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Schule

The Louvre is Bringing The Mona Lisa to Life Soon in a New VR Experience

Housed in Paris’ Lovure Museum, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is almost always surrounded by throngs of tourists, desperate for a glimpse and maybe a photo or two of the 16th century painting. Now, HTC Vive Arts and the Louvre are opening a virtual reality experience that centers on the story of the painting and decidedly takes you well beyond the glass case housing the iconic work.

Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass, the VR experience is the first of its kind presented at the Louvre, and will be on display at the museum’s special exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci, commemorating the 500th anniversary of his death.

The seven-minute experience will be available from October 24th, 2019 to February 24th, 2020 at the museum’s Hall Napoléon, offered to the public via 11 headset stations, The New York Times maintains.

HTC says in a blog post that Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass includes new scientific research, and highlights “details invisible to the naked eye, as well as providing insight into the techniques da Vinci used, and the identity of his sitter.”

An extended version of the VR experience will launch on October 24th, coming to Viveport and “other online platforms,” HTC says, which includes support for Vive, Vive Pro, Vive Cosmos, and Oculus Rift.

The experience was developed by Emissive in collaboration with the Louvre, and is supported by HTC Vive Arts, the multi-million dollar art initiative that aims to support content, creators and institutions that want to use VR to bring people closer to art of all forms.

Quelle:

The Louvre is Bringing The Mona Lisa to Life Soon in a New VR Experience

22. Oktober 2019 0 comment

Knowledge

The Revolutionary Impact Of Immersive Technology On Education

Sir Martyn Lewis and I met back in April to discuss the impact of technology on humanity at The Club at The Ivy in London. It was a well-received debate, so we reconvened to tackle a new subject last month. As education is one of the key industries being disrupted by technology, and a subject both Martyn and I feel passionate about, it felt apt to put it on the agenda for the evening’s discussion.

The ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ will see an increase in workforce automation. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates that over the next 10 to 20 years, “14 percent of jobs are at high risk of being fully automated, while another 32 percent at risk of significant change”. It is imperative, therefore, that education systems adapt to ensure students are equipped with the right skills to survive in our changing world.

While there are many different theories on what and how students should learn, I believe there is no escaping the fact that students will need to be prepared to continuously learn and upskill— people will be learners for life, rather than a set period. I also believe technology is playing, and will continue to play, a key role in the way skills are acquired and developed for the 21st Century workforce. So, it is no surprise that the Education Technology (EdTech) industry is set to reach $252 billion by 2020, growing at a 17% annual rate.

Technology presents a wonderful opportunity to re-shape 21st-century education because it’s popular with students and teachers. One study in the US has shown that the introduction of technology makes 87% of students more likely to attend class and 72% of them more likely to participate. While a study by Smoothwall found that 96% of teachers believe technology has had a positive impact on the way children participate and learn in lessons.

Take augmented reality for example. The technology can be used to augment field trips by adding a layer of information and interactivity to the activity, help with foreign language studies by translating text, or bring subjects such as coral reefs and electromagnetism to life through apps like Google Expeditions. Considering all the applications and appeal of the technology, it’s no wonder that the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) reports “augmented reality has the potential to revolutionize learning in primary and secondary schools more than any other technology has done in the recent past”.

Orboot is a 10-inch globe and companion app (iOS or Android) that lets kids check out the world and complete activities in an augmented reality environment. ORBOOT

If we look at virtual reality, we can see great benefits in using the technology—from its ability to enhance recall through to its capacity for building empathy. These advantages position VR as a unique learning aid.

There are many companies that are focusing on driving positive change in education through technology. Martyn and I asked a couple of people doing great work in this space to join the discussion. First up was Seth Andrew.

Seth is a serial social entrepreneur, having founded Democracy Prep, Democracy Builders, REV, and Washington Leadership Academy. He then led policy and partnerships for the world’s largest network of schools for families earning less than $2 per day. Previously, Andrew served as the Senior Advisor for Education Technology in the Executive Office of President Barack Obama where he helped launch Computer Science for All, Vote.Gov, and #FutureReadySchools as well as helping to make the White House accessible in Virtual Reality for the first time in American history.

Seth is a leading advocate for the power of technology to transform the fundamentals of global schooling. In addition to helping buildthe dozens of schools in the US, and hundreds in Africa, he founded Washington Leadership Academy as a lab school to explore these new ideas and was awarded a $10m prize from the XQ: Super School Project to build out that new model. What goes into this ambitious vision? Seth wanted to see WLA build a virtual-reality high school chemistry lab and require every student to learn computer science in all four years of high school, plus build meaningful digital projects, including content in XR.

