The year when the pandemic bogged down most sectors, cosmic achievements of the Emirates scaled new heights with its Hope Probe entering the Martian orbit. As space geeks of the world lauded the first Arab nation for reaching the Red planet in its first attempt, the country got busy planning a mission to the moon and nurturing local talent for the space race.

The UAE which also became home to the first-of-its-kind University for AI, also zoomed ahead when it came to adoption of new-age tech like AI and virtual reality. The combination of VR devices and creative ideas for space exploration has enabled a Dubai-based University to design a virtual campus which takes students all the way to Mars.

Following the success of UAE's first Martian voyage, the launch of the campus is meant to help students learn more about the cosmos and Earth's red neighbour. The VR campus will be modelled as a space station in the red globe's orbit, and students will be allowed to examine objects as they interact with each other thanks to a realistic 3D environment.

This is also the first time that immersive tech is being used for education in the Arab world, and the nature of the ecosystem promises to unleash creativity too. In an era of virtual classrooms dominating the edtech landscape, introducing an imaginative course about the cosmos raises the game.

Outside the e-learning realm, UAE has also been setting up a prototype for its very own Martian city out in the desert, to prepare for colonisation of the planet by the next century.

As for virtual reality's evolution, the UAE recently hosted a surgery where doctors from 13 countries were able to assist the process remotely using VR.

UAE's regional neighbours are also scaling up education about the universe, with Kuwait all set to launch a nano-satellite that will assist students with data, and let them work on improving satellite communication.