Category Archives: Augmented Reality

VR/AR/MR/XR/SR literature is a thing.

Before our 5 day course begins, students have had some homework to complete.

Read a couple of papers, choose a quote, and commentate.  During MET, I have read papers from the 1980s to the current year but this reading list was unique in that so much of the literature was post-2016.   I scanned each read before committing to my assignment; it was the first time that a reading list made me want to read the entire list!

The world of academia is a fascinating microcosm; I could actually pursue a Doctoral degree that focuses on virtual reality! Dr. VRornson has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

Screeshots of our EDUC 490V 96A reading list.

I settled on reading three, with the intent of reading more next week.

Diving into my professor’s paper, “A Quantumeracy Reading List”, I quickly had flashbacks to reading “The Cyberg Manifesto“.  Thankfully, my physics background helped me out but I could imagine that a person without a basic understanding of quantum physics may have had a challenge reading this work. Linking the connections between quantum theory and non-fiction works, Dr. Stooshnov reveals his true, uber-nerd colours by bringing in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Matrix, A Wrinkle in Time and more to his argument. I am looking forward to talking to him about his paper because I had a difficult time connecting the ideas to our EDUC 490V course and because of this, I did not analyze his work for my assignment. (Perhaps this is why I should have analyzed it???)

Historically, I do not eagerly put my unknowing out on the table for all to see, but my MET experience has pushed me to act in ways that I want my own students to act. It’s OK to not know stuff right out of the gates.  When this happens, ask more questions!

Assignment 1 by Dana Bjornson on Scribd

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Filed under Augmented Reality, Decolonization, EDUC 490V, Virtual Reality

Virtual and Augmented Reality: An Opportunity Forecast

What an interesting week!

Members of ETEC 522 were treated to a very thorough, engaging and interactive learning experience that exposed us to VR and AR technology. Please follow this link to go to the homepage that Tanya and Jonathon created.

Admittedly, my experience with this technology is extremely limited.  Via my Pokemon Go habit, AR is occasionally utilized.  Last year, I bought a birthday card for my father-in-law that gave the recipient a free, hot air balloon ride, using VR technology. I know that my husband bought a HMD (Head Mounted Display) from Visions recently, and the family used it for about 48 hours, before the novelty wore off.

And that is just it.

Are VR and AR here to stay, or are they nothing more than a novelty that sticks around the same amount of time as She Blinded Me with Science by Thomas Dolby?

Situating myself in this technology this week makes me believe that it is here to stay.  The technology is evolving; becoming both smaller, and more affordable. Since it has also been around for quite sometime, early adopters are producing some really great exemplars and how-to videos, showing us newbies the ropes!

My largest takeaway from this week came from the time spent with HP Reveal.

If you are keen, go to your app store and download the HP Reveal app right now.

Once you create your account, watch this quick screencast I made from my phone, that shows you how to view an AR video.

To view the AR video, simply hover the converging and diverging array of points over the narwhal image on this post.  Unfortunately, my classmates videos are set to “private” so I can’t share their creations here.  If you stick with my video, you will meet my parent’s dog, at least!

Imagine….

  • Having images beside stations in a science room that explains the instructions, as the students require them.
  • Having math problems on a bulletin board that are the key ideas of the unit.
  • Having a treasure hunt throughout the school with video clues guiding the adventurers.
  • Having an image of every teacher outside their door that links to a welcome video on the first day of school.
  • Having videos of the band, the choir, the improv team, the basketball team, the robotics club, the ??? on the bulletin boards throughout the school. 
  • Having a student explain the inspiration behind their artwork or to read their poem to a wider audience.
  • Having student projects brought to life with music and video.

There are endless possibilities to this technology and the best part is that HP Reveal is easy to use and free!

We also spent time with CoSpaces EDU. After a very short experimentation time (which is nicely set-up by their programmers), I was able to create my very own VR project.  Although I wasn’t able to intuitively learn how to program the characters, at least I know that it is possible.  I am certain if I watched a couple of YouTube videos, that the coding process would be a heap easier.  Click on the image below to see my amazing product! The image I used was a regular photo from a camping trip to China Beach, Vancouver Island.  Using a panoramic image would have produced a better product, and if you have access to 360 imaging, then I am jealous!

 

I am not seeing the immediate applications of this technology to my practice, admittedly. At this point in time, VR is still in the novelty category for me.  That is not to say that I won’t eventually see its worth as an educational tool, however.  Time will tell!!!

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Filed under Augmented Reality, ETEC 522, Virtual Reality