As this vision comes to fruition, Seth explained to the room: “no child will be burned, no teacher will have to clean up a chemical spill, and access to a state-of-the-art science lab will cost just a fraction of the bricks and mortar version.“ In addition to these practical benefits, there are pedagogical benefits as well: “We can drill down into the valence of each individual atom to see electrons spinning in a way you can’t in a regular laboratory.” The big goal is to inspire students to use the tools of technology to build the future world they will inhabit. That’s why computer science is a required course and students will graduate with the technical skills to code their own projects in Virtual Reality among other mediums.

Tej Samani was also invited to join the conversation. Tej is the founder of Performance Learning, a British company that, for the last nine years, has helped thousands of learners boost their exam and classroom performance through its machine learning platform. Tej dropped out of school aged 16 to pursue a tennis career but hung his racket up at 21 to become the Founder of Performance Learning.

Deployed from primary education (starting in Year 5) through to further and higher education, the digital platform and assessments accurately predict, monitor and evaluate learner performance with a core focus on mental health and attitudes and behavior towards learning.

Lessons are delivered through a combination of online, face-to-face, and cloud-based learning via trained Performance Learning coaches. From how they sleep to how they retain information, users get to understand more about themselves so they can improve how they learn and maximize potential.

Tej explained how the platform worked: “The application’s algorithm quietly and perpetually learns about the student and each time ensures it delivers the most appropriate learning pathway to ensure the student not only learns but wins. Learners interact with curriculum-specific learning journeys, ranging from ‘Easy‘ to ‚Genius’ mode, in a fully gamified experience.”

He went on to explain that users have to beat the AI system in order to progress: “The more the users play, the smarter the system becomes. It begins to predict core metacognitive and cognitive skill gaps within the user, encouraging the user to partake in training modules within the system to improve.”

Speaking about education and technology in general, Tej said: „Our education system has needed significant progression to just keep up, let alone stay ahead of the leaps in technology we are experiencing. While technology will always struggle to replace an effective teacher, it can help develop effective teaching as well as deliver tailored, personalized education to learners of all standards, irrespective of how complex their barriers to learning are. The advancement in education technology can bring in areas such as grade prediction, performance tracking, and personalization—this will help to ensure that the most critical stage of a person’s life is delivered with accuracy, engagement, and foresight”

It is clear technology can be leveraged to create an engaging and personalized environment and open up opportunities for deeper learning— technology should be used as an opportunity to acquire more knowledge, not an excuse to know less. Furthermore, students no longer have to be confined to the classroom or forced into a one-size-fits-all system. However, technology is not the answer to everything—we still need classroom leaders and students with an appetite for learning.

Quelle:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/solrogers/2019/10/11/the-revolutionary-impact-of-immersive-technology-on-education/#583d67a679c1

19. Oktober 2019 0 comment

Knowledge Research

DIGITALLY WEALTHY LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS AND PEDAGOGICALLY SOUND LEARNING EXPERIENCE

A 2019 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report notes that demand for “digitally wealthy learning environments and pedagogically sound learning experiences” is predicted to extend, adding that establishments that have endowed in learning designers and educational designers are higher positioned to make rigorous, high-quality programming that serves the requirements of all learners innovative teaching approaches: computer game within the schoolroom Technology continues to play a progressively vital role in our personal and skilled lives, particularly as we tend to dive deeper into the Fourth technological revolution. Just about each business is immersing itself in technology as well as the education sector. Today’s students or digital natives are raised in an atmosphere wherever the net and technology have been tightly plain-woven into the material of their lives. Despite this, not all education establishments have evolved with the days to embrace digital learning practices that may facilitate students’ learning.

Teaching tomorrow’s workforce within the digital era will be created additional fruitful by sound into the increase of recent technologies, that gift universities with a wealth of opportunities to facilitate students’ learning. New technologies comprehend completely different breeds of technology like computer games (VR), increased reality (AR), gamification, mobile learning applications, and online learning platforms, among others. As universities play an important role in the mold tomorrow’s skills, the applying of technology will facilitate universities keep prior the curve by not solely supporting educators’ teaching and promoting inventive inquiry, however additionally enhancing learning through exposure to advance technology, creating learning additional satisfying and (fascinating) than cases of passive schoolroom learning. Tapping into the wonders of AR & VR Students trying to enter a very university that faucets into the facility of recent technologies might want to contemplate Concordia University. This Canadian public university is snuggled in Montreal, Québec’s largest town.

Quelle:

https://www.industryglobalnews24.com/digitally-wealthy-learning-environments-and-pedagogically-sound-learning-experience

16. Oktober 2019 0 comment

Examples

Google Releases Highly-polished VR Tour of Versailles for Free – Built using photogrammetry

Google Arts & Culture partnered with Château de Versailles to create an extremely detailed VR tour of the iconic French palace, aptly named VersaillesVR – the palace is yours (2019).

The free app, which is now available on Steam with support for Rift, Vive, and Index, takes you through the centuries-old palace, letting you inspect and learn about the UNESCO World Heritage site’s many paintings, sculptures, furniture, as well as few of its gilded halls.

