Augmented reality (AR) enhances real-world environments by overlaying digital information and objects. The document discusses AR applications for practitioners, including educational games that use AR simulations to engage students in role-playing scenarios. Some examples provided are Alien Contact, where students work in teams to determine why aliens have landed, and Environmental Detectives, where students investigate the source of a toxin spill on a university campus. The document suggests ARIS and FreshAir as open-source platforms for creating mobile AR games and experiences that combine virtual and physical worlds.
4. Carmigniani and Furht (2011) stated that “AR is a
real-time direct or indirect view of a physical
real-world environment that has been enhanced/
augmented by adding virtual computer generated
information to it” (p.1).
30. Alien Contact!
Students are presented with the following scenario: Aliens have landed on
Earth and seem to be preparing for a number of alternative actions, including
peaceful contact, invasion, plundering, or simply returning to their home
planet. Working in teams (four pupils per team), the students must explore the
AR world, interviewing virtual characters, collecting digital items, and
solving math, language arts, and scientific literacy puzzles to determine why
the aliens have landed. Each team has four roles: Chemist, Cryptologist,
Computer Hacker, and FBI Agent.
Dunleavy, M., Dede, C., & Mitchell, R. (2009). Affordances and limitations of immersive participatory augmented reality simulations for teaching and learning. Journal of
Science Education and Technology, 18(1), 7-22.
31. Mystery at the Museum
• Engage visitors more deeply in museum exhibits – get visitors to explore and think
about specific exhibits that they had not seen before
• Engage visitors more broadly across museum exhibits – get visitors to see connections
across the exhibits of the museum, and explore parts of the museum that they
had not visited in the past
• Encourage collaboration between visitors – get visitors to discuss ideas to promote
engagement
Klopfer, E., Perry, J., Squire, K., Jan, M. F., & Steinkuehler, C. (2005, May). Mystery at the museum: a collaborative game for museum education. In Proceedings of th 2005
conference on Computer support for collaborative learning: learning 2005: the next 10 years! (pp. 316-320). International Society of the Learning Sciences.
32. Mentria
Set in a Spanish-speaking neighborhood in
Albuquerque, NM and plays out much like a
historical novel in which fact and fiction combine
to set the context and social conditions for
meaningful interaction (in Spanish) with simulated
characters, other players, and local citizens.
Learners must investigate clues and talk to various
non-player characters (NPCs) in order to absolve
their own family, proving they are not responsible
for a murder in a local neighborhood. In a core
component of the game, players are required to
visit the local neighborhood in order to collect
additional clues and, ultimately, solve the mystery
by determining the responsible party.
http://www.mentira.org/the-game
33. Environmental Detectives
Students watch a 60 second digital video-
briefing from the University president
where they are enlisted to investigate the
spill of the toxin, a carcinogenic degreasing
agent which is commonly found in machine
shops, cafeterias, and hospitals. The goal of
the game is to locate the source of the spill,
identify the responsible party, design a
remediation plan, and brief the president of
the University on any health and legal risks
so that he will be prepared for a meeting
with the EPA – all within two hours. At the
end of the game, students make a five
minute presentation to their peers outlining
their theory behind the spill.
http://education.mit.edu/ar/ed.html
34. Hip Hop Tycoon
An augmented reality game where students role-play in
teams as specialists in business finance, sales and human
resources competing to build and run a successful store.
We hope to build off the strong presence of
entrepreneurship in hip hop discourse to involve students
in meaningful, problem-solving tasks related to reading
comprehension and mathematics, where they have to
interpret and utilize complex game texts in order to
produce meaning that simulates activities in real-world,
professional discursive practices. Effective reading and
mathematics strategies are embedded activities.
Specifically, the game addresses several Wisconsin State
standards for Language Arts and Mathematics. In this
way, the game’s aim is to place students in contexts
where they utilize mathematics and the language of the
“new capitalism” in ways that are relevant to pop culture
and young people.
http://www.regardingjohn.com/blog/about/portfolio/
35. Mad City Mystery
Players, in role as doctors, environmental scientists, and
government officials, learn that a friend of theirs, Ivan Illych
has fallen in a nearby lake and died.
Through investigation and interviews of NPCs, they learn
Ivan was depressed and had been drinking, but also learn
about environmental toxins that may have contributed to his
death. Players race against the clock (about 90 minutes, for
most classes) to provide the police examiner (played by a real
person) enough data to open an investigation into the causes
of the death. While the cause of the death is ultimately
unknown, mercury found in fish, TCE (trichloroethene) found
in the factory where Ivan worked, and PCBs (polychlorinated
biphenyls) found in ground water and fish are potential
causes. Through the course of the game, players talk to
virtual characters to learn life histories and access documents
describing chemicals, conduct simulated tests for PCBs, TCE,
and mercury, and must piece together an argument about the
cause of the death.
http://www.regardingjohn.com/blog/about/portfolio/
36. Saving Lake Wingra
Place-based, 10-day curricular unit designed
around Lake Wingra, a mixed-recreational lake
and park area in Madison. During the course of
the curricular unit, students role-play as an
environmental historians, watershed ecologists,
and landscape architects who have been hired by
a local stakeholder group to promote their vision
for the future of Lake Wingra. The various
stakeholder groups in the game represent a range
of interests, including developers,
environmentalists, neighbors, anglers, and
recreational enthusiasts. The students, playing in
teams of three, are given two central tasks: 1)
investigate the health of Lake Wingra in order to
determine whether it is “dying,” and 2) represent
their clients’s interests by presenting a
development plan before the Madison City
Council.
http://www.regardingjohn.com/blog/saving-lake-wingra-argh/
38. With FreshAiR, your Android or
iPhone becomes a lens to the
hidden world around you,
revealing stories and Realities
created by others. Select a
Reality, and walk around in the
real world to experience your
surroundings in an amazing new
way.
Whether it is a tour of a beautiful
university campus, historical
landmarks coming to life, a fast-
paced new game, or an
educational lesson, FreshAiR is
your augmented reality portal to
hidden worlds.
40. ARIS is a user-friendly,
open-source platform for
creating and playing mobile
games,
tours and interactive stories.
Using GPS and QR Codes,
ARIS players experience
a hybrid world of virtual
interactive characters, items,
and media placed in physical
space.
http://arisgames.org/
42. NCTIES DEMO
• W. Cabarrus and S. Salisbury
• Download ARIS mobile and look for nearby
game
• Follow the numbers
43.
44.
45.
46. Possibilities
• Select a local event and have students work in design
teams. Learning social studies or science content,
game mechanics and complex problem solving and
teamwork as well as concept of product oriented
sharing.
• Simply experience the games and learn science/social
studies content while on a field trip or out in the
community.