Houston Community College Builds a Thriving VR Ecosystem with Ovation

With more than 85,000 students across its campuses, Houston Community College (HCC) is one of the largest and most diverse institutions in the United States. In a place where innovation must scale quickly and meaningfully, HCC has emerged as a national leader in immersive education. At the heart of this transformation is the Reality COLLAB — HCC’s award-winning XR innovation hub — and a powerful communication tool called Ovation.

From speech classes to language learning to career readiness programs, Ovation has become an essential part of how HCC prepares students to succeed. Through the leadership of Rubén Duràn, Founding Director of Reality COLLAB, and Dr. Danielle Stagg, WHI Fellow and speech faculty, HCC has turned a promising pilot into an enterprise-scale initiative. Today, Ovation is integrated across departments and is used by hundreds of students each semester.

The Vision Begins

HCC’s Reality COLLAB was founded in 2016, starting with one VR headset. Since then, it has grown into a full-scale innovation lab that collaborates with industry, supports student-led projects, and serves as a hub for immersive learning. As technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) gained attention, Rubén Duràn saw something more. He recognized that XR and AI were on a collision course.

“We saw Ovation in 2022 and immediately saw the potential,” Duràn said. “It wasn’t just another VR app. It had the structure, flexibility, and real-world relevance that we needed to support our students and faculty.”

The speech and communication department was the first to adopt the platform. Dr. Danielle Stagg visited the Reality COLLAB to learn more and left convinced.

“In our speech program, we were looking for a virtual reality tool that students could use to practice public speaking,” Stagg said. “I saw Ovation in action and scheduled a demo. I loved it right away.”

Classroom Integration and Measurable Impact

Now in its second year of use, Ovation has been fully integrated into HCC’s Introduction to Communication and Introduction to Speech courses. Students complete an orientation, upload their notes or presentation slides into Ovation, and are required to practice their speeches several times before presenting in class.

“You can tell when a student has used Ovation,” Stagg explained. “Their body language, voice control, and overall confidence are noticeably improved.”

Students in the communication course especially enjoy using real-life scenarios like the Group Conversation Scenario to build interpersonal skills in a way that feels both practical and engaging.

Faculty can also create assignments within Ovation to track student usage. These assignments guide students through different types of speaking exercises, such as persuasive talks or elevator pitches, helping them prepare for both academic and real-world communication challenges.

Scaling Across a Large Institution

After the initial success with communication classes, HCC expanded Ovation to additional departments. The English as a Second Language (ESL) program was next, where instructors developed lesson plans that incorporate Ovation practice sessions. 

In some cases, getting headsets to students required more than just planning. When one ESL professor at a satellite campus 25 miles away wanted to introduce Ovation, Rubén Duràn personally delivered 20 headsets in his car and brought a mobile hotspot to make the experience possible.

“If students can’t come to the technology, we take the technology to them,” Duràn said.

Today, multiple campuses and programs are using Ovation, including the College of Health Sciences. Respiratory Therapy, Sonography, Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy are a few of the Health Science programs that have been steadily using Ovation. The mock interview scenario was used by over 100 students this past semester to help prepare them for job interviews.

“Once I saw Ovation, I realized the best way for the Health Science programs to put this to use was for mock interviews. Instructors will assign their students a mock interview, the students will then review the transcript and analytics of their session with their instructors.” Christopher Reyes, Multimedia Technician, Houston Community College

HCC’s Career Services department also integrated Ovation so students could simulate interview settings and improve their performance.

With such wide adoption, demand has outpaced supply. “Our only limitation right now is licenses,” Duràn said. “We’re constantly requesting more to keep up with the number of students and faculty who want to use it.”

To manage usage across the system, HCC created a scheduling portal where students can reserve, reschedule, or cancel their headset appointments. This self-service model makes it easy for instructors to build Ovation into their curriculum and for students to access the tool when they need it.

Enterprise-Scale Innovation

HCC is not running a small pilot. This is enterprise-level adoption of immersive learning. The college serves hundreds of Ovation users each semester, and that number is expected to grow significantly.

At a recent workshop, 67 faculty members came together to explore how they might use Ovation in their own disciplines. Dr. Stagg now regularly leads workshops to train faculty on the platform. Many leave the sessions eager to integrate Ovation into their own courses or book lab time for their students.

Duràn believes this is just the beginning. “We expect our Ovation usage to triple within a year. As more faculty see how easy and effective it is, they want it in their classrooms.”

Building a Culture Around Communication and Confidence

What makes HCC’s success with Ovation remarkable is not just the number of users, but the culture that has formed around it. Students don’t just use the technology for a class assignment. They introduce it to their peers, encourage others to try it, and become unofficial ambassadors for immersive learning.

“What is helping us is who we are and the community we have formed around the technology,” Duràn said. “Our students are excited to learn, and they are sharing that excitement with each other. It’s not just about VR. It’s about connection.”

This sense of ownership and pride among students has helped Ovation take root across the college. It has also inspired faculty to reimagine what is possible in their classrooms.

Recognition and a Model for the Future

HCC’s leadership in immersive education has not gone unnoticed. Reality COLLAB was recently selected by Meta as one of only 13 institutions in the U.S. and U.K. to pilot the Quest for EDU Horizon platform. This partnership gives HCC early access to new tools and solidifies its role in shaping the future of VR in education.

“We’ve got an amazing setup,” Duràn said. “We have the Meta Quest 3 and Pro headsets, 3D scanners, Unity, Unreal, Gravity Sketch, and more. But none of it matters without the people behind it.”

Duràn has seen interns become staff, students become mentors, and classroom assignments evolve into full-scale immersive projects. “We treat our lab like a creative studio. We build, experiment, and grow together.”

With Ovation now part of the ecosystem, Duràn is already planning for what’s next. “I could see us hiring a dedicated staff member just to manage Ovation. That’s how central it has become to what we do.”

A Scalable, Student-Centered Model

At a college the size of HCC, scaling innovation is no small feat. Yet through smart leadership, passionate faculty, and a strong infrastructure, the school has created a model that others can follow. Ovation is not just a tool… it is a platform for building confidence, preparing for the workforce, and creating equity in communication.

Students are more prepared. Faculty are more engaged. The entire system is more connected.

“This is just the beginning,” Duràn said. “We are building something powerful, and our students are leading the way.”