Built for King Louis XIV in the mid-1600s, the Palace of Versailles was the principal royal residence of France until the start of the French Revolution in 1789. And it certainly makes for an interesting historical juxtaposition: what was once only available to the elite is now free for anyone with a PC VR headset to enjoy. Liberté, égalité, fraternité—all that jazz—and no throngs of tourist groups to swim through either.

Inside the experience, which is only available for VR headsets, you can click on artifacts and learn more about them, getting a text explanation as well as a closer look at the discrete 3D models.

A handy map also lets you move around the palace and tour a few of the its storied halls, including the King and Queen’s state apartments, the Royal Opera House, the Royal Chapel (sculpted by Corneil Van Clève in the 18th century), and the iconic 73 meter-long Hall of Mirrors.

Built using photogrammetry, Google’s Arts & Culture team took 132,000 high-res photos from different angles, and then fed it all into their software to build a 3D model. Coming in at over 7 GB in size, the experience is amazingly detailed to say the least.

“What makes this experience unique is the size of the digitization we’ve undertaken here in Versailles,” Google Arts & Culture Lab’s Damien Henry says. “We’ve captured 24 rooms in 12 days. We were able to capture 7,000 square meters, and if we count the walls and roof, the total amount is 36,000 square meters.”

Granted, the physical palace measures more than 67,000 square meters of floor space, making the VR experience more of an aperitif that the creators hope will stimulate an appetite for an in-person visit.

Quelle:

Image: Image courtesy Google Arts & Culture

Google Releases Highly-polished VR Tour of Versailles for Free

11. Oktober 2019 0 comment

Examples

AR FOR KIDS – WHAT’S GOOD AND WHAT’S NEXT?

Since the advent of the television, computers and more recently the iPhone, audiences have been transfixed by screen-based content. But now, with AR, we are asking our audience to look through theIr screens – back into their world – and interact with it in a totally new way. A profoundly simple idea – and one which has actually been around for a very long time – but sometimes even the best ideas require technology to catch-up, and for AR, it just has. Within the next 12 months, AR will start to make our world look and feel radically different – and brands and storytellers will need to be all-eyes.

At Apple’s WWDC, LEGO showcased their vision for how AR will transform their toy proposition, taking a step further towards a form of digital play which positions equally the physical act of building alongside the digital act of playing: a bold strategy which future proofs LEGO in an increasingly digitally-centric toy market.

That’s LEGO’s strategy, but what should be informing yours?

At PRELOADED, we believe that the strongest digital strategies for new technologies align business objectives with audience need – challenging the application from the outset. Why is AR the best technology to showcase this content objective? What does this format offer the audience that others don’t or can’t?

So in this blog, we provide some context on the state of tech for AR, and share some strong examples that we think express the power and originality of this new medium.

LEGO showcased their vision for how AR will transform their toy proposition. A step towards a new form of digital play which equally positions the physical act of building alongside the digital act of playing.

STATE OF TECH

Today AR is most commonly experienced using the Phone or Tablet’s camera, acting as a window into a different view of world. This is soon to be complimented by a swaith of much anticipated Headsets (eg, Magic Leap, Hololens, Leap Motion, Microsoft MR) freeing up hands and opening up the potential for a much more natural experience.

Current opinion suggests AR will dwarf VR in terms of market size and utility. This is predominantly based on the existing prevalence of AR-enabled devices (over 90 million!), but also more practically on the relative cheapness of creating content for a world, rather than the world itself.

Industry echoes this sentiment with the big players such as Google and Apple continuing to invest (and jostle) for a marketing leading SDK (Apple currently winning, with over 13 million AR apps built), social platforms enabling AR experiences (eg. Snapchat, Facebook) and VR manufacturers rushing to introduce front-facing cameras to their headsets to future proof their positioning, such as the new VIVE Pro out soon.

Whilst Google and Apple’s technical approaches are very different, what they share is a belief that AR has an opportunity to profoundly transform the way we consume digital content, much like iPhone did over 10 years ago.

BEST OF BEST

But what are the possibilities of AR for brands right now? We love to learn from others – so here are some of our favourite kids AR experiences which we think demonstrate some of the new ways you can play with and connect with audiences using AR.

If your brain is already bubbling with ideas, PRELOADED has also created a set of design patterns to further refine your thinking in this space, on the basis of recent AR projects. Walk this way.

LEGO AR Studio (WWDC announcement video) – This AR experience from LEGO allows children to explore their creativity by mixing virtual and physical sets to create brand new experiences during playtime. Children can build their world, then use the app to extend the play by virtually controlling enhanced versions of LEGO models. With ARKit2 this experience can be now be played with friends where they can create worlds and take on virtual missions together.

Snap AR (gameplay video) – A set of new experiences from Snapchat, which uses facial recognition technology beyond mapping comical accessories to your face, to power their suite of AR mini-games. In Mexican Chef (our favourite!), opening and closing your mouth slices cucumbers. Why not.

