Virtual reality has existed since the eighties as a technology that has lived a constant evolution for the last three decades, and while it has always been tied to entertainment, development of these gadgets has moved into other areas such as education, where it has implemented a new way of teaching.
Virtual Reality is done through a special visor equipped with gyroscopes that emulates the movement of the head in the video that is being streamed to the screen in front of the eyes, turning it into an immersive experience like no other in the market.
According to Digi-Capital, in 2016 over 2 billion dollars were invested in the development of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). Demand for these kind of products were high with the launch of new devices such as PlayStation VR and the Pokémon Go app for mobiles, which reports a daily revenue of over a 100,000 dollars six months after its launch.
Not everything is directly related to entertainment and gaming. This technology is being implemented in training, tourism, marketing and in education, where teachers from the best universities of the world are implementing VR in their courses to deliver a unique and immersive student experience.
One of these services was created by Google, whom with their Expeditions app let users visit new places such as a tour in Machu Picchu, the Artic or the International Space Station, giving complete visual freedom to experience firsthand the places they’re studying while being guided in an on-rails system.
Results
According to Dale’s Experience Cone, students who have a direct experience with the subjects they’re studying retain over 90% of what is being imparted, and while this theory is still debated, experts think that implementation of VR is a useful complement to regular courses, but a teacher’s guidance is needed to add context to what is being seen, adding educational value to the videos.
The implementation of experience-based teaching methods has been proved by a wide array of works. According to a study by Bloxham and Wileman published by the Journal of Virtual Studies, students who experimented practical education using Augmented Reality improved their learner retention in English and Math by 18.1%, Motor Vehicle and Mechanics by 13.1%, 7.7% in Hair and Beauty and 2.9% in engineering.
Increase in learning retention after classes with AR:
18.1% Math and English
13.1% Motor Vehicles
7.7% Hair and Beauty
2.9% Engineering
In the case of mechanics, its application goes beyond higher education and has turned into a pivotal point for training programs in third world countries.
One of the many advantage of VR and AR is what is not possible to do, it is possible in a digital world. Therefore the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), along multiple developers, have brought training programs to the place where there is no access to the tools and assets.
One of these softwares, created by Eon Reality, let users see how Diesel engines work and show the steps to perform its maintenance without needing the actual engine in the room. It is all done through an interactive and digital interface.
The immersive experience that this and other studios are given to the learning process is covering most areas of education, from medicinal simulators, to digital courses, and they cost a fraction of a real one.
The sum of these variables, experience plus context, is what opens the doors for virtual reality to become a modern tool in the learning experience process. And this is only considering modern applications.
Implementation costs
Digital tours aren’t the only uses for VR. Services like zSpace, Eon Reality and Unimersiv offer courses and experiences in biology, chemistry, geography and others with the opportunity to do and watch experiments where tools and materials aren’t available in subjects that range from middle school to higher education.
One of the main counterpoints could be the implementation costs that this technology requires, which might go over the Budget in some institutions, especially considering that each unit of Oculus Rift, the most popular Open Source device, costs an average of 600$. But there are cost-effective alternatives.
One is Google Cardboard, a cardboard visor, which, using a series of mirrors, can emulate the experience replacing the computer for a cellphone as the graphic and visual engines just downloading the many different apps available, at a price that doesn’t go over 15$.
Complete Immersion as the Final Destination
Even though virtual reality promises to submerge students into a different world where they can live and learn, current technology only allows a baseline level of immersion that emulates interaction with the world and object, and while these methods encourage their growth and interest, increasing the student’s involvement with the experience, it will enhance the retention and motivation towards the process.
Such is the case of Leap Motion, which in 2016 presented Orion, their latest hand recognition software for VR that inserts the user’s arms as controls in a near 1:1 interaction between the students and their courses without the need of a controller or handle.
Adaptation of these advances are already in transition for education, with cases like “The World of Comenius” (Video below), from VR developer Tomáš "Frooxius" Mariančík, who designed an educational software that applies the latest immersion technology in an interactive course, and while it is currently only available as an experimental demo, it shows the future steps that technology will take as a supporting tool in the educational process.
Virtual Reality isn’t just an immersive tool when teaching, it also opens the doors for integration in a classroom like it has never be seen before, capable of transporting students to experience firsthand the subjects that are being studied while having a digital world with endless possibilities at the palm of their hands.
