The potential of Virtual Reality as a technology and a tool in education is currently at a level where it depends on the accessibility and feasibility of the hardware being used for such a purpose. Today's VR technology has its own limitations but as we move into the future, these shortcomings will eventually be dealt with as VR continues to achieve the potential that it is meant to have. However today, we have to make do with what VR can safely do or not do and in the case of using it as a very good educational tool for children, there are some things that we have to keep in mind.

This topic will focus on educational gaming for kids using high-end VR. These include HMD's like the Rift and the Vive and maybe even the upcoming Valve Index as long as these are PC based VR using the aforementioned headsets. The companies that produce these HMD's do not recommend it to be used with the very young. This actually means around say 12 and below. Well, maybe 12 would be the limit.

This is due to health and safety reasons. As much as it would be awesome to have those animated teaching tools in VR (which there are for the mobile VR market), it is not just currently feasible to strap a five or six-year-old into an HTC Vive or Oculus Rift and let the kid run around for an extended amount of time. The child may love it but the effects on the infantile senses might be too much for the little one to handle. Anything wrong can happen from total disorientation, nausea, vomiting and the child simply collapsing and being rushed for medical attention.

So, when it comes to Educational High-End VR games, when we mean kids, we mean the teen kids from 12-17, the minors who go to school and can benefit the most from this kind of VR educational applications. Still, it is best to be reminded that VR should be used with the presence of someone else nearby should an unforeseen medical problem occur. VR is truly an amazing tool but it is always better to be safe than sorry. With that, here are Five awesome High-End VR games and applications that would benefit every school age teen who can experience them.

Nefertari VR: Journey to Eternity

This free2play VR title for the HTC Vive is one awesome VR experience on the topic of Egyptology. The app gives you the most realistic experience of being inside the tomb of Queen Nefertari, one of the most beloved and legendary queens of ancient Egypt. A lady Archeology expert will accompany you on your trip (though she's more like a disembodied tour guide) and explain to you about almost everything you see in the queen's tomb. You can interact with most of the objects, symbols, and drawings you see using the controller and you will get a detailed explanation from your guide. The actual tomb itself was laser scanned so combined with the ambient sound of blowing wind through the tunnel like caverns and the Egyptian music background, the experience would be amazing for both teens and adults alike.

Hold the World VR

Hold the World is probably one of the best educational VR apps for the Oculus Rift. The experience alone is incredible as you will get to learn about animals and other species from Earth's distant past to the current present. The experience will take one on a guided detailed tour of London’s Natural History Museum with world renowned naturalist Sir David Attenborough. This guy is one awesome lecturer who any teen would love to have as his or her science teacher. You will be able to interact with the specimens preserved in the museum from the historic Trilobites to the endangered giant butterflies which currently can be found in Papua New Guinea. One can handle the creature fossils and they can be displayed what they would look and move like alive. The app uses high-quality volumetric video capture and photogrammetry which makes the experience so realistic. Combined with the awesome music and Sir David's lectures, it's impossible not to learn.

HoloLAB Champions VR

One of the hardest subjects the usual teen has to go through is Chemistry. This is where one learns about the chemical elements, covalent bonds, the periodic table and everything most adults have forgotten by now. HoloLAB Champions VR is practically a Chemistry Set app built into a game which makes the detestable subject of Chemistry Fun (which back in my high school days was something that could never be). The game or contest is officiated by Earl and his sidekick Meyer. At first, one will have to go through the exercise of measuring liquids using the various flasks, beakers and different containers and devices usually found in a Chemistry Lab. Eventually, the challenges will get tougher. Make no mistake, HoloLAB Champions is difficult (Chemistry always was) but it does make the subject a lot more fun. It's available for both Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive.

Edmersiv VR

The preceding educational apps above focus on a single whole experience. The first on an ancient Egyptian tomb, the second on a museum of Natural Science while the third on the subject of Chemistry. Edmersiv, on the other hand, is a compilation of several educational experiences in VR. Another free2play VR app for the HTC Vive, Edmersiv is composed of interactive animations and simulations in different environments. These include an ancient gladiatorial Coliseum that can be visited, an interactive geographical globe, various structures and objects throughout history, a biology learning experience, a functional Science Lab and a balloon game that uses colors. However, the educational potential does not end with these as the developer promises to add more experiences in future upcoming updates.

Home - A VR Spacewalk

Almost every kid in today's modern age would be interested in knowing what it's like to be an Astronaut. Home - A VR Spacewalk let's you experience what it's like to be one aboard the International Space Station orbiting 250 miles above Earth and traveling at a speed of around 17,000 miles per hour from de-pressurization to floating out the hatch in a space suit, getting into a robotic space crane which will take you to a location on the hull to repair some damage. To make matters worse, the station is hit by a barrage of incoming space debris and you are hurled into space with only your Jet Pack with limited fuel as the only means to save yourself. As to whether one survives or not is up to the teen in the space suit. Welcome to Space Camp VR style, free2play on the HTC Vive.