The Gruffalo Spotter App (gameplay video) – An inspired collaboration between Magic Light Pictures and the Forestry Commission, The Gruffalo Spotter uses AR to bring to life Julia Donaldson’s famous characters in their natural habitat. Using a phone or tablet children and families can discover characters by scanning image markers distributed along a pre-determined Forestry trail.

Amazing world of Gumball (Demo video) – Bring the characters from Gumball into your living room. Using ARKit’s plane detection the characters sit within the environment complete with full charectipsaton and shadows. This basic demo highlights the palpable opportunity for synchronised 2nd screen experiences.

World Brush (Gameplay video) – A GPS based painting experience from Active Theory, which allows users to paint on the world for others to discover. Using the phone or tablet children can create their drawing in real-world space. ARKIT/ARCore provides tracking relative to where the phone is. Moving around while painting results in a 3D drawing.

Bert and Ernie’s Apartment (Demo video) – A polished tech-demo from Qualcomm and Vuforia which brings Sesame Street’s Bert and Ernie characters to life in their apartment. Utilising a combination of image marker and 3D object recognition. The experience encourages combinatorial play which is reinforced with digital payoffs, such as adding a Jukebox to the scene to trigger them dancing.

Very Hungry Caterpillar (App trailer) – A beautiful open-ended experience from StoryToys Entertainment which brings the Very Hungry Caterpillar right into your living room, kitchen table or even garden without a need for a marker. Encourages exploration through a set of open ended interactions.

Avengers Infinity War: Hero Vision (Toy trailer) – Become Iron Man and battle foes in this costume-come-AR-battle-game. The phone is used as the lens into the AR world, whilst a hand-mounted weapon is image tracked to determine position within the world, allowing missiles and lasers to be dispatched with some accuracy. Quick to market and very well suited to IP.

Lenovo: Jedi Challenges (Engadget video review) – Take part in a variety of Star Wars based games – including Light Saber battles – using a phone-based AR headset and Light-tracker based peripherals. A quality first-to-market product which seeds the market – and expectation – for more fully functional experiences.

Hot Wheels: Augmoto (Engadget video review) – A multiplayer digital to physical racing platform from Mattel, which uses AR to create a video game-like experience using a physical track. The app augments play, enabling each player to affect the real world track from their tablet. Players clear hazards, perform pit stops and ultimately try to eliminate each other using virtual missiles. The app comes loaded with a series of game modes for hours of play.

Crayola COLOUR ALIVE (Customer review video) – Using a mix of printed activity sheets and colouring in books with a digital app, crayola created an interactive colouring in experience that brings to life a child’s colouring in and favourite characters. Whilst quite old, this example tests so brilliantly with kids, showing the power of UGC coming to live in your (AR) world.

Cubico AR kids coding (App trailer) – A playful and engaging experience for preschool kids allowing them to code using interactive AR and fun storytelling. A digital / physical crossover product utilising image markers for inputs and articulation of the digital world.

ENHANCING NOT DISTRACTING

PRELOADED believes passionately that technology can be a great enhancer of children’s lives, rather than a distraction. AR – perhaps more than any other technology – offers brands, publishers and IP holders the ability to pull away from the confines of a screen and bring the audience back into the real work, making possible those shared experiences that are so critical for children’s social and emotional development.

Over the next 12 months, we will see radical shifts in the technological landscape, which will take AR from tablet based to goggles and beyond. To make the most of all the amazing opportunities for engagement, your use of AR – or even your strategy – needs to be firmly connected your brand values and the needs of your audience.

Do you have existing IP that might suit an AR experience? Or do you have an existing product that could be enhanced by AR. Or perhaps you have a vision for how the technology could be used create new forms of digital / physical play? Our expertise in immersive technologies and children’s audiences can help get this to market.

To make the most of all the amazing opportunities for engagement, your use of AR – or even your strategy – needs to be firmly connected your brand values and the needs of your audience.

Quelle: (2018)

AR for kids – what’s good and what’s next?

11. Oktober 2019 0 comment

Examples

So sah es aus vor 800 Jahren: Das Schloss Habsburg wird digital «wiederaufgebaut»

Dank einer Virtual Reality-Brille können die Museumsbesucher die Burg neu in der Pracht und Grösse von einst erleben.

Eine Brille aufsetzen und los gehts an einen Ort, den es so nicht mehr gibt. Ein Habicht fliegt auf die Stammburg der Habsburger zu, die Szene spielt im Jahr 1200. Die vier imposanten Türme sind umrandet von massiven Schlossmauern. Das Schloss steht noch in seiner vollen Pracht.

Dieses virtuelle 360-Grad-Panorama können Besucherinnen und Besucher von Schloss Habsburg ab sofort geniessen. Von der damaligen Burg steht nur noch der hintere Teil, was ungefähr einen Drittel des ganzen Gebäudes ausmacht.

