Pearson has announced the launch of Pearson Lab, a dedicated research and development space focused on accelerating the adoption of emerging technologies in education. Located within Pearson’s London offices, the Lab is designed to drive innovation in learning for both academic and professional contexts, with a global remit extending beyond the United Kingdom.
The initiative aims to reinforce Pearson’s leadership in integrating advanced technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (AI) and immersive learning into its portfolio of educational solutions. The Lab will support scalable research and product development efforts tailored to evolving lifelong learning needs. Oversight of the Lab and its associated research team will be led by Pearson’s Chief Technology Officer, Dave Treat.
The Lab will function as a collaborative environment, facilitating engagement with learners, educators, and corporate stakeholders. Through prototyping and product experimentation, the Lab is expected to serve as a practical site for advancing Pearson’s technology strategy, including co-development initiatives with strategic partners.
According to the company, the Lab will explore how technologies such as AI and extended reality (XR) are reshaping contemporary learning environments while also evaluating their long-term potential. It will provide a space for cross-functional collaboration and serve as a hub for employee upskilling, customer research, and product demonstrations.
Pearson Lab is launching with several innovation partnerships focused on immersive learning:
• The company has signed an agreement with Meta for Education to combine Meta’s XR platforms and hardware with Pearson’s expertise in assessments, content development, and learning science. As part of the collaboration, Pearson will receive access to 150 Meta Quest 3S headsets to assess the educational impact of XR on assessment performance and learning outcomes. Additional XR-focused initiatives with Meta are currently underway.
• A separate partnership has been established with Google’s Android XR, aligned with Pearson’s recent collaboration with Google Cloud. This agreement supports the adaptation of select applications to the Android XR platform and includes exploration of future product opportunities in the XR space.
• Pearson has also partnered with Vū Technologies, a firm specializing in immersive media and generative AI. As part of the arrangement, Pearson will integrate the Vū One System—a proprietary immersive LED display powered by the Vū Studio platform—into its Lab operations. The collaboration will enable co-development of in-room immersive content and AI-generated personalized visual content tailored for educators and students.
In addition to partner-driven development, the Pearson Labs team will incorporate direct feedback and usage data from customers to inform the design of new products. The Lab is intended to serve as a testing ground for future learning innovations and as a venue for demonstrating Pearson’s research and product roadmap.
Click here to read the original press release.
