co-founder Nick Stamatiou said, “The recent COVID-19 pandemic has really highlighted the importance of teaching digital skills to students from a young age, and giving them pathways for learning development that will lead to real career opportunities”.

Scott said, “We are currently looking to accelerate deployments of the VORTALS™ platform across Australian schools and give educators the confidence they need to teach digital skills in a structured way”.

Cognetic Technologies is making the platform available to schools on a free trial until the end of June 2020.