Der Rest ist über die Jahrhunderte verfallen. In einem der erhaltenen Teile der Burg – dem grossen Turm – können die Besucher auf einem der platzierten Drehstühle Platz nehmen, die Virtual Reality-Brille aufsetzen und sich auf eine sechsminütige Reise begehen.

Brille und Kopfhörer können während der Öffnungszeiten kostenlos im Schlossrestaurant gegen ein Depot ausgeliehen werden. Eine Anleitung auf der Schachtel erklärt den Besuchern, wie sie vorgehen sollen. Dank der Vogelperspektive hat man das Gefühl, zu fliegen. Dies obwohl man die ganze Zeit über sitzt.

Für die 360-Grad-Aussicht muss man sich drehen

Nach einem Rundflug über die Burg landet der Habicht auf den Schlossmauern und erlaubt den Besuchern, den Blick über die virtuelle Landschaft schweifen zu lassen. Dies tut man, indem man sich tatsächlich auf dem Stuhl um die eigene Achse dreht. Durch einen Kopfhörer hört man die Geschichte des Schlosses.

Dann fliegt der Habicht in den Schlosshof, wo man den Brunnen erkennen kann, der heute noch erhalten ist. Digitale Esel und Pferde schauen einen neugierig an. Für die Umsetzung des 360-Grad-Films, den man in der Virtual-Reality-Brille zu sehen bekommt, hat das Museum Aargau die Zürcher Firma Echowerk verpflichtet.

Diese hat eng mit dem Archäologen Peter Frey zusammengearbeitet, erklärt Manuel Schaub von Echowerk: «Wir wollten die Burg möglichst echt nachbauen, so, wie sie damals effektiv gestanden hat.»

Die Firma machte dazu einen 3D-Scan der effektiven Ruine und eines Holzmodells des Schlosses. «Wir haben die Geodaten der Umgebung dazugenommen und konnten so auch die Landschaft realitätsgetreu darstellen.»

Die Entwicklung dieses Projekts dauerte ein halbes Jahr. Museum Aargau will mit seiner neuen digitalen Attraktion einstiges Kulturgut, das nicht mehr, oder nur teilweise erhalten ist, wieder erlebbar machen.

Die digitalen Technologien seien eine riesige Chance für das Museum Aargau, sagt Pascal Meier, Kommunikationsverantwortlicher: «Wir ergänzen das Schloss Habsburg virtuell. So, dass man es in seiner ganzen Pracht von damals sehen kann.»

Museum Aargau fährt eine digitale Strategie

Die Virtual-Reality-Brille auf der Habsburg ist nicht das erste digitale Projekt von Museum Aargau. Letztes Jahr wurde mit der «Industriekultour Aabach» der erste virtuelle Museumsraum im Kanton lanciert.

Die Industriegeschichte entlang des Aabachs kann per Smartphone oder Tablet erlebt werden. In der Klosterkirche Königsfelden sind die einmaligen Glasfenster dank multimedialer Tablets erlebbar.

«Auf diese Art werden wir unsere Angebote weiter digital ergänzen», erklärt Marco Catsellaneta, Direktor von Museum Aargau, die digitale Strategie. «Also nur dort, wo das Original nicht mehr vorhanden ist.»

Quelle:

https://www.aargauerzeitung.ch/aargau/kanton-aargau/so-sah-es-aus-vor-800-jahren-das-schloss-habsburg-wird-digital-wiederaufgebaut-135735357#

9. Oktober 2019 0 comment

Knowledge Research

Solving these 5 issues will make education AR/VR go mainstream

I look forward to attending the International Society for Technology in Educationevent every year. Not surprisingly, this year, there was a lot of talk about the acceleration of integrating technology-driven programs into school curricula earlier across the board. Education is becoming more “student-centric”, as one teacher put it. With access to technology, there are more ways to teach and learn. Students increasingly have a unique voice in how they learn. In the past, the only voice heard was the educator. That is a true shift in the culture.

AR/VR entering the education sphere was one of the most popular discussion topics at ISTE. And, while gaming may have been dismissed as a useless activity in years past, it’s quickly becoming a way to teach on many levels. In fact, with colleges now providing scholarships for gaming, students that may not previously have had a path to that level of education are finding there are indeed college opportunities for them.

The power of XR

I’ve seen this firsthand with the boom in interactive learning, especially remote. One of my favorite examples is the California State Parks (a Belkin partner) and its distance learning program called PORTS (Parks Online Resources for Teachers and Schools). This makes use of video conferencing to connect students and park rangers in real time. To date, thousands of students have experienced highly interactive virtual learning sessions using this platform. It’s not a far jump to envision what else can be enabled with remote learning, especially with AR/VR.

