Deep within a building shaped like the starship Enterprise, a little-known company is working on the future of education in Fuzhou, China. Vast banks of servers are amassing a database that will be used to build intimate profiles of millions of kids by recording them at work and play, tracking their touchscreen swipes, shrugs and head swivels.
This is the hive of NetDragon Websoft Holdings, a hack-and-slash video-game maker that is an unlikely candidate to transform learning via headset-mounted virtual reality teachers.
It is one of a growing number of companies, from International Business Machines to Lenovo Group, that are studying how to use technology like VR to hold a fickle child's attention — and perhaps someday make a mint from that data by showing them ads.