Ep. 96: The Future of Education is VR—with Tom Impallomeni

We learn more through experience. And we experience more through VR. In fact, virtual reality solves for many of the limitations of in-person learning, allowing students to practice new skills through simulation. What if the future of education is VR?Tom Impallomeni is the Cofounder and CEO of TribeXR, a startup that leverages VR to teach creative skills, with the ultimate goal of turning aspiring musicians into professionals and performers. Tom has an extensive background in building companies, and his resume includes tech startups like Virtually Live, SuperAwesome and Where Are You Now. Tom also serves as an advisor to the teams at Aflete, FireTech Camp and Pyramid. Today, Tom joins us to explain why TribeXR decided to start with DJing and what makes learning that particular skill easier in VR than it is in real life. He describes his experiences as the founder of an early VR company, discussing what metrics his team uses to measure success and how they think about acquiring new customers. Listen in to understand what makes virtual reality the best medium for learning by doing and find out why the future of education is VR. Topics CoveredWhat Tom’s team does at TribeXRHarness VR to teach skills (focus on creatives)Turn aspiring musicians into professionals What makes learning to DJ in VR better than real lifeLimitations to learning in classroomDon’t need expensive equipment Why Tom’s team decided to start with DJingVision to build community grouped around passionsPopular aspirational skill but inaccessible to most The metrics TribeXR uses to measure successNet promoter score, how much people use itAccepted onto Oculus Quest Store Tom’s experiences founding an early VR companyTravel with 100 lbs. of equipment (before headsets)Share few sweaty headsets at conferences How Tom thinks about the distribution of TribeXRBuild relationship with Oculus teamEncourage users to share performances on social Why Facebook is critical to the VR marketAcquisition of Oculus starting to pay offFunding development of VR content Tom’s take on what problems VR is solvingFantastic for simulation (learning by doing)Best medium for full-body immersive games Why Tom is particularly suited to founding startupsEnjoy building things that have direct impactBuild companies in areas of personal passionPersistence (give self as many shots as can) Connect with TomTribeXR  https://www.tribexr.com/TribeXR on Discord https://discord.com/invite/qdhNs2U ResourcesSuperAwesome https://www.superawesome.com/Oculus Quest https://www.oculus.com/quest/Oculus Quest Store https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/Oculus Rift https://www.oculus.com/rift/Viveport https://www.viveport.com/infinitySteam https://store.steampowered.com/steamvrPlayStation VR https://www.playstation.com/en-us/explore/playstation-vr/buy-now/CES Conferences https://www.ces.tech/Conference/CES-Conferences.aspxVRLA https://twitter.com/vrlosangelesAdventure Lab https://www.adventurelab.fun/AAA Game Studios https://www.aaagamestudios.com/Space Pirate Trainer https://www.spacepiratetrainer.com/Beat Saber https://beatsaber.com/Half-Life: Alyx https://www.half-life.com/en/alyx/ Connect with Boost VCBoost VC Website https://www.boost.vc/Boost VC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/boostvc/Boost VC on Twitter https://twitter.com/BoostVCBoost VC on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/boost_vc/