1. Price point

One of the biggest issues with any new education technology is the availability of funds to pay for it. Most public education systems are already financially strapped. Investing tens of thousands of dollars into new technology equipment, plus setting up necessary safeguards and cost of training, makes adoption prohibitive. However, this is rapidly changing.

Brent pointed out, “We’re finally getting to a hardware price point that fits a school budget and authoring tools that anyone can use. You no longer need a P.h.D. in computer science to make immersive content. Anyone can build something in Unity.”

In terms of hardware cost, Bushnell believes the Oculus Quest represents a breakout moment for VR: “Quest makes powerful VR available at a $500 price point and it’s way easier to setup than traditional headsets that need special external tracking. That is very exciting from an education standpoint.”

2. Lack of investment

To bring prices down, the industry needs great content and players entering the market to create solutions. That won’t hit critical mass until we see investment dollars in this specific ed-tech space. One possible solution: Existing industry leaders need to invest in their own ecosystems.

Bushnell recommends, “either hardware-ecosystem providers, such as Oculus or Unity, need to continue funding great content, or there need to be more patient investors willing to fund in the absence of a large enough market today. There’s currently not enough headsets deployed to entice developers and investors, and not enough content out to entice the later stage adopters. It’s a bit of a catch-22.”

Bushnell would know. He’s spent years fundraising and talking to investors about the immersive technology space, which has far different returns than traditional Silicon Valley companies.

3. Content disparity

As mentioned in both points above, content is crucial to the equation. Bushnell said, “Content is a big challenge, but it will drive everything. Consumers bought the original Nintendo for Super Mario Bros — the console was a tax.” Two Bit Circus did a survey of available VR educational content, and there’s a lot of opportunities for new learning experiences.

We need the content to exist and it needs to be easy enough, as Bushnell says, “to get into the hands of an early-adopting teacher, who will then proselytize to their peers.” Until the price point comes down and there is more content to experiment with, it’s going to remain out of reach to most teachers.

4. Distribution and roll-out

We then talked about how the content will roll out. Distribution is directly tied to investment. When there’s no scale or widespread distribution, it’s hard to raise money for “the interactive stuff,” as Bushnell put it. He recommends looking at Chromebooks and tablets as a reference point.

Bushnell adds, “They’re about the same price point and have found their way into schools, but it’s happening at different rates in different places. AR and VR will likely be similar to Chromebooks, with equipment available on carts checked out in certain labs and then ultimately issued to every kid.”

In terms of who will see adoption first? His thinking is that the private and charter school will be in the mix first because of the autonomy and “fewer bureaucratic hurdles that will allow them to move faster than bigger school districts.”

5. Transition tech

As with any new technology change, there will be a transition period to get comfortable with new formats and platforms. Immersive and interactive classroom technology is no exception. Bushnell has observed several interactive teaching trends he finds interesting.

“In general, we’re watching a lot of immersive tech being brought into schools. What’s especially interesting is how entertainment is used as a hook for education, while still enabling the students to learn something meaningful. It pays to start with the fun.”

”Teachers are using solutions like escape rooms for learning; live action role playing; games like Minecraft as an education platform, and a personal favorite, Maker projects…we’re excited to see the classroom embrace hands-on learning. Rather than passively reading about other people’s experiences, learners get to actively build their own project; executing, iterating and learning, in situ.”

Bushnell’s thoughts echo much of what I’ve been seeing and hearing from educators and administrators. Working through the above five points will take time but given the indicators in the market, it’s bound to happen sooner than later.

Quelle:

Foto: Image Credit: vectorfusionart/Shutterstock

Solving these 5 issues will make education AR/VR go mainstream

8. Oktober 2019 0 comment

Examples

Stunning new VR experience teaches history like never before

A new virtual reality learning experience is helping bring Polish history alive through face-to-face meetings with the legendary Józef Piłsudski.

Unveiled at the 20th Universal Congress of Polish Historians in Lublin the immersive learning experience called ‘Józef Piłsudski – The Marshal of Polish hearts’ also helps users learn about the famous Jan Matejko painting ‘Unia Lubelska’.

The VR experience also helps users learn about the famous Jan Matejko painting ‘Unia Lubelska’.Workroomgroup

“When the user puts on the VR headset they don’t just hear about history or read about it in a book, they step back 100 years into Piłsudski’s office.

“This immersion helps the user learn, without it feeling like work. It is more like they are playing, when they are learning in a new engaging way”, Andrzej Horoch, CEO of Workroom Group told TFN.

The VR rendering of Piłsudski’s desk and private possessions are historically accurate, a picture from the National Digital Archives confirms the authenticity of items in the office.Workroomgroup

Taking users inside the Marshal’s private office, the VR rendering of his desk and private possessions are historically accurate, a picture from the National Digital Archives confirms the authenticity of items in the office.

With the VR headset on, users can inspect the art work on his wall, the ink wells separated by a golden eagle, his pistol and even the bed he had in his office.

