The future of learning has arrived in the form of a virtual reality cocoon that could produce an entirely new way to learn.

Of course this is only one of the many possibilities that the virtual cocoon, developed by NAU, the international design collective that has created the cocoon.

With technology very similar to that seen in the Tom Cruise film “Minority Report,” where Cruise was able to point at a screen and manipulate the data with a flick of his wrist, this technology will render the keyboard and joystick obsolete.

The cocoon works very similarly, involving motion tracking cameras that track every movement of the human body.

“You’ve got display, sound and interaction all combined to create this fully immersed digital experience,” explains Tino Schaedler, the architect-turned-film designer who is part of NAU, in an article with CNN.com

The virtual pod also has the potential to revolutionize gaming, online shopping and computers in general. Developers say to imagine an Amazon.com that actually looks like a store in which a person is able to walk up to shelf, pull a book and read a few pages.

Developers also hope to reinvent the wheel in the modern-day classroom. Virtual libraries, museums and art galleries are just some of the ideas being tossed around in hopes that it will improve learning in a way that no other product has previously done.

NAU hopes the prototype will be completed October of next year, with models becoming commercially available by 2014.

Initially, the cocoon will most likely be used in public places and by companies until there is a significant price decrease at which point it will become available to the consumer market.