The exhibit draws the user into Matejko’s painting with 3D technology. The interactive display lets users learn more about certain aspects of the painting and those figures included within the painting by using the touch screen.

The painting depicts the creation of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth on 1st July 1569. In the painting there are historical figures depicted such as Zygmunt II August, Jakub Uchański, Anna Jagiellonka and Roman Sanguszko .

Not all of these figures were present at the signing and the exhibit helps explain who was there and why those not present were included.

The VR experiences were created through collaboration with Prof. Jan Pomorski from the Institute of History of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University and Workroom Group, a Warsaw based company who are experts in the VR, AR (augmented reality) and MR (mixed reality) field.

The 20th Universal Congress of Polish Historians was attended by President Andrzej Duda, Minister of Science and Higher Education Jarosław Gowin and a host of internationally renowned historians including Norman Davies and Robert Frost from the United Kingdom, Jurate Kiaupiene from Lithuania, Hienadz Sahanowicz from Belarus, Jarosław Hrycak from the Ukraine and Daniel Beauvois from France.

Quelle:

https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/stunning-new-vr-experience-teaches-history-like-never-before-7778

Foto: Unveiled at the 20th Universal Congress of Polish Historians in Lublin the immersive learning experience called ‘Józef Piłsudski – The Marshal of Polish hearts’ helps users learn about Polish history. Workroomgroup

4. Oktober 2019 0 comment

Examples

Fine Dust Woes Drive Schools Interest In VR Sports

Last Tuesday morning, two dozen fourth-graders at Yonggang Elementary school entered a virtual reality (VR) sports room equipped with screens, a computer and two stationary bikes.

They were there to „go mountain biking,“ or „play basketball.“

Following VR sports teacher Hong Seong-woo’s short instructions on how to manage a ball, boys started to shoot the balls ― not toward a real net but to a virtual one projected on the big screen.

After a few practice shots, they began a shooting competition.

While the boys were playing basketball, the girls, in the other corner of the room less than 100 square meters in size, took turns on two stationary bikes. The screen in front of them showed the route and they moved the handles around as if they were actually cycling on a mountain.

Then, the boys and girls switched ― boys on the bikes and girls at the virtual shooting practice. By the end of the 50-minute session, a few boys left the room short of breath with beads of sweat on their necks.

Yonggang is among a growing number of elementary schools in the country that have adopted virtual reality-based sports education. The initiative that began in 2017 has now expanded to 250 schools across the country.

Hong said worsening air pollution was a big motivation for Yonggang to try out the VR-based physical education.

„With high fine dust levels, students do not get so much outdoor activities,“ he said. Korea’s fine dust levels are among the worst in the world, forcing more schools to cancel outdoor sports classes due to health concerns.

Between March and July this year, Yonggang was asked by the city educational authorities to cancel outdoor physical education classes for 22 times due to air pollution.

„We find this to be a good alternative. Students enjoy the classes, and we (teachers) find it useful as well,“ Hong said. Yonggang started the VR sports class in March this year.

The teacher said the VR sports education carries other advantages.

„It gives students an opportunity to try different games. In a normal school setting, it’s impossible to try golf, for example. But it’s possible with the VR room. And the games are designed to be played easily. With a simple learning of rules and positions, you can play it easily and enjoy it. That also helps boost students‘ confidence.“

Other than cycling and basketball, Yonggang’s VR room offers football, baseball, handball, tennis, golf and archery. The school is also equipped with tools such as plastic baseball bats and balls, as well as archery and golf equipment.

Adding a new sport is not difficult, Hong said, as new games are constantly being developed by the company he is working with.

People find the simulated experience versatile and it is particularly well received in the sports field.

Athletes in many fields of sports find VR useful in training. In August, the Los Angeles Times reported that the LA Dodgers players now use virtual reality to practice batting. Besides, the VR training tools are also used by American footballers, race car drivers, footballers and basketball players.

It is also used for people in need of physical therapy.

Regarding whether the VR sports room gets children to move enough, Hong said: „I believe students get enough physical activity. You saw some boys sweating, right?“

Virtual reality-based sports are still new and study results are few, but a few researchers who conducted a study on the elderly found VR-based exercise enhances muscle strength and balance. Also, VR proved to be as effective as physical therapy.

The sports ministry is encouraged by the positive response from schools.

According to an anonymous ministry official, the government projects that 630 elementary schools will be equipped with VR sports rooms by 2023, 10 percent of all elementary schools.

„Then, we’ll see if we can expand the number of VR rooms even to middle and high schools.“ he said.

„In the long run, we’ll find ways for VR to help the public get more exercise and elite athletes like the national bobsleigh team get better training.“

Quelle:

Foto: Fourth graders at Yonggang Elementary School in Seoul practice basketball in the virtual reality sports room on the school campus, Sept. 17. Korea Times photo by Kim Se-jeong

3. Oktober 2019 0 comment

Knowledge Research

AI, ethics and classrooms of the future

Experts chime in on the increasing role of artificial intelligence in education, which is set to transform learning as we know it

News that Pearson, the world’s largest textbook publisher, is phasing out print publications for higher education to adopt a resolutely digital-first policy may signal an eventual full stop for traditional book learning. But the wealth of technology coming on stream heralds an exciting new chapter for the future classroom.

In the view of Mike Buchanan, executive director of HMC, which represents independent school head teachers, digital education will unlock a less rigid approach to classroom-based learning, as well as enable closer collaboration with pupils’ families.

“In a growing number of schools, the use of modern management information and recording systems to harvest details of classroom activities and pupil progress is already allowing parents to access and aggregate their child’s attainment records,” he says.

“In the future, this will no doubt see the traditional termly report being replaced by daily digital updates.”

Mr Buchanan predicts individual academic achievement will be charted by artificial intelligence (AI), rather than by a plethora of exams, and argues that for teachers disenchanted by the current need to “teach to the test”, the freedom to pursue a more rounded curriculum will foster a new optimism.

“Technology has both advantages and disadvantages in education, as it does in every field,” he says. “The exam boards probably won’t like it, but in my view, AI’s potential role in automated assessment and reporting will prove to be a game-changer.”

The future classroom must be student centred

Professor Rose Luckin, co-founder of the Institute for Ethical Artificial Intelligence in Education, launched last year, helps steer developments in educational technology in a firmly ethical direction. She believes that while individual tools such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) or MOOCs (massive open online courses) will each play a role in the future classroom, close attention should be paid to the “over-arching intelligence infrastructure” as digital education develops.

“We need to recognise that education for all ages must change to create the skills society will need in the future and this means looking at the possibilities of AI in a more holistic way,” she says.

“Cutting-edge technologies must be constructed from an ethical framework, which empowers both learners and teachers, rather than exploiting them for purely commercial gain.”

Drawing a parallel with the growth in social media, Professor Luckin says: “We have all witnessed the power of the big digital networking platforms to shape users’ behaviour and habits, and there have been negative, as well as positive, impacts from this.

“When we look at the future of classroom AI, we can see that as long as there is an ethical purpose to what we do, individuals and society will benefit from a global education technology infrastructure which deploys a whole range of digital tools.”

But Professor Luckin issues a warning to those who believe the future classroom needs to concentrate on computer coding alone.

“As society’s educational needs continue to change, we may well decide not to engage with some of the breakthrough things that we know AI can deliver. We need advanced thinking around what we want to deliver in terms of lifelong learning for each individual citizen, rather than an obsession with clever algorithms and coding.”

Digital education designed to teach future skills

At Caterham School, an independent co-ed in Surrey, where all pupils are equipped with iPads, headmaster Ceri Jones takes the view that for today’s 24/7 learners, there should be no final frontier in the digital world.

Yet, while tools such as VR and AR are routinely used to bring history lessons or language learning to life, and to foster collaboration with other students around the world, Mr Jones has no intention of allowing the tail to wag the dog.

“It’s people who transform education, not technology, and that isn’t about to change,” he says. “All the tech we use here is underpinned by a clear educational philosophy and purpose that actively supports our day-to-day teaching. There’s no question of introducing it into the classroom simply because it’s new and shiny.”

Although Mr Jones notes that the majority of teachers starting out in the profession are comfortable with using devices, less technologically-minded colleagues are not forgotten.

“Each new piece of kit needs to demonstrate its value to the teaching relationship and if it doesn’t do that, it has no place in Caterham’s future classroom,” he adds.

Mr Jones believes post-18 learners must be prepared for a future in which entrepreneurship and apprenticeships take their place alongside the university option, but he is firmly opposed to the suggestion that preparing young people for the world of work should become the key priority.

“We need creative thinkers, collaborators and problem-solvers, and as long as we ensure people remain at the heart of education, good teachers will continue to change lives for the better,” he says.

Screen time vs digitally-focused education

While there is an inherent contradiction between yet more digitally focused education and concern over young people and excessive screen use, Mr Buchanan believes there is a balance to be struck.

He says: “We are talking about sensible use of technology in the future classroom rather than the wholesale abandonment of all books and yes, I agree there are potential pitfalls in the move to online learning which we will need to tackle head on.”

Although Mr Buchanan foresees AI will inevitably free up more time for human interaction in the classroom, he has no fear that robot teachers will one day lead the class.

“The key skills of my profession are related to subject knowledge, an understanding of how young people learn and the ability to facilitate tailored learning for each pupil,” he says.

“When it comes to curating online content, so only the most helpful and reliable resources are put in front of pupils, I would argue that the core skills of teachers can only become more critical as we develop the future classroom.”

Quelle:

https://www.raconteur.net/technology/future-classroom-digital-education

3. Oktober 2019 0 comment